UNITED Young man has helped get best out of the kid Shaw...
THERE was only one call to make – the kid or the veteran.
It is a disservice to refer to Luke Shaw as a kid – the 22-year-old has seven senior England caps – but it was telling how Jose Mourinho highlighted Ashley Young’s experience when justifying his decision to immediately restore him to the starting line-up after he served his three-match ban.
And Young did not let him down at Turf Moor. He nearly broke the deadlock all on his own with a daring run and shot in the firsthalf after a frustrating period watching Shaw shine in his newfound position in recent weeks.
Just as Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, and David de Gea and Sergio Romero, have pushed each other to new heights, you can already see the same thing happening with Young and Shaw with the World Cup on the horizon.
They both have likeable personalities, and get on with each other, but these are winners at the highest level who want to be in the starting line-up every week without fail.
Shaw, having made five consecutive starts, would have felt he had done enough to earn another outing against Burnley – particularly after Mourinho’s gushing praise just 24 hours previously.
“He’s good, solid, physically much better, mentally much stronger, tactically understanding the game much better and what we need in different phases and circumstances,” the United boss said of Shaw.
“I’m really happy and I can say that in this moment I don’t see many left-backs better than this Luke Shaw.”
Not many players can change a manager’s transfer plans – particularly someone as strong-willed as Mourinho.
It does not seem that long ago that Danny Rose was destined for a move to United and Shaw’s understandable thanks to Mauricio Pochettino in his autobiography was being blown out of proportion.
Let’s not even mention the frenzy that was created after Rose’s omission from Spurs’ 2018 calendar.
Winning Mourinho round, once and for all, constitutes remarkable progress for Shaw – even if he will have felt a little downhearted when he saw the team sheet at lunchtime on Saturday.
But Young is an early contender to be United’s Player of the Year and has often been one of the few shining lights when his side occasionally struggle.
Crucially, too, he is someone Shaw can continue to learn from.
Indeed, it says a lot for how Shaw’s filled in that Young has not been missed.
A year ago, thousands of words were still being written about his ‘last chance,’ but if he keeps up his form, and maintains his fitness, that position is his.
In the long-term at least.