What is the story?
Manchester United’s Luke Shaw is England’s best left-back, according to Ian Wright. The former Crystal Palace and Arsenal forward tipped the 23-year-old after he was recalled to Gareth Southgate’s squad for the forthcoming Nations League games.
In case you did not know
The full-back was called up for international duty for the first time in 2014, but a series of injuries including a broken leg hampered his career’s progress for over a year. He was also the youngest player to feature in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
What is the heart of the matter?
After his maturity and ability was criticized by Jose Mourinho, Shaw’s departure from Old Trafford looked certain. However, due to squad injuries and post-World Cup hangovers, he started the opening PL game for the Red Devils.
Since then, he has surged into form and played every single minute of the season so far, which is arguably the main reason for his call-up.
While speaking to The Debate, Wright stated that Shaw’s selection over Ashley Young was just.
“You can’t totally blame everything on the manager [Mourinho] – he hasn’t helped – but he himself needed to be a lot stronger in the way he was trying to get himself going and he seemed to shy away from it,” Wright commented.
“He needed to get through that, which he’s now done, and we’ve seen a different side to Shaw which I’m really impressed with. I just hope he can continue doing it because I think, on form, he probably is England’s best left-back.
“He came back early in pre-season to work on his fitness and he’s seeing the fruit of his labours now. What he’s done mentally too, I think we’re going to see a really good player from this point on. I thought he was good against Tottenham, going forward positively and it’s what you want,” he added.
What will happen next?
Jose Mourinho and co. take on Burnley at Turf Moor on 2nd September as they look to get some wins on the bounce, following consecutive defeats against Brighton and Tottenham.