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Most footballers don't feel the need to tweet newspapers whining about legitimate criticism aimed at them. Nor do they post topless posy selfies of themselves as some kind of *** at people calling them unfit.
You also don't get to act like an obnoxious child about being called unfit when the person who called you unfit was your manager...and then also your national team manager. He's 19, had just come out of a world cup squad, being in a fit physical state should not be something that the manager needs to specify for him to do. A bit undercooked is putting it kindly too, when it was noticable enough he had to train away from the rest of the team (i.e. everyone else in the squad managed to do what he didn't, including those who had the entire summer off).
I'm not writing him off or anything close to it by any means, but I've yet to see anything at all to be impressed by, either prior to or post us signing him. There's just stuff that makes me suspect he isn't made of the right stuff. Might be slightly harsh but he's already put himself in a position in my mind where he has to prove me wrong, though he wouldn't be the first person who has. Evra for example I was convinced was the worst signing ever by the time he started playing well.
The Dutchman made Shaw train on his own on the tour of the United States and said: "Luke needs to be fit and he's not very fit. He can't perform how I want." Shaw then suffered a hamstring injury but won back the respect of his manager for the hard work he put in to make his way back to full fitness. Van Gaal was so impressed with Shaw's attitude in training, that he said the teenager was "an example" to the rest of his star-studded United squad. Shaw said: "For him to say I'm an example at a massive club like this is something to be really happy about. "He was right to say what he said about me in pre-season. "We had a discussion then and the plan for me was to get my fitness up. It worked, apart from the injury. "It was a bit of setback but I've worked hard in the last weeks and had some talks. He's been a great inspiration to me and hopefully I can carry that on."
“It always helps and the main thing for me was it was two 90 minutes for fitness,” Shaw said, reflecting on the under-21 matches against Croatia. “I feel fit but, like I said, I haven’t played my best recently. That’s football. Hopefully I’ll come out of it now. I think I could still get a bit fitter from working hard in training. But I do feel pretty fit.”
Genuinely have no idea what you're on about here. All I saw were these quotes from pre-season:
Like I said, am I missing something?
Actually, just found some more recent quotes about his fitness which I also wasn't aware of until today.
Obnoxious child, you say?
The first quote is Van Gaal publicly stating he wasn't fit, after which Hodgson also came out and said he didn't seem fit enough when he was with England (which reflects pretty badly on Hodgson for not bothering to do anything about it). In terms of fitness, I'm afraid Pogue it doesn't get too much more damaging than your manager (or both of them in fact) coming out and saying you aren't fit enough...remember when this happeend with Rooney?
I can't dig out the quotes because I'm at work but it came out Shaw was put on his own training scheme in order to get him up to speed, which is a pretty drastic step for someone who was only slightly off...if he was only slightly off then Van Gaal would have played him more in pre-season, not taken him out of the team entirely. Van Gaal actually praised his response to it and said he was now "an example to the squad" or something, but it's a bit like the naughty kid in school who gets extra praise for behaving as well as the others for a few days. It's fine but it's a black mark if there are any mishaps further down the line.
As I said, I'm being harsh...but, I don't know about you but my patience has worn pretty thin with players at United letting themselves down...especially when there's others like Young getting most of the stick, who's only actual crime is genuinely not being good enough. The thing I like about Van Gaal so far is that although he wont criticise any of them, he's made it pretty clear that he's not there for them to hide behind instead of sorting themselves out, like so many did with Moyes and to an extent Fergie.
Last season and his pre-season games against Liverpool and Madrid showed that he is. He was pretty shit last night but has been solid enough so far considering his age, recent injury and new surroundings. Judging him now after 3 games (also bearing in mind he is just back form injury), is harsh to say the least.There needs to be no more of these fitness stories, or him mouthing off on twitter, or generally being a prat, until there is any evidence at all that he is actually good at football.
He's hardly endeared himself to me thus far. To be fair neither did Evra when he first turned up, and he wasn't 19, so we shall see.
I don't think you can blame him on the first goal for being sucked in. He was on his man, Dorrans(?), and had to challenge him or he'd be free to bring the ball down and turn right in front of our back four. Absolutely no way should that be allowed. Di Maria banks on Shaw to win the aerial ball and tries to stay in behind Wisdom but Shaw doesn't win it and now Di Maria is caught out. Di Maria should be getting on the inside of Wisdom not trying to risk getting in behind on the chance Shaw wins it.
At about 0:23 in this vid
Di Maria really gets left for dead, doesn't he? Blind looks to be the quickest United player in that clip and he's got a reputation for being a bit slow. Go figure.
I tend to agree with G Nev's opinion on Shaw. If he's going to challenge for a ball that deep (and central) in the opposition half, he either needs to win the ball or clean out the man and the ball at the same time. Not a really grievous error but definitely could have done better.
To me it sounds like he's talking about Taarabt as a comparison, but I'm not sure.Genuinely have no idea what you're on about here. All I saw were these quotes from pre-season:
Like I said, am I missing something?
Actually, just found some more recent quotes about his fitness which I also wasn't aware of until today.
Obnoxious child, you say?
It's Di Maria's man. He should be following the right back. He clearly thinks the defense will deal with it, so isn't really running as hard as he could.
Shaw had to follow his man really, it's just unlucky that the ball spilled behind him.
Both he and Di Maria could have run harder though to try and stop the cross.
Yep, simple things that could be cut out, end up being a big matter when analysed hard.I agree Di Maria should have done better following his man in the first place. If he's close to Wisdom he could at least slow him down or stop the simple cross along the floor.
But Shaw was definitely at fault, for the same reason that Jones was later. He simply didn't need to chase his man there. After all, if Shaw stays in position and the attacker controls the ball, what's the attacker going to do? He's 10 yards inside his own half with the entire back four & Blind between him and the goal. No threat at all there.
To compound the error Shaw then runs to a total non-position on the pitch. He's ball watching instead of thinking about the danger. He should have been trying to cover the edge of the D where Blind normally plays, because Blind was covering his space. Its entirely possible that he couldn't have made up the ground anyway, since Sessegnon was easily 6 yards ahead of him, but he was the only man with any chance of doing it (and Shaw hardly looked to be running full pelt). Instead he just drifts to the corner of the box, where there's no danger and no player to cover.
Anyway focussing that closely on the guy makes it sound like a total howler, where as in truth he was just punished hard by a great touch from Dorrans and then a once a season quality finish from Sessegnon.
He did go and give him a little hug and pat on the back when Willian got back up. I don't think it matters though, hack a feckers legs out and pat him on the back.He's great.
Loved the bit in the first half where he tackled Willian, who went down clutching his leg. Shaw just walked past him, had a look down, then carried on. None of this help the opposition up bullshit.
He did go and give him a little hug and pat on the back when Willian got back up. I don't think it matters though, hack a feckers legs out and pat him on the back.
Thought he was really good today, still think he needs to work with Di Maria more.
