Manchester United have improved under Ralf Rangnick. The German was appointed as interim manager upon the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the club in disarray and struggling for results.
Two United players that have benefitted dramatically from Rangnick's appointment are Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles, who had struggled for game-time under Solskjaer.
Dalot went on loan to AC Milan last season to get regular game time and was linked with a permanent move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer. This would have likely had been sanctioned if United had succeeded in their pursuit for Kieran Trippier.
But under Rangnick, the Portuguese right-back has made the position his own and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who seemed undroppable under Solskjaer, has seen his game-time limited. However, he has missed a lot of games recently through illness.
On the other side of the pitch, Telles has also seen his name in the starting XI more often, and with Luke Shaw missing through injury, many fans now see the Brazilian left-back as the starting defender over the Englishman.
But despite the team improving with Telles in it, Rangnick must not discredit Shaw's technical ability as he is still by far the superior player and still needs to be starting most of the time.
FBref provides all the following stats.
Telles has been hailed for his creative output and crossing ability from the left-hand side with some saying he is better than Shaw in this regard, but this may be false.
Telles averages 2.16 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes played compared to Shaw's 3.61, this means that of the two defenders, the English left-back is more creative, and in fact, his shot creation ranks among some of the best in the world in his position.
But Rangnick's system focuses on quickly getting the ball up the field, so how progressive are the two players?
In terms of progressive passes, Telles completes 4.2 per 90 minutes played. Shaw improves on this with 5.07 showing that Shaw's passes more regularly up the field than his Brazilian teammate.
Shaw's carrying ability from deep is one of his best attributes and was invaluable to how United built from the back under Solskjaer. If Rangnick can also utilise it, it would add another dimension to his attack. Shaw carries the ball better up the field and blows Telles out of the water in this regard, with 6.99 compared to 3 98.
One of the other none statistic based points is that both Telles and Dalot cross in the same way; they look to hit it early in front of the defensive line for an onrushing attacker to get on the end.
Shaw crosses differently, usually driving forward for as long as possible as he waits for the box to be loaded by players before swinging it in. We saw this for Mason Greenwood's goal against BSC Young Boys in the Champions League, and this versatility and variation will also benefit the team going forward.
Overall, Shaw is still United's best left-back, and when he returns from injury, he needs to regain his place in the side, but at least United now know if the player is injured again, they have a reliable backup behind him.
Who would you like to see start at left-back for Manchester United? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter and get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.
