45 minutes of the first game in pre-season, a game that is simply about getting fitness back to normal levels.
Relax.
Relax.
23
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 8
- Clean sheets
- 4
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
Agreed. Hopefully that work he's put in during the summer will help him to have a good season.
He is no Marcelo or Dani Alves but he does have the tools to become a good attacking wing-back, albeit not an overly technical one. He has excellent pace, decent ball-control and is always willing to go on overlaps and stretch opposition. It's also harsh to judge him on the back of his injury-strewn debut season where he did look a bit tentative and reserved, if you will. Expecting much more from him this season as he would be more settled down now.
Tbh, I'd much rather have a FB who has the defensive aspects of his game nailed down, as opposed to your modern day technical and talented but defensively inept FB. As it stands, Shaw can very well develop into a Zabaleta/G.Neville prototype who isn't the most technical or flashy of players, but someone who is always willing to contribute offensively with their engine and ability to stretch play whilst being a decent crossing option. Heck, even Ivanovich was able to make the transition from being a sturdy CB to a FB who was capable of decent attacking output. Point being that, whilst he obviously won't become a R.Carlos or a Brehme in the future, he can still become a top notch well-rounded FB who can contribute offensively. He certainly has the tools and the right manager who can take his game to the next level.
Football fans. So impatient nowadays. He's 20 and had a season plagued with injuries. One preseason game and its - if he doesnt get better soon..
Thank goodness people like you are around here at the Caf because sometimes I think this forum is dominated by 16 year olds who haven't understood what life's actually about. Patience is a virtue fast disappearing in this world.
I didn't know I had OCD, but all the different styles of thread titles for the players is really annoying me. Some have dashes (-) and some have these things | to separate the name and the "2015/16 performances"... which is also written as "performances 2015/16" for some players, occasionally having a dash instead of a "/".
I'm going mental.
I'm going mental.
That's true. Perhaps in a pure counter-attacking team, he would be lethal going forward even without the skill that other attacking full-backs possess. Our system means that he has to actually handle the ball in tight spaces and (occasionally) beat a player from a stand-still. He probably isn't very suited to this right now, and it will take time for him to get used to LVG's style. That said, I don't think it's a problem that he looked better going forward for Soton. They relied a lot on full-back play, and he was one of the bigger names in the team. Here at United, we play a patient, passing game where there are 5 or 6 names in the team that will all be relied on more than him to provide attacking impetus. It's only natural that he takes a backseat for now.
I think we'll just have to see how he adapts as this season progresses, and revisit this topic in December (assuming he plays a lot) - he definitely has a lot of work to do, but his potential is massive. I think if he is lucky with injuries and keeps on developing, he can become one of the best full-backs in the world, if not the best (in several years, of course). We'll have a better indicator of his ability this season, after a run of games behind a consistent left-side player (probably Depay).
I rate him as our biggest youth prospect right now, assuming DDG doesn't count. He is such a natural defender, with so many useful qualities.
I think Shaw will be our most improved player this season and could give us an extra dimension in attack.
Thanks for the replies. So the opinions of his performance range from impressive to a lot worse than Blackett with more replies siding with the latter view.
I like the article about him bringing trainer with him on holiday. Both he and Januzaj approaching this season as an important one and hope they both stay fit and flourish.
I like the article about him bringing trainer with him on holiday. Both he and Januzaj approaching this season as an important one and hope they both stay fit and flourish.
Are you his .. ? Just kidding
, I agree with you, even if he hasn't been that impressive since his arrival, Shaw has so much time to develop into a cracking player for Man Utd. Preseason (specially the first match) is all about regaining match fitness anyway.Normally I prefer defensive full backs myself too, but for the setup LVG maintains attacking full backs are so important. Just look at Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, they've got respectively Alba, Alves, Marcelo, Carvajal, Alaba, Lahm. It's no coincidence that they're all full backs who are very strong offensively and very good in possession, and with slight differences all these teams play quite similar football. And that's the way we're heading too. Chelsea play different football so they dont really need that for example.
Im not trying to slate him or not rate him, but he just has to improve offensively. Not basing this on the pre season match, but on the entire last season. Lets see if he does.
If you are basing this on last season you would say that he's really good at attacking especially against Chelsea, they had no idea how to counter his pace on that left side. He created a sitter for Rooney in the beginning of the game which he missed and many other chances throughout the game.
What sort of standards should he be performing to? How have you judged him? His first season was spent played erratically and injury riddled. If we truly wish to see how good he is or can be, we should be using this season to do it.
