Bought as one of the most promising young stars by then manager Louis van Gaal, Luke Shaw was always destined for the very top.
A broken leg of two and some initial hiccups later, it finally looked like the England man’s time had come. But a difficult relationship with José Mourinho ensued and, at the time, a departure seemed very likely.
It seemed that the young defender would leave Old Trafford without having come close to realizing his enormous potential.
But after a roaring comeback and some decent displays under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the main problem holding the 27-year-old emerged: Shaw himself.
It had become a recurring pattern and it always seemed that the wing-back had gotten too comfortable in his position and needed to be pushed hard enough.
The Shaw exchange under ETH
In that sense, it was encouraging to note that the England international had openly told Erik ten Hag that he was open to playing centre-back and willing to push his boundaries.
“We chose Casemiro because he has played more often there, also Luke (Shaw) reported that he could play center half, which is really good.
“Everyone is committed and wants to play, they are hungry and I like that.” It was commendable considering that it coincided with his return from the World Cup.
With World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez absent and Victor Lindelof, Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire unavailable, Shaw got his wish against Nottingham Forest alongside Raphael Varane.
Luke Shaw’s match in numbers against Nottingham Forest:
118 touches ????100 passes completed ????90% passing accuracy 11 ball recoveries ????5 long balls completed 3/3 aerial duels won 3 interceptions ????2 clearances
As if he had played there all his life. ???? pic.twitter.com/yamSFfTgLQ
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 27, 2022
The manager had a chance to play Casemiro again there, but chose to trust the England star.
And it did not disappoint. He hasn’t played there as part of a back four, but he excelled as a left center back during Solskjaer’s experiments playing a back five.
On Tuesday, the 27-year-old displayed all the fitness of a player who has been a regular at that position and his passing ability was a particular highlight.
He had 118 touches on the ball while completing a mammoth 100 passes, the most among his teammates. His long-range passing ability was on full display as he completed 5 long balls.
That wasn’t the most impressive aspect though, as he also finished the game with 90% passing accuracy, instigating quite a few attacking raids with his incisive passes.
He was just as sharp defensively, making a total of 11 turnovers, once again leading in that metric among his teammates.
Defensively solid, he won all three of his passing attempts and also had three interceptions and two punts.
Superlative effort from Shaw vs Forest
Ten Hag was all praise for his new central defensive find. “It seemed like Luke had played there his whole life as a center midfielder.
“He did a fantastic job, so it’s good to know that we have options there, and that’s also what you need for the whole team: to have players who can play more positions.
“He was really collected, really decisive there and determined to play that position. It was a very good performance.”
With his contract extended by a year and his obvious technical skills on display, United and Ten Hag could decide to award him a new contract on better terms.
The Dutch boss loves his recruits to show positional flexibility and Shaw has shown it in spades. Hopefully, he can continue in the same vein in the second half of the season.
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