That applies to when Shaw is not playing well, not when he is.
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That applies to when Shaw is not playing well, not when he is.
Hes had one solid season in 8 years and 5 managers. Consistency also factors into what makes a good player and the consistency factor is quite damning for him
There is no one Shaw though. I’ve watched the Shaw you watch many times. I’ve also watched the other one too, who is a far better player than Malacia. My hope is that Malacia may bring THAT Shaw back - which would be a far bigger asset to the team.
You don't know what you're talking about. Stop.
If you think Shaw has demonstrated remotely enough consistency in his United career its clear you're off your rocker.
Even if he did, there's been zero evidence that Shaw can consistently hold that level. Only evidence to the contrary. There's more hope of Malacia improving further, which he 100% will, and being as good or better than that Shaw.
If you look at what Malacia was doing in Eredivisie in a more traditional fullback role, there is evidently a lot more to come from him in an attacking sense.
Malacia over Shaw everyday. Chubby Shaw dosent have the fitnesslevels to suit EtHs playing style. The fullbacks needs to have top top fitnesslevels - which Shaw dont have.
Malacia on the other hand is a beast.
Malacia on the other hand is a beast.
Perhaps, but I don’t factor any relevance into how a player player 8 years ago. Or 6 years ago. Season before last he was the best LB in Europe quite probably, and that was consistently over the course of a whole season. We need to try to get him back to that level.
Consistency/form is also relative to expectations. Malacia is being praised for being new. His performances have not been outstanding either, and if he just produces this level for 8 years, he’d be seen as average himself (ai don’t think he will, for the record).
I’m more than happy for Malacia to play based on last season’s version of Shaw. However, I know that Shaw has the greater capabilities of the two, and ultimately want the best LB we can get out there. And to me, that player is the best version of Shaw. IF we can get that player on the grass.
Feel like he is defending well because he is not really attacking.
Shaw could do that.
Telling Shaw to attack like he has gotten used to and then shout at him for not defending is like asking him to be Maldini off the ball whilst he is Shawberto Carlos on the ball.
Let’s see - whoever’s better will no doubt take the spot eventually.
Shaw could do that.
Telling Shaw to attack like he has gotten used to and then shout at him for not defending is like asking him to be Maldini off the ball whilst he is Shawberto Carlos on the ball.
Let’s see - whoever’s better will no doubt take the spot eventually.
Slowly but surely he will adapt and settle into the team and into PL games, I think his development should be prioritized and he continues as the starting LB (not only he is learning but he is also having an overall okay to good performances so far), I have a sneaky feeling he will become our new Evra in years to come, so unless he is unfit, he should start every game and Shaw should be selected for FA Cup/League Cup games only.
Sure, but last season he was atrocious. And the first two games of this season he looked pretty off the boil. If Malacia continues to displace him its because he's better. That's just the way I see it, regardless of how Shaw's peak was once upon a time.
He will have to build in his attacking game with time, but it’s perfectly fine that he has started out a little more cautious, while he is finding his feet.
I like his tenacity and calmness on the ball.
I like his tenacity and calmness on the ball.
Shaw was only around for a couple if months last season before being displaced by Telles. His once upon a time was literally 2021. He’s had no major injury since then and is only 26 or 27 still.
I’m happy for Malacia to play if Shaw is at his worst. However, out of Malacia, Shaw, Telles, Williams - all can fluctuate in form but only one of those has shown capability to be a world class full back. Again, IF we can get Shaw back to his best, then I’d play him every time. And given that I see no reason why it is impossible for him to get back to his best - I still hold hope for it.
Bruno Fernandes was terrible for much of last season. And the first two of this one. Yet many held out hope that he would suddenly return to form from two years ago. I can’t see why that can’t be the same for Shaw personally.
What I like about Malacia is that, of all our 4 LBs, he’s the one that appears to be most reliable to do the basics and bare minimum. Track his man, put a tackle in, be in the right place. That is why he gets in for me, because as great as Shaw can be, he has also shown form where he cannot even be relied upon to do the basics. I accept that. Malacia is therefore the ‘safer’ choice. Just like Elanga has been a safer choice to other more talented players because we found ourselves in a situation where we’ve had to go to basics and say ‘forget being brilliant for now, we just need someone who can actually run’. But we also know Elanga has the lowest upside if all on top form. I see Malacia over Shaw as a similar choice to Elanga over say, Martial. The latter are far better players, but when trying to build a team from scratch, the former can at least be trusted to do the basics. But then that could just as easily be Elanga over Neymar for the same reasons. Once we start looking like an elite team, we’d be better off with Shaw if he can get his act together IMO.
He isn't though is he? Not generally anyway. At his absolute best during the 20/21 season, Shaw was brilliant and as good as any left back out there. However, it's not like this is an accurate representation of him because he fails to deliver this level year in year out. Malacia brings an aggression and intensity that Shaw seriously lacks.
