Should Luke Shaw be converted to a midfielder?

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
So, let me start with saying at first before his injury he was showing great promise as a flying fullback. He was strong in pretty much every department, apart from scoring and assisting.

He was doing really well at the start of his career with us, but then the dreaded leg break happened, and it's never really gone right for him since then. He obviously struggles with fitness, he's a big lad and his body type just doesn't suit flying up and down the wing all game.

Probably linked with the injury, he seems to pick up lots of musclar injuries, which I don't think is helped by playing arguably the hardest physical position in football.

For me looking at this list of strengths:

Standing tackles.

Acceleration.

Passing.

Holding the ball under pressure

Individual duels.

I feel that with his traits, he could make a fantastic LCM, or even CDM.

I think he would play the position similarly to a young Anderson, driving with the ball through the middle of the pitch, or able to overlap the winger on occasion.

Defensively there isn't many that'll run passed him, and he's very good at tackling one on one.

In the air he's good and wins plenty of headers.

He's shown recently to have a very good strike on him, and he's quite a creative passer when around the box.

For me with the emergence of Williams i'd love to see Shaw given a try in that position.
 
Luke Shaw's best destination is outside the club. That's should happen as soon as possible.
 
How about we get an actual midfielder in that role and not one that constantly misses half a season?
 
You want to take a player who struggles with fitness, and put him in the engine room?

Aside fro that glaring issue, Shaw is quite one-footed also, so would not be suited to a role in the middle of the park.
 
He must be converted to a fully fit footballer first
 
Having a fat arse isn't a strength for a midfielder.

Well you can say that it is, among with other things you mentioned. But really though We don't need another rushy midfielder. What We lack is a calm, controlling CM who can play passes under pressure. We already have nutcases in Fred and Pogba if what you want is a new Anderson.

I think due to his nature as a fullback it'll be hard for him to be a LCM. He'll not be calm and his instinct will tell him to just run whenever He gets the ball and ends up overlapping with LB. Also about CDM, it's different type of defending than what a fullback does. It's not only about tracking runners but being in the correct position to intercept passes.

Let's just buy a new midfielder and keep playing him as what He's best at.
 
Positionally I think he’d be lost in midfield

I think he’s fine at full back tbh, just needs to stay fit and fight for his place
 
He’s one of those players that I regularly forget exists until either: he makes his annual 3 appearances before being helped down the tunnel in the first half, or someone makes a thread about him on here.

For what it’s worth, he’s a very talented player (in my opinion) but injuries will always be his Achilles heel (for the want of a better expression).
 
If it was up to the caf we would be lining up like this:

DDG
Tuanzebe - AWB - Bailly - Williams
Lindelof
Maguire - TFM
Dalot - Greenwood - Shaw​
 
I like Shaw, but I think the reality of the situation is that come the end of the season he's going to be fighting a hungry Williams for a regular starting spot. And given how much time he spends out injured he's probably going to lose that fight.
 
Left Centre-Half whenever we deploy a three-men defence and that's about it. It was bad enough that we left him without any competition on the left flank. Even a 19 yo inexperienced newbie looks as good as Shaw has ever been for us. Fitness problems, bad luck with injuries or whatever, it should be clear by now that we should be looking to move him to the periphery of the first team instead of rewarding him with more important key roles.
 
Let's convert him into the Director of Football. At least getting him on the pitch wouldn't be a prerequisite.
 
Could be worth a try. He does look like a midfielder playing at fullback.
 
balaks said:
From what I have seen of Shaw he doesnt have the ability to play in midfield.
Click to expand...
Why do you think this? If Sissoko can do it then I see no reason why Shaw couldn't.
 
No, buy an actual midfielder instead of this and also get a left back to compete with/replace Shaw.
 
Why not convert him into a right-sided attacker while we're at it?
 
Judas said:
Why do so many of our fans want to keep hold of players, coming up with bizarre ways to use them. Do other teams fans do this?
Click to expand...
I played Beckham as GK in Winning Eleven, He did ok.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Why do you think this? If Sissoko can do it then I see no reason why Shaw couldn't.
Click to expand...

Sissoko is physically very strong and quick and although he has limited ability on the ball he is able to drive through the midfield with power and is extremely difficult to stop. Not sure what Shaw could offer.
 
I'm not seeing this at all. Get him fit and playing well at left back before we start discussing conversions to midfield.
 
