How Good Is Luke Shaw?
How good is Manchester United's top target Luke Shaw is a question on the mind of every Manchester United supporter. United have reportedly made a bid of 27m Pound for the teenage Southampton left back and are eager to complete the deal before the youngster flies to Brazil with the England squad.
A part of Southampton's youth system, the young left back made his first-team debut for the club in January 2012, and signed his first professional contract in May the same year before becoming a regular in the Southampton first team. On 5 March 2014, he made his senior international debut for England in a 1-0 friendly win against Denmark.
So how good is the Saints left back?
Shaw is an attacking full back and loves to bomb forward, when you compare last seasons stats of Leighton Baines, Patrice Evra and Luke Shaw it emerges that Shaw is the most attack minded of the three. Shaw completed nearly 60 dribbles compared to Leighton Baines 30 and Patrice Evra 25.
Shaw also registered a greater number of shots on target with 24 to his name, edging Baines 21 and Evra 19. When you compare the stats of number of crosses Baines is far ahead though with almost 225 crosses to his name where's Shaw and Evra have close to 150.
The young left back is also solid defensively and for a kid of just 18 to perform so consistently in a demanding and tough league is indeed impressive.
Saints captain Adam Lallana who has played along side Gareth Bale and Oxdale Chamberlain has described Shaw as the best young talent he has played alongside. He went on to describe him as the 'best 18 year-old he has ever seen.'
The young defender is without doubt good enough to be a long term successor of Patrice Evra but the only question mark that still remains is that will the youngster be able to cope with the huge pressure of playing for a big club like Manchester United. Wilfried Zaha's big money move didn't work out that well despite his talents will Shaw's fate be different? This is a question that will only be answered once the transfer is completed and the defender is put to test.
So how good is the Saints left back?
Shaw is an attacking full back and loves to bomb forward, when you compare last seasons stats of Leighton Baines, Patrice Evra and Luke Shaw it emerges that Shaw is the most attack minded of the three. Shaw completed nearly 60 dribbles compared to Leighton Baines 30 and Patrice Evra 25.
Shaw also registered a greater number of shots on target with 24 to his name, edging Baines 21 and Evra 19. When you compare the stats of number of crosses Baines is far ahead though with almost 225 crosses to his name where's Shaw and Evra have close to 150.
The young left back is also solid defensively and for a kid of just 18 to perform so consistently in a demanding and tough league is indeed impressive.
Saints captain Adam Lallana who has played along side Gareth Bale and Oxdale Chamberlain has described Shaw as the best young talent he has played alongside. He went on to describe him as the 'best 18 year-old he has ever seen.'
The young defender is without doubt good enough to be a long term successor of Patrice Evra but the only question mark that still remains is that will the youngster be able to cope with the huge pressure of playing for a big club like Manchester United. Wilfried Zaha's big money move didn't work out that well despite his talents will Shaw's fate be different? This is a question that will only be answered once the transfer is completed and the defender is put to test.
