Man Utd defender identified as "weakness" against Erling Haaland by Match of the Day pundits
Theo Walcott and Danny Murphy ran the rule over Manchester United's leaky backline against a "complete performance" from Erling Haaland.
Theo Walcott has highlighted Luke Shaw as Manchester United's weakness during their humiliating defeat to rivals Manchester City in the Premier League.
The former Arsenal and England star was speaking on Sunday's edition of Match of the Day alongside Danny Murphy and host Kelly Cates.
Walcott praised Erling Haaland as the "only one that stands out" among the world's best strikers right now following his brace in a 3-0 victory over United at the Etihad Stadium, but identified Shaw as a weak link for the visitors.
He said: "We talk about a lot of the number nines in world football at this moment in time. For me, there's only one that stands out because he always plays to his strengths.
"Erling Haaland, today, complete performance. We talk about Haaland at times in matches when he doesn't get involved in the game, but he was coming deep, he was showing his power, his presence, his physicality.
"He's probably in the best shape he could be right now. He's even back defending for his team in the Manchester derby. And the finish, you expect it now, you always expect these finishes.
"He always finds a weakness in any team, and Luke Shaw was that weakness today and the goal showed it for me."
While discussing clips of Shaw in action, Murphy agreed with the assessment of Shaw, but also felt a degree of sympathy for United players playing out of position in boss Ruben Amorim's intensely scrutinised 3-4-2-1 system.
Bruno Fernandes played in a deeper role and Shaw featured on the left-side of a back three, neither in their natural position.
The former Fulham man said: "This is bad defending whether you're a left-back or a centre-back, but [Shaw] is too square and it's too easy to fly by him.
"[Ruben] Amorim, if he wants to play that system, can't put square pegs in round holes. The manager has to take responsibility, but in terms of just blaming the system: no."
United are 14th in the Premier League table after four rounds of fixtures and will face fifth-placed Chelsea in the Saturday evening slot this weekend.
Check out more of our Sport coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
