Manchester United benefitted from the return of Luke Shaw in late November, but he is now back on the sidelines.
Amid the festive schedule and slow return to action in the New Year, there has been lots of focus on the exciting return of Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro, that one player’s absence has almost slipped by unnoticed.
Luke Shaw has not made any of the past three matchday squads, against Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and Wigan Athletic.
This week after the Wigan game when manager Erik ten Hag was talking up the four players he hoped to see back this weekend, he listed Shaw as just a possible, reluctant to fully commit to the England international being ready to return.
The good news for United is that Shaw’s absence has not been a disaster despite Tyrell Malacia’s ongoing fitness battle. The team is used to being without them both by now, with Diogo Dalot stepping up impressively.
Luke Shaw played relentlessly on United return
There are some uncomfortable conversations to be had about Luke Shaw missing the last three games. The nature of his latest injury has not been explained – but what we do know, is that he has been unavailable, again.
After and including his return to action against Everton, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag selected Shaw as a starter in eight consecutive games in domestic and European competitions.
These eight matches took place within a one-month span, leaving a small recovery time in between each one.
In one of them, at home to Bayern Munich, Shaw was substituted at half-time with an apparent injury.
He ended up in the starting line-up days later at Anfield. United certainly needed all hands on deck for that fixture, but the cumulative use of Shaw over the past month seemed unwise, bearing in mind he had just returned from almost three full months out.
United had Sergio Reguilon then, and Diogo Dalot, and there was no need to start Shaw in every game. It has not been a surprise to see him out of action over the past fortnight.
Luke Shaw’s ongoing fitness battle
A lot has been made of Raphael Varane missing various games with injuries during his spell at Manchester United, but this season he has been available a lot more than Luke Shaw has been.
Shaw has come a long way since his horrific leg break in 2015, but he has also had to contend with various other fitness issues along the way too.
Will the rest of the season be trouble-free, amid a lighter schedule for him? Or will he prove susceptible to another injury?
He has played in only eight Premier League matches this season and 10 in all competitions.
In his 10 years at Manchester United he has exceeded 30 Premier League appearances only twice. That’s not a great record at all.
Shaw has a future at United, he’s only 28, but the club need to work out how to ensure he is available as much as possible – or continue to work around his issues.
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