Cool Hand Luke’s bid for Euros has legs
ENGLAND COULD DO WITH A SHAW THING
LUKE SHAW marked his return from the international wilderness after two-and-ahalf years’ absence by delivering with silver platter and white gloves for England last night.
All great strikers need great service and the cross which invited Harry Kane to end his England drought and put Gareth Southgate’s side on course for victory in Tirana was a ball that had ‘despatch me’ written in bold red capitals upon it.
Kane duly obliged with a flourish but the England captain owed a debt of gratitude to the reborn, recalled Shaw.
“The last two years I’ve been watching the games really regretting not being able to take my chances when I had them,” said Shaw. “I’m just so happy to be back. It’s a great feeling to be back in and around the team.
“When you are playing with Harry Kane, you know he is going to be in the box and if you get it in that area he will always be there and he was.
“It was a great header by him and a crucial time for us to get the opener and settle things down.”
It was in truth a drab, underwhelming encounter but the one elevated moment of clarity from Shaw showed why he is back on the scene.
Like England, the Manchester United full-back was not perfect – he gave possession away a couple of times and defensively went untested with the visitors in control – but in his left foot he has a weapon of mass destruction and he detonated it expertly just when his side needed it.
Up to that point they had been struggling to unpick the five-man home rearguard, with the fast-flowing passing game they played against San Marino slowed by a reluctance to move possession forward quickly on the long grass at the Air Albania Stadium.
A request to give it a short back and sides by England ahead of the game had been politely rejected. Grass-roots football was back ahead of schedule.
Strong growth is evidently all the rage in Albania these days, a country where beards were once outlawed under the eccentric Enver Hoxha regime.
Facial hair is plentiful in the current Albanian line-up. Shaw favours the stubbly look, a burly gunslinger down the left for club – and now country – again. Cool Hand Luke has been one of United’s most consistent contributors this season and his recall is well deserved and well timed with the Euros looming.
Whether Southgate goes for a defensive quartet or quintet, England will need a left-sided defender and Shaw may now just have his nose in front of Ben Chilwell as to who wins the starting role onWednesday against Poland atWembley.
Whoever does so will be in the box seat for the Euros.
“Of course I’d love to be in the Euros squad. I think every single English player would,” said Shaw.
“Chilly played the other night and was outstanding but competition for places is great and I’ll just keep pushing myself.”