As a beagle owner this triggered me.
History shows we can't though mostly because he can't stay fit and injury free
Dunno about him not attacking, he is making the runs but he has a very lackadaisical Sancho to work with. He made a couple of nice runs in behind Leicester's defence that weren't picked out or were ignored. Seems as if he is still earning the trust of the rest of the team on an attacking front. Though he may just not be good enough in that regard. Early days though.
Dont be, he will come goodI am, I am (ffs). I just really want him to do well and I'm nervous for him
Yesterday, Sancho was too slow too often when receiving the ball. Until he had an overview and knew what to do next, Malacia was too far away and Leceister back in formation. He needs to be more direct
There's been many games we've hardly had any attacking output from Shaw yet he's been poor defending. Shaw's problem is his lack of concentration and intensity. He's a lazy shit as well.
Solid with some mistakes. I can see the famous hyping of someone when they're benched coming up again or injured as is happening with Shaw again.
He's lazy, no intensity, the will of a sloppy willy and always looks like he's carrying extra load around.
Has all the technical ability in the world, but aforementioned characteristics puts him down.
Malacia has done well and will only get better.
He's lazy, no intensity, the will of a sloppy willy and always looks like he's carrying extra load around.
Has all the technical ability in the world, but aforementioned characteristics puts him down.
Malacia has done well and will only get better.
I agree. I think he is a very good player on the ball and attacking will not be a problem. It's most likely a case of doing the basics good first before expanding on them.
It's the hope that kills you. That is like saying we should have bought Adama Traoré for his potential. I think he actually has more good games per season than Shaw does. Undisputably, Shaw has a high ceiling, but he is lazy off the ball, especially in defense, and his awareness is sometimes terrible. He has a really sweet first touch and great short passing, however.
Malacia will improve a lot though, very short sighted view
He can contribute a lot more going forward but he needs to settle and get comfortable with a new team in a new league
Which I have said a number of times in this thread.
And even then, the bolded is just calculated hope. Hope that I share, but it’s not mathematics, and there isn’t a guarantee that he has the attacking qualities to do much better than he is doing. We should of course be open-minded and optimistic, but it’s important, not only with Malacia, but with players in general to discuss the player that you see, not the hypothetical one factoring unrealised attributes that are yet to be demonstrated. It happens a lot, and leads to disappointment, a lot. Often takes ages for people to actually just start assessing the player in front of them, and then positivity often turns to negativity quickly.
Again, I would like to think Malacia will show more, but he hasn’t shown more, so as of right now, I’ve not been as impressed as others have. I also think that’s because he just hasn’t been that impressive, as if he performs exactly the same in 18 months, I suspect he would suddenly stop being so impressive to everyone. I remember the reaction on here after Telles debut in Paris. Elation. Few months later, the same level wasn’t good enough. Once whatever bias is removed, be it new player excitement, academy player hope - only then do people really see what’s happening for what it is IMO. Shaw has been in poor form for a while, but AS IT STANDS, Malacia doesn’t appear to have anywhere near the same level of quality. That might be alright to everyone today, but I doubt it will be tomorrow.
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He won't be able to do it warming the bench
Yeah, Shaw is a better footballer. The issue is that he’s bang out of form and doesn’t look arsed. Until that changes then Malacia will keep the spot.
No like what we've seen Malacia who hasn't even had one key pass in the 3 and a half games he played.
Malacia is better for the team right now but he'll need to start offering more soon enough.
Which is fine. That’s what a back up is for. My comment that seemed to start this debate was that I hope that we can get Shaw back on form, because, as you say - he is a better player. Simple really.
It’s great that we have another serviceable option to rotate with, but if Shaw is playing well, we would be better served with him playing because, for all the praise Malacia’s performances have drawn, I wouldn’t say that they have objectively been anything special. I just want us to have the best we can out there. Right now, that is Malacia on form, as he can at least be relied upon to do the basics which Shaw cannot. However, Shaw is capable of far more than the basics, and if we can get that back, we’d be better for it.
I like him a lot. Not fussed that he's not overlapping much. At least he doesn't look allergic to the ball like the other non-attacking full back we have.
Though whenever we have the ball, he seems to be tucking into midfield rather than overlapping. I doubt he's doing that without being instructed, and it's worked quite well in the last 3 games, having an extra man in there that we usually wouldn't have. He's also very quick and precise with his passes, so it's a good man to have there. Let Dalot overlap and Malacia tuck in, it's a good system, one that City have played quite well under Pep.
Though whenever we have the ball, he seems to be tucking into midfield rather than overlapping. I doubt he's doing that without being instructed, and it's worked quite well in the last 3 games, having an extra man in there that we usually wouldn't have. He's also very quick and precise with his passes, so it's a good man to have there. Let Dalot overlap and Malacia tuck in, it's a good system, one that City have played quite well under Pep.
