It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Luke Shaw since he arrived at Manchester United in the summer of 2014, in a £30m deal.

The left-back has suffered from his fair share of bad injuries, his fitness levels haven’t been the best and a few of his managers have publicly had a go at him after some poor displays.

No wonder the Englishman’s confidence was shot.

Last term, Shaw just couldn’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of his boss Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager would dig out the full back and slate him after any disappointing performance.

Yet Luke didn’t seem to go in a huff or demand a move away from Old Trafford, during his summer off Shaw would redouble his training efforts while on holiday.

United were linked with many a left-back during the last twelve months but Shaw’s attitude and performances in preseason seem to have been enough for him to be given another chance under Mourinho.

The former Southampton man has started in all three Premier League games so far for Man Utd and played the full ninety minutes in all of them too.

Now while that’s coincided with a poor start to the season from the Red Devils, Luke Shaw has actually been one of very few United players to come away with some credit for his performances.

In total he’s managed to cover 29.5 km in those opening three games. He’ll always venture forward given half a chance. The twenty-three year old has attempted six dribbles in the league and completed them all. His passing success rate is above 80% and on average Luke’s winning two headers per game.

While Shaw still makes some defensive mistakes, he can get caught out of position, he’s still contributing for the backline; making on average 2.3 tackles per game and 2.7 clearances. In reality, Man United’s defensive woes are coming from the centre and not on left.

The marauding fullback has also managed to pick up his first goal in a Manchester United shirt in the opening weekend win against Leicester City. He may have got lucky with his first touch but Shaw’s finish across the Foxes keeper was superb.

It’s good to see the young left-back playing and playing well again.

Even Jose has managed to praise his left sided defender, even after a 3-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur:

“I told him you cannot play better than you did. Of course he is upset with the result, the kid has to be, but the kid has to know that he has had three very good matches in the Premier League and today he was very good. I am very happy with him.”

Luke Shaw’s return to form has also been noticed by Gareth Southgate and he’s been recalled to the England set-up.

Let’s hope that Shaw can continue to stay fit and improve as a player. He’s shown great determination and came through a lot of negatives to get back to where he is and that tells you a lot about his character!

 

Posted on September 1st, 2018 by scott
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