Luke Shaw’s Manchester United career began in 2014 as a £30M signing — the highest amount paid for a teenager at the time — and has so far, been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. From being told that he needed to “change his football brain” to establishing himself as one of the best Left-backs in the game. From suffering a nigh-career-ending double leg fracture that also almost cost him his leg to accruing 267 appearances for both Club and Country since the injury[at the time of this writing].
Over his career, Shaw has exhibited his tactical intelligence and versatility by taking on different on-pitch roles on the left-hand side, having played as a Wing-back, as an attacking Full-back, as a conservative Full-back and as an inverted Full-back. He has also featured and given a solid account of his abilities as a left Centre-back.
At this point, I don’t think his “football brain” can be questioned, eh José?
I believe the valid questions now are;
• Have we truly seen the best of Luke Shaw?
• What role maximizes Luke Shaw’s abilities?
Before arriving at the answers to these questions, we need to examine a couple of things first, flow with me.
Football is far removed from the age of classic number 10s — like Dennis Bergkamp, Zinedine Zidane, Juan Roman Riquelme and of more recency, Juan Mata & Mesut Özil — who were the heliocentric figures around which their teams were built, and bore almost all of the creative burden in the team.
The fall in the value of these players was preceded and effected by the increased defensive protection of the zones they operated in; the central channel / zone 14. As a result, players who would be #10s in that era have been pushed wider[e.g. Kevin De Bruyne] and deeper[e.g. Christian Eriksen].
Teams now defend in increasingly complex and compact defensive forms with the primary aim of preventing entry into the most potential area of the pitch; the center.
For the team in-possession, this means two things;
• The less protected and more accessible spaces are now outside and in front of defensive blocks.
• Generation of threat by exploiting the opponent’s defensive transitions and modulations when they are less compact becomes more important.
The aforementioned consequences both indicate a need for players who can move the ball up the pitch and help the team transit forward as accurately and as quickly as possible in attacking transitions..
..and also help break down blocks and create chances from deeper areas where the spaces are when the opponent settles in a block.
This player profile can be termed ‘Deep Creator’. Players who belong to this class have the passing range, composure, vision and creativity to transform defence to attack with one pass and to consistently generate threat and create chances from deeper areas. Some notable players in this class are midfielders like Toni Kroos & Enzo Fernandez and defenders like Trent Alexander-Arnold & Joao Cancelo.
These players are valuable in low-possession teams that utilize counter-attacks and set-pieces as their primary methods of chance-creation but the true value of Deep Creators is revealed in possession-heavy teams, where they multiply the attacking potential of the team. If the opponent defends deep, they have more space and time to create chances. If the opponent engages aggressively in a bid to stifle their creative threat, then spaces for other players to attack open up within the structure. Set-pieces. Attacking transitions. It is practically impossible to completely negate the impact of Deep Creators.
Two of the best football teams over the past years; Manchester City and Liverpool owe a huge chunk of their dominance to their deep creators; Cancelo and Alexander-Arnold respectively.
Cancelo did not have a zone of influence as large as TAA’s but City complemented him with Kevin De Bruyne. Having two potent creators operating in opposite areas of the pitch[advanced & deep, right-sided & left-sided] greatly improved the effectiveness and dynamism of City’s attacking play.
Now that we have established the importance of Deep Creators, the next is to examine if Manchester United have players who fit or can fit into the class of Deep Creators.
💊 A LUKE INTO THE SQUAD🔎
Bruno Fernandes is one that fits the bill and Erik ten Hag has tried to tap into that potential by playing him deeper this season. However, he is better suited to operating in advanced areas where his off-ball movements and goal-scoring ability can also be utilized.
Luke Shaw is a perfect fit for this role, he ticks the cognitive, affective and physio-technical boxes required to be a Deep Creator.
The viz above shows Shaw’s stats in the last two seasons under Ole Gunner Solksjær and in the first two seasons of Erik ten Hag.
In the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons, Shaw had a lot of positional freedom — especially vertically, frequently bombing up the flanks in overlaps and underlaps — and creative license to generate threat and create chances with his driving runs, combination play and final passes. He made the best of the freedom he was given and consistently posted elite numbers for a full-back in the relevant stats for measuring creativity.
