Man Utd star Luke Shaw ready for first action of the season to nail down problem position
LUKE SHAW is set for his first action of the season tonight as he bids to nail down what Gary Neville has described as Manchester United’s one “problem position”.
Luke Shaw is preparing to start his first game of the season
Left-back Shaw has been out since April with an ankle ligament injury but has played three games for the under-23 side recently and is in line to feature in at least some part of the Carabao Cup third-round tie with Burton Albion at Old Trafford.
The defender has been dogged by injuries since becoming football’s most expensive teenager in a £31m move from Southampton in 2014.
He suffered a number of muscular problems in his first season, a horrific broken leg wrecked his second year, while last season he was again in and out of the team until damaging an ankle.
Jose Mourinho has used five different players at left-back in the 15 months he has been in charge – Shaw, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo as well as winger Ashley Young. And United legend Neville says none of those players have made the position their own.
“The problem is at left-back,” he said.
Man United's Luke Shaw looks strong during U23 display
I know if we don’t take it seriously we are going to lose
Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho
“Shaw, Blind, Darmian, Rojo and Young have all played there – but they can’t seem to button it down.”
Mourinho said last season that Shaw had all the talent to become United’s long-term left-back but suggested he needed to show the mental application to fulfil his potential.
And he hardly provided a ringing endorsement when asked about whether Shaw was ready. “Luke is not injured any more so it’s a question of form, of options, but he is not injured. He has recovered from his injury.”
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Jose Mourinho has played five different players at left-back
It will be a major kick in the teeth for Shaw however if he isn’t selected against Nigel Clough’s Championship strugglers with Mourinho set to rotate his squad and make a number of changes.
Regulars like David Gea, Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic and Eric Bailly will definitely be rested while Paul Pogba is out injured. Sergio Romero, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial are all set for starts.
Mourinho insists he will take seriously a competition he has won four times – if he wins it this season he will move ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough as the first manager to lift it five times. And United’s starting line-up is still likely to be full of internationals.
“We need to have a strong team,” he said.
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“I know the quality of the Championship. And I know if we don’t take it seriously we are going to lose.
“Our squad is good. Romero played in the Europa League final, which was the game of the season for us, and yet he hasn’t been playing. Herrera was player of the season and he has not been starting matches.
“It’s just that at the moment Matic and [Marouane] Fellaini are in the best form that I have seen. They have been phenomenal.
“For players like Herrera and Carrick it’s just about patience because that time will arrive and they will be important players for us for sure. We can only play with 11 guys. That’s life at the big clubs.”
