Last summer, Alex Telles’ arrival at Old Trafford looked like it could spell the end for Luke Shaw’s time at Manchester United. Last Sunday, after his best season for the club, he almost won the European Championships for his country. What a difference a year makes.
Shaw looked like the natural successor to Ashley Cole as England’s next left-back when he broke through at Southampton well before his 18th birthday and then became the most expensive teenager in world football when United parted with £30m to secure the fruits of his huge potential in 2014.
He was nominated for Europe’s Golden Boy award later that year, but to say his career somewhat tailed off thereafter is an understatement.
You can almost pivot the highs and lows around the horror tackle from PSV’s Hector Moreno in a Champions League game in September 2015, which broke Shaw’s leg in two places, and could have required amputation. Almost three years on at the end of 2017/18, he had made only 22 Premier League appearances since that horrific setback, and had become United’s fall guy for manager Jose Mourinho.
A year later Shaw bounced back to become United’s player of the season, but even he admits he was far from back to his best. And at the start of 2020/21, Telles’ signing from Porto looked like it may spell the end of a mostly underwhelming career at Old Trafford, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sought more attacking presence down the left flank.
A remarkable turnaround in less than 12 months culminated in Shaw’s starting berth for England in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final, followed shortly after by his first goal for his country. Without dwelling on the rest of the match, even the disappointment of missing out on an international trophy cannot come close to dampening the fire which has been relit in the left-back.
Rebuilding the attacking flair
As a teenager, Shaw and opposite number Nathaniel Clyne built a reputation as attacking, energetic full-backs in the all-action style of Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton. But over the years, partly down to that horrific injury, Shaw regressed badly. In 2019/20 did not manage a single assist, largely down to creating an average of barely one chance per 90 minutes.
Compare that to his productivity at Euro 2020, where he made three goals and scored another despite starting six of the Three Lions’ seven matches. Not that his attacking instincts had been reborn in that tournament, but it was poles apart.
Indeed, a year ago Telles was meant to arrive at Old Trafford as the great provider, but it was Shaw who stepped up instead.
In a season where he made more Premier League appearances than any other since joining United, Trent Alexander-Arnold was the only defender to create more chances across the division. His crossing went through the roof, the third goal of his senior career helped his side claim a 2-0 win at Manchester City in March – and the fourth, at Wembley last Sunday, was on another planet.
None of these statistics tell the full story in isolation but even his heat map tells its own tale, with a far higher emphasis on his attacking output than defending in his own half. “I used to hold back from driving with the ball,” he admitted in a Sky Sports interview earlier this year.
“I feel like I always knew I had it in my locker but there were times when I did not use it. It was just about getting it out of me. I have started to do it more this season.”
Solskjaer has teased that out and has made Shaw one of a number of players whose careers have progressed on since his appointment. “We’ve encouraged him to get into the final third more,” the manager said with a wry smile after watching his Euro 2020 final goal – although there was no joking about his faith in Shaw when he labelled him United’s second-best finisher after that City strike.
A less obvious muse is the head of Edinson Cavani, whose towering frame adds an obvious reward for Shaw’s trusty, if previously underused, left foot.
“Enjoyment and confidence. For me, they are the two biggest things you need on the pitch. You need that belief in your ability to perform at the highest level. I feel I have that now.”
Enjoyment and confidence Shaw clearly has in abundance given the way he has played over the last season. Those qualities alone would be nothing without potential, of course, and at long last, seven years after he was counted among Europe’s brightest prospects, he looks to have finally realised that quality.
And despite featuring in the Premier League for almost a decade, Shaw only turned 26 on Monday and is still approaching his prime years – so the best could well be yet to come.
