Luke Shaw has been named by Romelu Lukaku as Manchester United’s best player this season, the striker praised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s influence on the defence.
The Belgium international highlighted his team-mate’s consistency amid the Old Trafford’s side’s improved form. The resurgent United have been clinical since Solskjaer’s appointment as caretaker manager in December.
The coach has been praised for his impact on attackers like Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, as well as midfielder Paul Pogba, whose goals have helped the Old Trafford outfit to 11 wins in 14 games under the Norwegian.
While United have scored an impressive 30 goals in that time, they have conceded just nine goals and earned a fourth clean sheet in five games on Sunday when they drew 0-0 with Liverpool.
Lukaku feels their defensive work has been under-rated this term and highlighted Shaw as one of many defenders to have played a pivotal role in keeping United in with a chance of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
“Everybody is talking about us being offensively really good, but defensively we’re doing really well,” the Belgian told The Mirror.
“Chris Smalling coming in for the last couple of games has been brilliant and Luke Shaw has been the best player of the season for me. Ashley Young has been consistent and David de Gea is the best number one in the world. From the midfield to the front, we try to help out and make sure the defence has an easy task. We did that [against Liverpool] and it was all about the team.”
“You always want to win these type of games, but for us it was about being mentally strong, having had players injured. We had to be resilient,” he added. “We had some chances, but it was all about mental strength and making sure we don’t lose and grab the point. Obviously you want to win, but now we have to move forward and focus on Crystal Palace on Wednesday.”
Manchester United had to make all three of their substitutions in the first half on Sunday, as they lost Ander Herrera and Juan Mata to injury before losing the latter’s replacement, Jesse Lingard, less than 20 minutes after he came on and Lukaku was proud of the mental resilience his side showed to hold out against the current league leaders after the set-backs.