A group of shy younsgters walked past the media in Manchester United tracksuits at 1am on Thursday morning in Astana. They were actually the United team and looked as uneasy as Alexis Sanchez in a football shirt last season.
The players walked from the heated Astana arena and into the the 18 degrees below freezing darkness, towards the team bus where hundreds of local fans waited to see them. One female fan held up a sign saying “Mason Greenwood. Pls give me your shirt”. There have been too many of those requests for them to appear original and besides, the visitors were kept a distance from the fans – not that they would have recognised most of the team.
One of the more familiar faces walking by was Luke Shaw. The full-back is like the cat with nine lives, unlucky and yet lucky to be at the club for so long after so few performances. He’s the best paid left back in the world, yet he’s not close to being the best left back in the Premier League. He’s also played fewer than half the games possible since he moved to Old Trafford for a world record teenage transfer fee of £27 million in 2014.
I find it funny that every youth fullback we have at the club are better at attacking than Luke Shaw is
— JTG Productions (@JTGProductionYT) November 28, 2019
Shaw was the players’ player of the year last season, his fifth season at the club where, like the team he’s part of, he’d failed to hit the expected heights. Although he was a PPOTY winner chosen from a field noticeably lacking them, Shaw deserved the award for a steady period in which he played 40 games, far more than any of his other seasons at Old Trafford.
Thursday night in Astana was Shaw’s 101st United start – an average of less than 20 per season. 2018-19 also began with his only United goal in the opener against Leicester and, for the first time, he played most of the season – barring his usual autumn injury. The Londoner has been injured at one point in the autumn in five of his six United seasons. He’d called his career ‘rough’ and said he wouldn’t wish his injuries on anyone, but he’s also frustrated every United manager he’s ever played under, so much so that two called him out publicly.
Shaw has had plenty to occupy him this season. He’s just become a father for the first time but professionally he’s again been injured for the majority. A hamstring picked up on the third league game against Palace was followed by a muscle injury. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. Once seen as England’s long term full-back, he has started one game for his country since 2015. He has eight caps in eight years – as many as he collected in seven months for England’s under 17s.
United, who are big on numbers and stats – one reason they let Ander Herrera go – will not let this go on forever. The club felt the Spaniard wasn’t playing enough games to justify his wage demands – Paul Pogba played more games than Herrera and Mata combined last season. Shaw has played far, far fewer than all the above. He has that lucrative contract until 2023, one negotiated when he was playing every week and his injuries appeared to be behind him.
Maybe he can put that behind him. It would delight his parents who are the most committed of all the parents, watching their son at games home and away. Well, along with Scott McTominay’s father. Shaw’s 24 and for the first time he was older than the average age of the United team in Astana.
It is good to see Luke Shaw back and starting. Whilst my views on his ability are known it is always useful to get first team members back especially when the squad has clear fitness issues.
Also, pay attention to Chong's performance. It may be a final audition for him.
— UtdArena. (@utdarena) November 28, 2019
His lack of sharpness was understandable as he was caught in possession against a side several leagues below Premier League quality foes. Too many of his final balls were poor, though he did assist for Jesse Lingard’s goal and would have had two assists had Tahith Chong not missed an open goal. Solskjaer speaks positively about every player, but he has doubts about Shaw and his incessant injuries.
There was the hamstring injury picked up in his first month at the club in August 2014 – a month he was criticised by Luis Van Gaal for his poor attitude. An ankle injury in November 2014 followed which kept the former Southampton man out until January. There was another hamstring injury in March 2015, a facial injury in May 15, followed by a horrendous double leg fracture in September which kept him out for the rest of the season. That was a great shame as he’d started that term well.
When Shaw returned he went almost three months before his next injury, this time in the groin. That kept him out for another two months. He did four more with no injuries before a damage to his foot which kept him out for another four months. This season, the hamstring/ muscle injury against Palace has kept him out for five league games and all the cup games until Astana. United sent him for warm weather training in Dubai, the place he went with Adnan Januzaj in the summer of 2015 in a determined effort to get fit for the season which worked then.
After years of United having settled left-backs Dennis Irwin and Patrice Evra, Solskjaer wants the same continuity. Several players have filled in the position but only now does Brandon Williams, look like a he might fill the berth. Williams is a tough boy from a tough part of Manchester. Solskjaer really likes him.
When Evra played, pretenders to his position didn’t get a chance to replace him because Evra was willing to play through pain or personal crisis. Those rivals all moved on. Not that anyone would want a footballer to jeopardise his future by aggravating an injury by ignoring it.
Prospective left-backs have had a lot of opportunities to grab their opportunity in Shaw’s absence. He is fortunate that none have taken those chances. Williams is not even out of double figures for appearances but the signs are good and if he does establish himself then Shaw will be fighting for his United future.