Since Erik ten Hag’s arrival, his creative responsibility or load has reduced but his increasing occupation of deeper and more central zones as a conservative LB or as a LCB — as opposed to a typical attacking FB — has drawn out more of his creative range in terms of both distance and variety of solutions from different areas of the pitch, game-states and attacking forms. His performances in the last season particularly highlighted his potential as a deep creator in different attacking scenarios.
Here’s Luke Shaw against Low-Blocks✅
..against higher defensive engagements✅
..transitions✅
..set-pieces✅
This is creative excellence, not on par with the quality and range of your Trents and Cancelos but nonetheless needs to be leveraged as much as possible by platforming him better and providing more conducive conditions for his creative talents. Now, how can we do that? We can glean the answer from how Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich maximized their creative FBs — Alexander-Arnold, Cancelo & Kimmich respectively.
They are not completely similar profiles so they have[/ had] slightly different roles, but all three execute[d] their roles in two common conditions;
I. Positioning in more potential areas i.e. central and deep zones, where there is less pressure and more space & time to pick out passes, available angles of play are all-round and the closeness to goal gives the opponent less time to prepare for and defend crosses[and passes in general].
II. Augmented creative responsibility via increased individual possession of the ball and relatively high degrees of creative and positional freedom.
Joao Cancelo went from a Wing-back role at Juventus to one of the league’s best creators as an Inverted Full-back at Man. City, as a deep and central position allowed him to impact all areas of the pitch and have more possession of the ball.
Both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool have seen an upsurge in performances and results since Trent began to operate more from the center, where he can better utilize his creative freedom..
..and easily create scenarios like this one.
Joshua Kimmich’s move into midfield — albeit permanently — has also allowed him to improve the quantity[volume] and quality[value] of his attacking contributions, ranking high amongst the best creators in the game.
Basically, you want your best creators in the inside-channels / half-spaces, whether deep or advanced, where they can have more space and time on the ball whilst maintaining a strong connection to the center.
The same conditions mentioned before have to be created for Shaw in order to leverage his creative talents better.
Asides that, there are also other potential advantages of a deep and central Luke Shaw for the Man. United team, let’s examine a few of them.
💊 TACTICAL ADVANTAGES.
1. Transition Defending — Having Shaw as the LCB or as an inverted LB aids our ability to control and prevent danger from our defensive transitions in two ways; Quality of Rest-defence and Speed of Modulation.
• Rest-Defence.
A deeper position for Shaw means that when the ball is progressed to the higher rungs of attack, he forms a part of the rest-defence unit, with his natural defensive instincts and proficiency in duels helping him add more defensive value — on top of the immense offensive value — than most other deep creators like Alexander-Arnold, Cancelo, Enzo, Kroos etc.
Also, playing closer to Lisandro can help mask his[Lisandro’s] physical deficiencies.
• Modulation.
In the last article about ‘Space-Eaters’, I used the term ‘Modulation’ to describe the switch between the two defensive forms; a Block & a Press.
“In open and settled play between both boxes, a team can either defend with a block[passive defence of the spaces within and behind the block] or with a press[direct engagement in order to regain possession in front of the block]. When modulating between both defensive forms, the team temporarily loses cohesion and the spaces within are easier to attack.
In an Aggressive Modulation[Block → Press], the spaces are being opened and although the pressure being applied makes it difficult for the player with the ball to play a forward pass, it is nonetheless a vulnerable period for the out-of-possession team. In a Passive Modulation[Press → Block], the spaces are being closed but retracting pressure makes it easier for the player with the ball to play a forward pass into the spaces.”
Post-transition, if the team is not cohesive enough to counter-press and falls into a block immediately or if the counter-press is unsuccessful and the team falls into a block afterwards, having Shaw as an inverted FB — instead of high and wide — eases and quickens the pace of modulation into a block.
2. Dynamism of Attacking Play — Luke Shaw’s versatility across multiple zones and roles allows for the accommodation of the different player profiles in midfield and attack by allowing them to operate in their zones and roles of maximum impact. His abilities can also be leveraged to both widen and improve the team’s dynamism in-possession.
