UNITED SPECIAL United Walk Shaw set high-speed benchmark for Axel On as Anfield sits in shade
AXEL Tuanzebe began training with the United first-team just over two years ago and was immediately shocked by the high standards under Louis van Gaal.
Tuanzebe was named in the United squad as an 18-year-old for the 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace in October 2015, having impressed Van Gaal during his first year in charge of the club.
The Rochdale-raised defender was promoted to the first-team weeks before Marcus Rashford was called up for the win at Watford. The duo were United team-mates in the U12s and were told to link up with the firstteam for training at the same time.
Tuanzebe, now 20, admits he was ‘shocked’ by how quick Luke Shaw was and has used that memory to set a new benchmark as he attempts to get more game time at senior level.
“It was me, Marcus Rashford and Devonte Redmond, and we went up to training. It was one of the hardest sessions I’ve had in my life,” Tuanzebe told the club magazine.
“I was in the Under-18s at the time and Paul McGuinness was our manager. We thought we were coming along to watch but we ended up playing in a training game. We were a position team, the first-team against us. It was so hard, it was so fast, it was physically on another level.
“I remember vividly that Luke Shaw was absolutely rapid. It shocked me that I couldn’t get near him. He was an absolute bullet, just amazing.
“From that moment. I had him as a benchmark for myself in terms of how sharp he is. After that session, we had seen what we had to get to.” THERE is much about Liverpool, or Liverpool Football Club, to give it its full title, that grates for the neutral.
The partisan coverage of their 2014 title challenge riled City, the way their supporters have patronised Chelsea since Roman Abramovich’s helicopter landed on the Stamford Bridge turf is rooted in jealousy, while some broadcasters observe You’ll Never Walk Alone as if it’s a minute’s silence.
However unpopular a statement it is, hearing Walk On at Anfield is one of the purest experiences British football has to offer.
From the press box, anyway, when you are among the Scouse denizens and glance at the resplendent Kop, you do feel privileged to be present for LiverpoolUnited matches and grateful that the 18-times champions expanded Anfield instead of exiting it.
Jose Mourinho carefully omitted Liverpool from the list of clubs who do not have a ‘responsibility’ to win the Premier League on Boxing Day.
Their history is rich and their championship drought is longer than the 26 years of torture United experienced until Nicky Henry’s winner at Villa Park ended Alex Ferguson’s round of golf on the 17th green at Mottram Hall.
The recent renovation of Anfield, completed shortly after Jurgen Klopp’s appointment, has brought a sophisticated air to Liverpool.
The main stand is one of the most impressive in Britain and Klopp is starting to accept his hypocrisy and invest the necessary amount for a club of Liverpool’s stature. Twice he has broken their transfer record in the last seven months and Naby Keita nor Virgil van Dijk have kicked a ball for the club yet.
Finally, the club appears to have sobered up from their Kenny Dalglish hangover, a turbulent 18-months where they spent £35m on Andy Carroll and months defending the indefensible in Luis Suarez. They remain undeniably the second biggest club in Britain but you would not think it.
Philippe Coutinho’s protracted transfer to Barcelona will see him become the latest talisman to leave Liverpool for greener grass. His former – and soon to be future – teammate Luis Suarez used the 1990 Division One winners as a stepping stone to Catalonia and what reflects particularly damningly on Klopp and Liverpool is the ‘smaller’ clubs are not encountering such issues.
David Silva is halfway through his eighth year with City and has produced world-class football for the majority of it, and Sergio Aguero is into his seventh.
Aguero could easily have secured a move to one of the Spanish duopoly at his peak and amid intense speculation in recent years City have not struggled to retain him. Silva was the only starter in Spain’s Euro 2012 finalists who was playing outside La Liga and City have done extremely well to keep him. Liverpool were losing their most important figures before Suarez angled for a transfer. Fernando Torres joined Chelsea in 2011 and Xabi Alonso moved to Real Madrid in 2009. Both are revered by Kopites and are fond of their former club but sampled greater success elsewhere and are unlikely to have regretted leaving L4. United have learnt from Cristiano Ronaldo agitating to join Real Madrid for half of his Old Trafford career and even he became so disenchanted at the Bernabeu a return in 2013 seemed probable until Ferguson retired. United’s recruitment in the past four-and-a-half years has at times been hopeless and hollow, yet they signed a world-class Champions League winner in Angel di Maria