Shaw flank redemption as defender continues recovery
ROBERT SNODGRASS had manoeuvred the wrong side of Luke Shaw. His eyes were widening. Across came a ball in the swirling Yorkshire wind and Hull were in, another chance to further upset the naysayers.
The cross had swung beyond David de Gea and Snodgrass – buoyed by two goals in the opening three games of this season – had visions of a third.
This would require a simple nod for a 25th minute lead. The Scotland international had come off his flank; perfectly positioned. Shaw was not.
But what happened next offered an indication as to what United so missed last year and what they will so take for granted now their premium left back is, well, back. He was not fazed, somehow managing to muscle in front of Snodgrass, diverting danger into the air.
The opportunity passed, United cleared, and Shaw rose to continue his business. On a night of few chances, this was a significant passage of play.
The 21-year-old does not look as if he spent the majority of last season in rehabilitation from a broken leg following what was an abhorrent lunge by Hector Moreno at PSV Eindhoven. He does not look like a man who could ‘hardly walk for six months’, as he told the Guardian yesterday.
It was the first time Shaw had truly opened up about those horrid weeks on end when the England international wondered when and how he would return.
The crutches were with him for a half a year while United floundered to find a replacement in his position, switching from Marcos Rojo to Daley Blind to Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, and even using Ashley Young. Rojo is unwanted by Jose Mourinho, while Blind is back centrally and Borthwick-Jackson has rightly been sent out on loan to Wolves in pursuit of consistent appearances.
Shaw has started life under the new manager very impressively indeed, even if there will be a few aches this morning.
He does not expect those to diminish over time and will learn to live with them, while any suggestion by Louis van Gaal that he was not fit enough this time two years ago is far removed from what United are seeing now.
Shaw admitted that ‘maybe I took it a bit easy after the 2014 World Cup’ but that accusation cannot be thrown at him following the legbreaker.
He is supremely fit, buccaneering up and down the left flank and — by and large — retaining the sort of defensive solidity Blind needs alongside him.
He is physically far stronger while being just as quick.
Nice to be able to draw on those attributes during a rare moment of positional naivety.