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He's a very good player and we're better with him but the worse full back position on the pitch is still the least important position. You don't need two great full backs. Both City and Arsenal have played player out of position at left back. Real Madrid did the double last season with the similar problems as us last season.

The other areas where we have strengthened and the ones we have left are still more important than left back.
 
lex talionis said:
He's without any question the best LB in the PL...when fit.
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That’s not enough. Post leg-break he has had patchy availability at best.
As an example the consensus is that Rashford plays better when Shaw plays because of what he offers. So he is directly impacting the teams attacking output aswell as his own LB position. If it unlocks Marcus then we need a LB who can reliably perform Shaws role instead of shoehorning a RB, a CB or a MF into the position.
 
Plant0x84 said:
As an example the consensus is that Rashford plays better when Shaw plays because of what he offers. So he is directly impacting the teams attacking output aswell as his own LB position. If it unlocks Marcus then we need a LB who can reliably perform Shaws role instead of shoehorning a RB, a CB or a MF into the position.
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This might be an Ole-ball observation. Don't think it holds in Ten Hag's system but happy to be proven wrong if someone has the data.
 
NicolaSacco said:
I don’t think it’s Luke Shaw who is lacking self awareness in that post.
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Maybe and your entitled to your opinion. However, there is an obvious contrast to draw with Alan Shearer’s decision to retire early from international duty (he was 29 when he made his decision public before Euro 2000) which Shearer subsequently claimed was : ‘…a great decision, the right decision, because it got me six more years playing at the highest level with Newcastle United’. Look up the interview from 2022.

I think the comments Mourinho made about Luke Shaw were wrong. What is worth noting, is that the summer Shaw signed for Man Utd (before his horrific injury) after being part of the England World Cup squad in Brazil, he returned late to training and lacking fitness (as reported by Sky Sports etc) such that he had to train individually whereas his then England team mates (Wayne Rooney, Danny Wellbeck and Phil Jones) all trained with the rest of the squad; LVG was the manger then.

Luke has been one of United’s key players when fit and shown his quality and adaptability by playing left or centre back; he was superb as cover for Martinez. Everyone just wants him to make the largest and most sustainable possible contribution to Utd. It is a legitimate question to ask whether in light of his injury/fitness track records if that club objective is consistent with international duty? If Fergie had been/was in charge during Shaw’s time at Utd, I don’t doubt that he would have made the same argument to Luke.
 
Going to Euros when he was injured from February, leaking how “medical staff caused the extra injuries” and now this latest injury.

He clearly thinks keeping himself in shape is not required and he can get away with this at United
 
You just can't rely on him for this position. Need a first team for his position and he can be the cover when he is fit.
 
He’s signed on for three more years, that’s an albatross of a deal. His situation needs a very cutthroat handling next summer, let him know he’s surplus to requirements and needs to aggressively seek out a new club because he is not part of the club’s plans moving forward. Make sure he knows a new starting left back is a top priority next summer and that there’s no future here for him.
 
Lots of caf people said we don't need a new LB because of Shaw, but it was one of the priority positions where we should have signed a new guy. And I don't think signing Mazraoui (who's injury prone himself) solved the problem. There's still time left to find a creative solution.
 
If he wants to get anything out of his career here, he may need to pivot to a LCB role, a sort of back up to licha.

Don't think he's got it in him to fly up and down the flank anymore, whereas attributes such as his heading ability, progressive passing and being built like a tank will help him immensely at CB
 
No matter how good he is when he plays, I am just so over Shaw. Depending on the physical development of Amass over the next 12 months, we will need to make it a priority next season.

Shaw must go.
 
I do feel for shaw as I don’t think there’s any doubt the shocking injury he picked up will have hindered him and been the root cause of some of the injuries he’s obtained

That being said, he seems to be struggling more and more with injuries and the team need a regular reliable left back and not one of the world’s best but who is hardly available

Agree that amass will need a year at least before being able to be classed as a regular but hopefully we’ll see malacia A bit more this season
 
Incredible how unreliable he has become. A huge issue for the team and we need another LB.

I doubt that playing at the Euros is a factor for another injury, however, he should never rush back to play. He is too fragile
 
He's one of the best when fit and on form. People pretending a fit Luke Shaw is an excellent Luke Shaw have selective memories. He's also been barely fit and had periods of being massively average. Amazing at his best, but overall, unfortunately not all through his own fault, he's been a disappointment here.
 
