The story of Luke Shaw at United

By Josh Coleman, published on 13/07/21

Luke Shaw has suffered some of the worst setbacks a footballer can face, but despite this he has overcome this to become one of the leading full backs in world football, becoming a key player for both Manchester United and England. In this piece I will be going through his United career so far, and what has led him to becoming the player he has become today.

Shaw joined United in 2014 for a reported £30 million from Southampton, and his start at the club seemed promising. While somewhat injury effected, Shaw looked promising and was growing into the player that we thought he could become. Going onto start every league match in the early stages of the 2015/16 season, Shaw was faced with an almost career ending injury. In a Champions League group stage game against PSV Eindhoven in September, Shaw was at the wrong end of a poor challenge from Hector Moreno, leaving him with a double leg fracture. This could have reportedly seen him lose his leg, and didn't see him return to training for 6 months. An all time low for Luke Shaw at such a young age, very nearly ended his career and looked certain to stagnate his progress.

When the new season finally came around, there was also a new manager for United and Shaw. Jose Mourinho had been appointed, and in his first game in the Community Shield, Shaw also made his return to competitive football. While initially, the signs were positive, he eventually found himself out of favour, and subject to public criticism at the hands of Jose Mourinho. Mourinho stated after a match against Everton in April 2017, that Shaw was playing with his body but Mourinho’s head, and that he didn't have a football brain. Shaw has also in recent interviews revealed that he and Mourinho didn't get on during his tenure. He stated in an interview that, on Mourinho’s comments recently, it was, “Nothing compared to how it used to be.”

Shaw had also been at the forefront of online abuse over his weight. In 2018. During the off-season, Shaw was pictured in Ibiza in pictures that may look as though he is overweight, and led to him being trolled relentlessly over social media. For years since, and even now, Shaw is still trolled over his weight. You could argue that 2018 was another low point for him. On the back of criticism on social media, a strained relationship with his manager, and struggling to re-find his form since his leg break, it was unsure where his future might lie and how good a player he could become.

Half way through the 2017/18 season, everything began to change for Luke Shaw. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed head coach and it was a turning point for him. Rio Ferdinand in an interview said that early on in Solskjaer’s management, he had visited the training ground and had asked him what his plan was for Shaw. Solskjaer reportedly responded by saying that he was, “going to get the best out of that kid,” and that Shaw had already shown promise in training. This has shown to be true. The faith shown in him has caused a huge upturn in form, that has seen him progress and progress over the past years. This is something that Shaw himself had confirmed. When asked what the reasons are for his rise, he said that, “one of them is the manager [Ole] sitting next to me.” Since, Shaw has produced incredible attacking and defensive play throughout last season. As shown by his attacking areas of play visual, created and explained by @Marampernintey