Shaw settling into City’s style of play
Published:Tuesday | November 15, 2022 | 12:12 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Reggae Girlz star striker Khadija Shaw is now well settled in England and is having an outstanding second season for Manchester City in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
The big striker has already scored nine goals and provided one assist in eight games in all competitions this season. She has scored seven goals from six games in the league.
Last season while not assured of her playing time, she bagged 13 goals and had three assists from 21 games.
The 25-year-old admitted that it took her some time and work with her video analyst to really settle into the Manchester City team and the Pep Guardiola way of playing.
“Manchester City play a certain way, from the senior men’s team going straight down and they have a certain structure.
“The style of play is completely different from what I was used to in France. So when I went to City it was an eyeopener,” she conceded.
Shaw said the philosophy of the club revolves around senior men’s coach Guardiola’s ideology which dominates the whole football structure.
As a result she spent a lot of time doing video analysis of her games in order to conform to the club’s way of playing, and it has been rewarding.
“Pep plays a massive role in the club and to adjust to how they wanted to play was very difficult, and I was also playing for minutes as well.
“After the first year, I reflected and looked back at all I could to get better and improve. I watched a lot of films. I came in and spoke to my video analyst and we did a lot of work together and as the games went on, I tried to improve on the areas that I was lacking in,” she disclosed.
In her first season at Bordeaux, Shaw scored 10 goals in 15 games, and followed that up the next season with 22 goals in 20 games.
Her 56 goals in 38 games for the senior Reggae Girlz makes her the country’s all-time leading scorer.
“I have always been consistent,” she added.