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It's even worse than I thought
 
Shaw is world class when he’s fit, but that’s the unfortunate problem, he can only be relied on for half a season, which isn’t helped by Malacia so being injured.

We either need a long term replacement or one that can step in until Amass is (potentially) ready.
 
Santos J said:
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It's even worse than I thought
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extending his contract with this injury record is beyond insanity

but seeing this makes me questioning what is actually happening to Malacia? he is already 14 month out and is said that he still needs another 2 month to be back. Shaw had his foot broken and could back less than a year
 
AmaraDanandra said:
extending his contract with this injury record is beyond insanity

but seeing this makes me questioning what is actually happening to Malacia? he is already 14 month out and is said that he still needs another 2 month to be back. Shaw had his foot broken and could back less than a year
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Malacia had surgery that didn't go as planned
 
Amar__ said:
Some posts aged really well, and it's been just few days. I really don't want to be this kind of guy, but all these are recent posts just continuing the same discussion, so it's more than fair to quote some folks.

How on earth is anyone still on his side, or thinking he is good/reliable enough to play for us?
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I've just noticed that my post below is in one of the posts you've quoted, and I'm confused as to why. As you can see, all that I wrote is that I understand why he is not in contention for the community shield game, given that he came back a week ago at that point, a player with a horrific injury history so pushing him to start might end with him getting injured again. But also that there are players that came back around the same time as he did, but were in contention for the game.

Nobody is defending him blindly or taking his side, nor saying he is reliable or that we don't need a new left-back. Note, that the post was written at a time when there was no news that he is injured, rather, simply getting back to match fitness.
Vidooq said:
He is not injured, even though, the last page or so gives the impression that he is. He is simply not match fit, and it will take him a week or two to get to that level.

I understand the anger to some of the fans as to why he hasn't arrived from holiday match fit, but he is crocked, and if you put him in the first team to play 90 minutes against City, he might get injured again. So I rather we work him into full fitness, than play him when he is not at 100%.

That being said, there are players that will likely start, that have came back around the same time as him.
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This latest series of events is one thing. But, when you add it to the sheer amount of time and games he has missed due to injuries and unavailability, it's just another reason why he cannot be trusted as the starting left back for this club. He's simply not there. I don't necessarily agree that he's good enough or one of the best in his position in the league, simply because he has hardly had a long enough run of games to allow us to formulate that opinion. There's no good being useful or great for 3 games and then missing 6. The best players are judged doing it and performing over long periods of time. I don't put Luke in that category, I'm afraid.

Part and parcel of being an elite sportsperson is keeping yourself fit and looking after yourself. If his body isn't up to it, then he's not cut out for it. He's not the only one as it can and has happened to so many. It isn't always in your control. But, as a club, we have to make tough decisions. As good as we think he might be, he isn't there. He isn't going to improve with availability, so this here is how it is always going to be. It's how it has always been. We are deluding ourselves if we think this is going to change.

Time to move on and give somebody else a chance. Looking at other opinions in this thread, it looks like the general consensus. I'm looking forward to a change.
 
Plant0x84 said:
That’s not enough. Post leg-break he has had patchy availability at best.
As an example the consensus is that Rashford plays better when Shaw plays because of what he offers. So he is directly impacting the teams attacking output aswell as his own LB position. If it unlocks Marcus then we need a LB who can reliably perform Shaws role instead of shoehorning a RB, a CB or a MF into the position.
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You are absolutely correct. I'm not suggesting that we go without bringing in a LB and it's my sense that Mazraoui has been brought in for that reason. But Shaw is under contract and he's not going to be sold, so unless Mazraoui puts in a string of world class performances when Shaw is fit he goes right back into the starting XI.
 
Should be sold at the end of this season.
 
AmaraDanandra said:
extending his contract with this injury record is beyond insanity

but seeing this makes me questioning what is actually happening to Malacia? he is already 14 month out and is said that he still needs another 2 month to be back. Shaw had his foot broken and could back less than a year
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United wanted Malacia to have an operation with a surgeon based in London, Malacia wanted to go home to have it done in the Netherlands. The club agreed to him having it done in the Netherlands, but he travelled and had the operation done without the club greenlighting it. During the period he was due to start the rehab phase, he had fragments found in his knee and had to go under the knife again with the same surgeon. Meaning he had to go through the process all over again.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...malacia-mystery-continues-manchester-29502254
 
cj_sparky said:
United wanted Malacia to have an operation with a surgeon based in London, Malacia wanted to go home to have it done in the Netherlands. The club agreed to him having it done in the Netherlands, but he travelled and had the operation done without the club greenlighting it. During the period he was due to start the rehab phase, he had fragments found in his knee and had to go under the knife again with the same surgeon. Meaning he had to go through the process all over again.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...malacia-mystery-continues-manchester-29502254
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The club agreed to it, but didn’t greenlight it?