• Balance in attack.
The viz below shows a lack of a significant creative presence on the left and how much the team relies on Bruno Fernandes to create chances from the right.
Shaw assuming the role of a deep creator will help reduce the creative burden on Fernandes and allow him to contribute more goals. It also creates a more balanced attack that can generate threat from both sides, a lower-quality version of the KDB — Cancelo creative pair where one creator operates in the right, advanced inside-channel[Bruno] and the other operates in the left, deep inside-channel[Shaw].
This dynamic makes it much more difficult to defend against the team. Sit deep — give Shaw more space & time, press high — more space between the lines for Bruno, tilt to the left — Shaw has more space & time, tilt to the right — Bruno has more space & time.
• Quick Transits & Transitions.
If we are to become the “best transition team in the world” or realistically, one of the best, we need to foster solid relationships between our deeper lying players and frontline players.
In Marcus Rashford, we have one of the most dangerous forwards in large spaces. Rasmus Højlund is one of the most promising young CFs and is already a very potent outlet. Alejandro Garnacho’s development so far is also quite promising of a potential top player.
To leverage their abilities in large spaces, we need to quickly and consistently find them with passes when the opponent is not settled into a block or is defending[in a block or press] high, in order to set them up in as many 1v1s with either the FBs or GK as possible. To do this, we have to look to get the ball to our best long and creative passer from deep — Luke Shaw, both in counter-attacks[transitions] and in settled possession[fast transits].
Basically, we have to cultivate a strong bond akin to Trent’s with Mane and Salah at Liverpool’s peak or Cancelo’s with Sterling.
That is how we can create sequences like this..
..and this.
Luke Shaw as a deep creator makes this possible.
• Better Build-up play.
Aside from his ability to create chances directly, Luke Shaw is also reasonably decent at manipulating blocks, creating pass lanes and punching passes into the block through those pass lanes. He is also resistant to pressure and is a skilled carrier / dribbler across short and long distances.
Stationing him deeper helps to improve the team’s ability to break blocks down or play through presses.
• Accommodation of different profiles.
Christian Eriksen and Kobbie Mainoo have similar preferred zones, they both primarily operate deeper but situationally roam forward into the spaces between the lines. Mason Mount, however, primarily operates between the lines but situationally drops deeper to contribute to build-up.
The different profiles of our LCMs should necessitate tweaks in the game-model but Shaw’s versatility across different zones negates the need for significant changes to accommodate them.
With Mount as the LCM, Shaw can take on more build-up responsibility, allowing Mount to spend more time higher up and support the LW with underlaps whilst Shaw occasionally provides overlapping support runs from deep.
With Kobbie or Eriksen as the LCM, we can have a more fluid build-up play with either the LCM and Shaw rotating between the advanced and deep inside-channels / half-spaces or with both the LCM and Shaw positioned deep, increasing the pass options in and easing build-up whilst isolating the LW with the opponent RB.
Another possible variation is Shaw moving wide and slightly higher to be able to then support the LW with an overlap / underlap.
💊 THE CODA!
In a low-scoring sport like Football, the most impactful players on the pitch are not necessarily those in the 1000th percentile of progressive passes and carries, nor those with the highest number of passes, nor the most aesthetically pleasing ones, but those who are directly involved in scoring[Creators and Goalscorers] and preventing[Defenders and Goalkeepers] goals.
It then naturally follows that these players are the ones that should be platformed best, with the rest of the team being built around these players in order to get the best out of them.
While fans often like to romanticize the less important things, the Pros understand that the events around and in both boxes are much more important and look to set up their teams so as to be able to control these events as much as possible. Liverpool this season is an excellent example of a team following this rule and despite both tactical and personnel flaws, this simple rule has kept them up on the table.
Manchester United have failed to properly platform their most impactful players, with the consequences being ranking 11th in the league with 29.1xG, 12th with 32.5 xGA, 18th with 22 goals scored and 12th with goal difference of -5 in 20 games this season.
Over the years, it has also led to a wastage or inefficient use of the talents of players like Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku etc.
This has to change, and the change has to begin with maximizing the present crop of players, Luke Shaw included.
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Love,
Silva♥️.