Regarding the part in bold; the only way any player develops is by playing. What other full back would you realistically swap Shaw with that we could sign without needing to gel another play into the squad? He's more than good enough for me to start at left back where we can afford him maximum experience to grow. Also, we have players who can rotate with him in that position in the event of a slump in form, like Blind and Rojo.
Did we play just one match in the season? As already sad, vs Crystal Palace, City and Chelsea he had great offensive displays. But generally, his attacking influence was quite small.
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What standards? Defensively he is perfect to me, but attackingly he needs to be able to cross, pass opposition in 1 vs 1's ocassionaly, link up with our winger to create space for himself and our forwards. He needs to maintain width with our wingers in order for the centre to be less crowded.
If we get Moyes back or sign Klopp, Shaw is the perfect LB. Under LVG though, quite much is expected of FB's in attacking sense, and that's the shame for Shaw. So I really hope he improves in this area because he's a fantastic prospect, if he doesnt we may need someone who's quite good in this area on occasions. Could be Blind / Rojo but Im not certain about their future here.
Great attitude from him and Adnan, you can't ask more than that especially from young players these days, I think he'll cement his spot this season.
I agree. All 3 have world class potential.
He did all those things to a very high level last season. He just barely played because of the injuries.
The fullbacks are probably the part of van gaal's philosophy that might be under change. You look at his comments about Mcnair being a Long term RB; and the first pre-season game back; both blackett & Mcnair play at LB & RB respectively. Two defensive minded fullback's playing a proper flat back line.
Likewise Shaw will consistently be under duress because i honestly think van gaal is experimenting under the job.
I'm going to say the complete opposite and say that rather than Van gaal regarding shaw as offensively incomplete; his real problems arise from his approach to defending. It's his defensive positioning that will be the fundamental point of approach to attacking &
thus far Blind has been a much better LB.
Likewise Shaw will consistently be under duress because i honestly think van gaal is experimenting under the job.
I'm going to say the complete opposite and say that rather than Van gaal regarding shaw as offensively incomplete; his real problems arise from his approach to defending. It's his defensive positioning that will be the fundamental point of approach to attacking &
thus far Blind has been a much better LB.
I have all the time in the world for Shaw at the moment. I think he has the potential, and is going to be fantastic.
Don't agree to that at all. It isnt that he has a bad cross per se for example, but he chooses to pass back and hesitate too much. I dont think he has good 1 vs 1 dribbling, but when he dribbles into space and gets going theres just no stopping him. He's extremely fast and strong and you cant just get it off him. He showed that vs Crystal Palace and also vs Club America. However when in standing positions with few space in front of him, he rather tends to pass the ball backwards. Not that he needs to be Hazard, but when teams sit back he just has a very tough time offensively, he's not the only one tho.
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Shaw will go onto be ours and England's first choice LB for the next decade or so, easily. He has the talent, it's just the application that needs to be worked on, and I have full faith that LvG will get the best out of him.
It's perfectly normal to go back to basics and play it safe when you're lacking confidence. Once he's established himself in the team he'll start expressing himself. He's certainly not lacking technically. I think he's got a lot of similar qualities to Ashley Cole.
That's true, he was injured a lot but why shouldnt he be confident? He was the LB of the year the season before, went to the WC, praised by a lot of people, signed for a big fee, and put in some wonderful defensive displays, doesnt that give you a lot of confidence in your ability? I think it's the only point he really has to improve, other than that he's just class for a LB and certainly at that age.
But after he was signed for a big fee he got told he wasn't fit enough and picked up a few injuries over the course of the season which'd give him a knock in confidence.
I really think too many people see footballers as robots or video game players these days. His life isn't solely limited to his footballing career. He was an 18 year old kid moving away from home for the first time, moving away from friends and family to a very different city a couple of hundred miles away and making a huge step forward in his career in every way (salary, expectations, environment, competition). That's moving very far outside of your comfort zone at a relatively tender age, and that takes some getting used to.
Within a few weeks of joining he'd already been told by his new manager that he's not in the right condition, his fitness isn't up to standard, and because of that he didn't make his debut until the end of September. That will knock anyone's confidence. That's then followed up by him getting repeatedly injured and seemingly proving his manager's criticisms to be true. That had all happened by around the halfway point in the season. Scolded by his manager (in public, to some degree), kept out of the first time for the first month of the season, and then injured a couple of times by the end of November. Thereafter he played sporadically and got a couple more injuries and because of that never managed to pick up any real run of form.
That'll affect anyone's confidence I'd have thought.