And then they agreed to it again, once more without grenlighting it?

Do we have an issue with traffic lights now? (Must be becaus of De Red Ligt District)
 
izak said:
Should be sold at the end of this season.
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If he plays well this season, fans will start the Shawberto chants, which means media and fans will call it a scandal to sell him.

If he doesn't play well or is injured all season, then no one will buy him.
 
I think Luke Shaw has single handedly changed my opinion of football conditioning and that players should be 'eased in'.

There seems to be absolutely no point in 'easing' players in. All the squillions must spend on the best fitness coaches around, and it's still a fecking flip of a coin if they get injured or not (see: Yoro) regardless of how much cotton wool you wrap them in.

Play them when they're fit, and sod the rest :lol:
 
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pratyush_utd said:
Going to Euros when he was injured from February, leaking how “medical staff caused the extra injuries” and now this latest injury.

He clearly thinks keeping himself in shape is not required and he can get away with this at United
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Good point, I'd forgotten that story.

I guess he now blames his current injury on England rushing him back to soon then? :rolleyes:
 
RedDevil@84 said:
If he plays well this season, fans will start the Shawberto chants, which means media and fans will call it a scandal to sell him.

If he doesn't play well or is injured all season, then no one will buy him.
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That's why INEOS should get a backbone and they should take the tough football decisions themselves with no care in the world of what the fans think . No one dared questioning SAF about selling prime Beckham or RVN simply because we trusted the process and quite frankly he didn't give a feck what we thought.
 
devilish said:
That's why INEOS should get a backbone and they should take the tough football decisions themselves with no care in the world of what the fans think . No one dared questioning SAF about selling prime Beckham or RVN simply because we trusted the process and quite frankly he didn't give a feck what we thought.
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I doubt they have that kind of backbone. It is a world of PR teams, media sports journos/influencers. And needless to say the media loves a crisis at United story that gives them views.
 
RedDevil@84 said:
I doubt they have that kind of backbone. It is a world of PR teams, media sports journos/influencers. And needless to say the media loves a crisis at United story that gives them views.
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If they want to be successful then they simply have to be. Media is treacherous and even the United channels on youtube are knee deep in football political agenda
 
On the one hand, I'm sympathetic to his injury woes over the years due that horrific leg break, which apparently was so bad that amputation was on the cards. On the other, I think to myself, it is fair to criticise his overall conditioning and mentality over the years to circumvent this? Could he done better himself in regards to fitness?

I know Valencia's injury was different but his off the pitch work was immense, which I'm sure undoubtedly helped him for his recovery and longevity. Of course he's perhaps an edge case in terms of professionalism and self motivation but surely there's a middle ground. For all the 'naturally stocky build' comments, I can't help thinking Shaw isn't as trim as he could be for a professional athlete that has to do lots of hard running especially for his positioning. That's not even taking into the account his efforts on the pitch, which I find people tend to overrate.
 
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lex talionis said:
You are absolutely correct. I'm not suggesting that we go without bringing in a LB and it's my sense that Mazraoui has been brought in for that reason. But Shaw is under contract and he's not going to be sold, so unless Mazraoui puts in a string of world class performances when Shaw is fit he goes right back into the starting XI.
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Yes, I wonder if Mazraoui will take the RB spot and Dalot will be moved over to LB, as he was last season.
I’m not advocating that Shaw be sold but we should have a starting LB and use Luke as the backup/rotation. He clearly has issues with being the main starter in that his body doesn’t seem up to it anymore.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Yes, I wonder if Mazraoui will take the RB spot and Dalot will be moved over to LB, as he was last season.
I’m not advocating that Shaw be sold but we should have a starting LB and use Luke as the backup/rotation. He clearly has issues with being the main starter in that his body doesn’t seem up to it anymore.
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Dalot and Mazraoui can play either LB or RB so we'll probably see both play both and then we'll see where they settle. Amass impressed in pre-season and hopefully gets quality minutes this season.
 
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