Shaw happy Pogba’s back in United action
Manchester United defender Luke Shaw was excited to see Paul Pogba’s matchchanging cameo in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
The Frenchman came on just after the hour in north London to make a first appearance since December following an injury nightmare.
He made a big impact, earning the 81st-minute penalty with a sublime piece of skill that allowed Bruno Fernandes to score and cancel out Steven Bergwijn’s opener for Spurs.
“I told him afterwards how much of a difference he made,” Shaw said on the club website. “He didn’t play for that long but obviously it’s great to have him and Marcus Rashford back in the side. They are very important players.”
The point was the least United deserved as they pressurised a compact and pragmatic Spurs in the second half.
Jose Mourinho’s side also flagged physically and Shaw was happy with United’s fitness.
“We felt fit, we felt stronger than them and felt like they were struggling at times. We kept going and got the penalty,” he added.
“I feel great. The break came at a difficult time as we were flying, but everyone’s worked really hard and kept in great shape. We’ve come back flying.
“The unbeaten run keeps going but we need to take away the draws and get wins instead.”
Despite having Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Bergwijn back in his attacking ranks, Mourinho was without the suspended Dele Alli and the injured Lucas Moura.
The Portuguese has been unable to choose from a full complement of players in his time at the club, but hopes that will change against West Ham on Tuesday.
He said: “My feeling tells me that when we play in our maximum power, which hasn’t happened since I arrived because we didn’t have Hugo Lloris, then we lost Harry Kane and then we lost Moussa Sissoko, we’re a strong team.
“The five changes of course was a request by the powerful squads, a request made by a top team with top options on the bench.
“Against West Ham if everything goes well, I expect to have two attacking players on the bench that can give me the opportunity to change the intensity when the intensity goes down.”