Ive seen Dalot move into midfield too when we have the ball. At points it was Dalot next to McT when the ball was on the left. And Eriksen and Bruno pushed up.
I think its instructed.
Ive liked Malacia for the most part and theres no reason at all why he should be dropped for Shaw like some have suggested.
I have no doubts whatsoever he's good enough for United. Sometimes when a player makes a big move they'll change and play it more safe, but I'm seeing the same player as he was at Feyenoord. Can't be easy to adjust to the pace of the Premier League, but I feel like he's doing that just fine. Wether he'll become world class remains to be seen, but 11 players don't need to be world class to win trophies. He will always put a shift in and doesn't shy away from the ball or his opponent.
I think you're too invested and micro-analysing.
As a 'neutral' basing only from what we've seen at his time here, I think he has all the raw potential. He's got good footballing intelligence, technique, athleticism and hustle. It's just down to luck, his manager and the team selection (i.e forming partnerships and understanding) from now. I think he can become a very good system player but I wouldn't be expecting many individual moments from him, which is fine as I rate his all around play. It's why we're saying he's a bit like an Evra regen.
Shaw's biggest attribute is that he has both the technique and physical ability to do everything you've just outlined in this post and to top if off he's actually shown it. Conversely, his biggest issue is motivation and intensity.
Shaw can lock down and run the whole left wing if he wanted to. That's what fans and even I are hoping he can do under ETH because there's not many players than can do that. It's a big if and it's the hope that gets you. Just like Martial and Rashford etc.
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I think Shaw's best periods have come when he was bombing down the wing on the overlap, getting crosses/cutbacks and even getting into goalscoring positions.
However, I don't even think that's what ETH wants when you look at how Dalot and Malacia play for the most part. Like I said, they both tuck in and are helping progress the ball through interplay and positioning, rather than lung busting moves. This is where Shaw fails, for me. Shaw's spends too long on the ball and is too risk averse in his passing, often going backwards if no clear route is available. Dalot and Malacia engineer routes forward and Malacia in particular is far more aggressive in his passing than Shaw had ever been.
And this is before we even consider the defensive issues with Shaw that I mentioned and have always been prevalent in his game.
I don't see what you see in him obviously, because the idea that he can lock down the LW on his own just sounds so far away from the player I see.
Actually disagree. Shaw would be brilliant in an inverted position. He just need to show more intensity to his game. At times, he can be lazy . He has a brilliant touch and a good pass in his locker.
I disagree
I don't think he's capable of playing through the lines like Malacia has shown already and is the most guilty party for going backwards instead of picking a forward pass out when it's sightly lower percentage.
We'll see what happens anyway. Malacia will be given a break eventually so it's on Shaw to make a claim.
I agree that Shaw back passes too much. I've said it many times in his own performance thread. For someone of his size, touch and athleticism, he's on his heels too much and too often goes back when an opposition player fronts him. However, if he wants it, he has the ability to tuck inside and play as a good ball retention option and with his ball carrying ability, can open up angles.
As for the bolded part, I think sooner or later, ETH will need raw athleticism in terms of overlaps to create space. We cannot expect to beat teams in this league or in Europe through controlled possession and isolations, especially when we don't have players who can do this. Rashford and Martial are the only ones in our team who can genuinely beat a player from a standing start situation. It's not Sancho's forte and we will see about Antony. Anyways, it's all based on a massive if. We will discuss this in Shaw's thread when he plays next!
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He definitely is capable of doing all of those things when he is at his best (20/21). However, unfortunately you don't get that version of Luke Shaw year in year out.I disagree
I don't think he's capable of playing through the lines like Malacia has shown already and is the most guilty party for going backwards instead of picking a forward pass out when it's sightly lower percentage.
We'll see what happens anyway. Malacia will be given a break eventually so it's on Shaw to make a claim.
I don't see where this Shaw is a better player is coming from. The guy is fat, has no fitness, has no hunger, can't cross for the life of him, can't defend as he's been part of one of the most porous defences we've had in a long time. The guy is the Maguire of left backs. Woeful. New guy comes in, instantly the left side looks way more solid defensively (the job of a left back) yet Shaw is better? Yeh pass me some of the pingers thanks
While I agree with both of you that the upside we've seen from Shaw is greater than what we have from Malacia so far, watch this short clip of his ECL final performance vs Jose's As Roma:
What this tells me is, although we're seeing a lot of intensity and basics from Malacia so far, he's still playing largely within himself.
Once he and the team settles, he'll start strutting his stuff and being more expressive. The difference in upside between him and Shaw isn't as great as people may think. Definitely not as wide as Martial vs Elanga and, we're likely to see his top level more consistently.
Ps: he's definitely a better passer than Shaw.
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