Could all be good reasons for him not being most confident, although it isnt true that his family live in a different city. They moved along with him and he lives with them, he also said that he didnt even live with them in Southampton but he does now. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...life-Manchester-United-frustrating-start.html. These things could have meant a dig in confidence but on the other hand I think he has endured a lot of things that can also boost your confidence. But I know feck all about how he feels, just not sure why that would per se affect his attacking game and not defensive game.
Something about him that really rubs me the right way.
You're being too harsh. Learning when and how to attack as a fullback comes with experience, and the only way he'll be able to get that is if we afford him playing time as our first choice, which I pointed out in the last post. Also, Shaw's hardly the reason the centre's crowded; I find it laughable that you even think so.
Watching him live on Mutv training earlier, he still has such a huge backside, I don't know if it's a weight issue or just a natural build but you can't help noticing. Random comment I know.
Edit- Oh dear.
Edit- Oh dear.
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I'd say he 'doesn't have good 1v1 dribbling' in the same way that Yaya Touré 'doesn't have good 1v1 dribbling.' I.e: just because he doesn't have Messi's body shape, doesn't mean he can't dribble. How many time did he cut right through the Chelsea defence to the dead ball line or into their box in that second fixture last season? He's not Evra, but then there's hardly a fullback in football at the moment who dribbles the way Evra could. Marcelo, maybe. Shaw dribbles the same way Alaba dribbles, or Carvajal does: with deft touches when running at full pace, and with the power to hold off an opponent's body when going past them. That's how a fullback should dribble, because if they're having to do it from a standing start a la Messi or Nani, they've mistimed their run.
As for his passing and crossing in attacking positions, I can't believe we're watching the same player. If anything I think his decision-making and ability to pick out a teammate once he's got himself into the position to deliver a pass/cross is his best attacking attribute. His balls cut back for a player on the edge of the box to shoot are consistently unerringly accurate.
Where do you think that running power comes from. That's his build. If you fancy adding another arse to that tagline, check out a 100m sprinter like Tyson Gay.
It's rather the opposite, most talented full backs in the modern day are strong offensively and learn the defensive side with experience. It's not because of Shaw that the centre is crowded, that's because we play a possession based style. But FB's in our setup usually have the task to keep width in our play, and linkup or create space in wider areas in order to get the centre less crowded. However in my opinion, Shaw and Valencia havent done this adequately often enough last season.
Never said he cant dribble, just that when it's crowded and he has players directly in front of him. He rather just passes the ball back than trying to dribble to create space. Baba, Gaya, Rodriguez, Alba, Alaba all of them have quite good 1 vs 1 dribbling as all of them bar Baba from what I know have played as LM. I think that shows that they're dribbling for a full back to be able to play in that position. I dont think Shaw has the same dribbling as them, as his dribbling is more one directed and when he gets going just unstoppable, while the others mentioned are quite easier on the turn and a bit more agile.
It might be his best attacking attribute but that doesnt mean it's great, and there you make the point. It isnt that his pass or cross his bad, he just barely gets into those positions because of the quite lacking link up play many at times this season and his inability to get himself in those positions via dribbling. Not saying he should be di Maria, but you've seen us this season, teams just sit back and it's so crowded. In order to break that your full backs who are very advanced in possession, require quite some ability to be dangerous and vital in our attacking play. As said earlier, if Shaw played for Chelsea (although they played more possession football last season than usual) or in an older United team with a more direct attack. He'd just be monstrous, his pace, strength, composure, directness is immense for a full back of his age. But the technical skills become much more important in a LVG set up.
If you can be arsed to watch, in this video I think you see the highlights of Shaw's season. Some great defensive actions, real class. When it comes to the attack too, but mostly of those attacking actions is when he gets played unto the ball with pace or when he has space in front of him, he's just unstoppable. He's so fast and strong and puts himself well between the ball and the defender. The action where he shrugged of Drogba for example, space in front of him and he just burst into the box and puts in a decent ball. It's situations like at 4:14, 4:27, 4:31, 4:40 that I want to see more of him. Players in front of him, but he tries to dribble past them, tries to dribble in the positions where he could make something happen. He showed this at Soton so I guess he has the ability, but he needs to show it more for me, and especially against teams who fully sit back unlike Everton and Chelsea in those examples. It's his first season tho, so lets hope he shows it for us or at least improves this season in that aspect.
Shawly it's been enough Shaw for me today.
Happy days Aaron.
And yet as you keep pointing out yourself it's his offensive game that's lacking. Experience works for both.
Man Utd 3:1 San Jose Earthquakes
His decision making in the attacking areas is rather appalling. Did play a very good ball to Depay to end the half though.
Great first half from him.
Almost involved in all of our best attacks.
Almost involved in all of our best attacks.
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