FROM lost cause to leading man, few could have anticipated that Luke Shaw’s Manchester United revival would be so sudden and so dramatic.
The left-back – who is still only 25 years old – seemed a spent force prior to this season, his time at Old Trafford beset by bad luck and, supposedly, bad habits.
So outstanding a prospect had Shaw appeared following his emergence into the Southampton first team at 16 that United were convinced to pay £30m to acquire his services in 2014. The teenage defender had earned a place among England’s World Cup squad that summer at the expense of the veteran Ashley Cole, and the 20-time champions viewed Shaw as the long-term replacement for Patrice Evra on the left side of their defence.
After a middling first campaign with United, Shaw looked worthy of his lofty billing early on his second season with United. He quickly developed a relationship down the wing with new signing Memphis Depay, and exhibited all the pace, panache and tenacity that had seen him stand out on the South Coast.
But then came the horrific leg break, suffered in a Champions League group-stage game against PSV in September 2015. The injury robbed Shaw of the momentum he had begun to build. Upon his eventual recovery, he found Jose Mourinho in charge at Old Trafford, and the pair clashed, with Shaw regularly a figure of public derision for the manager, amid accusations of immaturity and unprofessionalism – he was said to be living a ‘university lifestyle’ with a group of friends sharing his Cheshire home and his mother responsible for his timekeeping.
A pariah for much of Mourinho’s tenure, Shaw recovered a regular starting berth under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but it is only recently that his form has reached the levels his teenage potential had hinted at all those years ago.
Whether deployed in his customary role or on the left of a back three, Shaw has impressed this season with his discipline, conditioning and attacking output. On corner-kick duty, he has demonstrated a reliable set-piece delivery, and he has become one of United’s primary weapons when they break forward at speed.
When United took on rivals Liverpool twice in the space of eight days in January, Shaw was outstanding both times.
Luke Shaw. That's it. That's the tweet.#MUFC #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/nc97LCPm9B
— Unibet (@unibet) January 24, 2021
First, in the 0-0 at Anfield in the Premier League, his tally of 69 touches was greater than any other United player. He was productive on the ball too, creating two chances – another team high. Defensively, he played no small part in stifling Liverpool’s fearsome front three.
In the return fixture at Old Trafford in the FA Cup, Shaw was instrumental in a 3-2 victory. Again, he saw more of the ball than any United player, this time with 84 touches. And again he was his side’s primary creator, providing three scoring chances. He was disciplined, too, sticking diligently to his defensive tasks to make a team-best four tackles.
The October arrival from Porto of Brazilian left-back Alex Telles seemed to suggest Solskjaer was not fully confident in Shaw’s rediscovered abilities in 2020-21’s early stages. But that move now appears a masterstroke on the manager’s part, the competition for a starting place having driven Shaw on to greater heights.
"We have a great relationship and he pushes me each day in training," Shaw said of Telles. "We get on really well. It's nice to have that type of competition, but we push each other to get the best from ourselves."
Luke Shaw has certainly made his way back into Ole’s good books this year, another great performance for United last night pic.twitter.com/dCdIGLvKHG
— The Football World. (@thefootballwrld) January 21, 2021
Solskjaer, though, has preferred to credit the leaps Shaw has made on the field of late to the player’s newfound maturity and redoubled commitment.
"It is generally down to the boy himself. He is mentally very good at the moment. He has become a dad, he is physically very good, his fitness is so much better, he keeps beating his high intensity stats, his total-distance stats.
"I think he's been consistently up there with what a full-back has been doing. And when you have the talent of Luke, when that fitness and mental bit is sorted, you are always going to get good performances."
Now a key player on a title-challenging team, the next step for Shaw is to regain his England place ahead of this summer’s Euros. The man who ousted Ashley Cole in 2014 has gone more than two years without earning an international cap. If he can sustain his current form, a place among Gareth Southgate’s squad would cap a stellar season.
The obstacles he’s faced along the way have meant this moment has taken longer to arrive than he would have hoped, but Shaw is finally delivering on the potential he first showed as a teenager.