It's time for him to leave when this question gets asked. I don't think it's as daft an idea as most here, but the idea of having to give someone the time to learn a new role when they can't even learn their current one due to being injured so often sounds like more trouble than it's worth.
 
balaks said:
Sissoko is physically very strong and quick and although he has limited ability on the ball he is able to drive through the midfield with power and is extremely difficult to stop. Not sure what Shaw could offer.
Click to expand...
Shaw is just as strong and quick as Sissoko, that was my point. He'd offer a similar style of ball carrying which could prove very tricky to stop.

I'd argue Shaw is better on the ball than Sissoko also, his link up play is very good in tight spaces and he's shown good ability to pick a pass in the box.
 
Should be converted to Chinese Renminbi ASAP if you ask me.
 
Generally a midfield role requires a wider set of skills than a fullback one. There were precedents of underwhelming midfielders moved outwide but I don't remember even one case when an underwhelming fullback got moved centrally and shined in his new role.
 
Convert him to a former player. Then go out and buy a midfielder to play in midfield. No more converting please.
 
harms said:
Generally a midfield role requires a wider set of skills than a fullback one. There were precedents of underwhelming midfielders moved outwide but I don't remember even one case when an underwhelming fullback got moved centrally and shined in his new role.
Click to expand...

Fabinho? I don't remember watching him as a FB but remember reading he wasn't very good like he was as defensive midfielder.
 
Another square peg in a round hole type conversion.

This is elite level sport. The pinnacle of football and we are one of the biggest names in the game. We should just sign an actual midfielder if that’s what we’re lacking. None of these type experiments.

And from all those “strengths” listed by Shaw - playing left back and central midfield is a world of difference. Positioning, time, awareness of space, passing lanes are much different between the 2 positions.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Shaw is just as strong and quick as Sissoko, that was my point. He'd offer a similar style of ball carrying which could prove very tricky to stop.

I'd argue Shaw is better on the ball than Sissoko also, his link up play is very good in tight spaces and he's shown good ability to pick a pass in the box.
Click to expand...
He has zero awareness to what's happening around him though, which is crucial for any midfielder. He needs to be instructed from the sidelines still ffs.
 
Samid said:
If it was up to the caf we would be lining up like this:

DDG
Tuanzebe - AWB - Bailly - Williams
Lindelof
Maguire - TFM
Dalot - Greenwood - Shaw​
Click to expand...
:lol: Painfully accurate
 
Adam-Utd said:
So, let me start with saying at first before his injury he was showing great promise as a flying fullback. He was strong in pretty much every department, apart from scoring and assisting.

He was doing really well at the start of his career with us, but then the dreaded leg break happened, and it's never really gone right for him since then. He obviously struggles with fitness, he's a big lad and his body type just doesn't suit flying up and down the wing all game.

Probably linked with the injury, he seems to pick up lots of musclar injuries, which I don't think is helped by playing arguably the hardest physical position in football.

For me looking at this list of strengths:

Standing tackles.

Acceleration.

Passing.

Holding the ball under pressure

Individual duels.

I feel that with his traits, he could make a fantastic LCM, or even CDM.

I think he would play the position similarly to a young Anderson, driving with the ball through the middle of the pitch, or able to overlap the winger on occasion.

Defensively there isn't many that'll run passed him, and he's very good at tackling one on one.

In the air he's good and wins plenty of headers.

He's shown recently to have a very good strike on him, and he's quite a creative passer when around the box.

For me with the emergence of Williams i'd love to see Shaw given a try in that position.
Click to expand...

If you take a look in the Workrate thread https://www.redcafe.net/threads/workrate.421867/ , there are figures for the average distance covered per 90 mins for each of our players in CL matches last season and possibly the previous season. Anyway, Luke Shaw is a 10.0 km per 90 mins player, with a tendency to drop below that figure, sometimes closer to 9.5 km per 90 mins. Of the various central midfielders in recent times, Pogba covers the least ground at 10.5 km per 90 mins. The likes of Matic, Fred and McTominay are in the range 11.0 to 11.5 km per 90 mins. From memory, McTominay was 12.0 km for the PSG away game, with Fred not far behind.

So that would be a significant issue to overcome. I don't have the expertise to know if it would be practically impossible at this stage in his career.
 
Last edited:
harms said:
There were precedents of underwhelming midfielders moved outwide...
Click to expand...

Yep - and, for that matter, several high-profile examples of players who were quite good, not to say brilliant, in both roles.

But fairly mediocre crocks making the transition from FB to CM - not bloody likely, I'd say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.