Manchester United’s season is properly kicking into gear with Europa League being the third competition to begin this season.
With FA Cup remaining as well, the team will need all the players it can get fit and ready as the fixture list gets overloaded.
Currently, Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro remains the only absentees after Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount returned vs Crystal Palace.
Leny Yoro’s injury update dropped recently and he’s a bit further away from a return so all eyes are on Luke Shaw as he was supposed to be available after the September international break.
Erik ten Hag has now dropped a big Luke Shaw injury update with the September break long gone and another one coming in October.
Luke Shaw injury update
Ten Hag was speaking to the press ahead of United’s Europa League curtain-raiser at home to FC Twente, a team he has supported since he was a kid.
For once, the manager has plenty of “nice headaches” to choose from for his team selection as the players keep returning from injuries.
In a situation that would be alien to Ten Hag, the Manchester United squad has also returned unscathed from the last three games so the slate is clearing up.
He was asked about the lone short-term absentee, Shaw and his answer is not going to leave many supporters happy who were already frustrated with the player’s situation.
Ten Hag said: “I can’t say for certain [when Luke Shaw will be back]. The plan is to be back before [the October international break], but I can’t be 100 per cent sure. It could be shortly after the break.”
The uncertainty, that too after his initial return timeline released by the club itself is long in the rearview mirror is not a good look on the player or the club’s initial statement.
Cautious or uncertain?
As said above, if the manager is uncertain over a player’s return almost a month after what should have been the return as per their own diagnosis, the fans are bound to be frustrated.
However, there is another way of looking at things, which is that United might be taking it extremely slow this time because they can afford to.
Shaw infamously played six games in quick succession after an injury return last season, a stretch that left him unavailable for the subsequent three months again.
This season, however, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui have been trusted and reliable in the fullback positions, with options like Harry Amass, soon-to-return Tyrell Malacia, and utility players like Jonny Evans also doing admirably.
It has probably allowed Ten Hag and the staff to take it slow with Shaw’s recovery, a step they couldn’t afford to take last season when players dropped like flies.
Shaw’s return is undoubtedly coming later than envisioned but if it means that the player can remain injury-free for a sustained period after it, that’s a trade fans would happily make.
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