Ruben Amorim has now admitted he had to take “special considerations” with a “world-class” player at the beginning of his tenure.
The Man Utd manager has repeatedly made it clear that he treats every player at Old Trafford the same, as he tries to instil a culture of accountability.
Moreover, he is rarely very open about lavishing praise on players, wanting instead to keep them grounded and hungry.
That is why it came as such a surprise when Ruben Amorim recently called a player “world-class”, going as far as to admit that he took “special consideration” with him at the beginning because of how important he is to the team.
Ruben Amorim assesses Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw has put his injury worries aside this season to become an ever-present member of the first XI, albeit at a less intense centre-back position.
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Shaw’s position has been a hot topic of debate, with calls to move him to left wing-back after Lisandro Martinez’s return growing louder.
Amorim has resisted that change due to the demands of the wing-back position, and that falls right in line with his careful handling of the player.
The Man Utd manager has now revealed that he recognises Shaw as a “world-class player”, and, therefore, took “special considerations” to ensure he stays fit.
He said: “We took special consideration in the beginning, when we are building the player, we have to be careful trying to control the load, not putting [him through] so many minutes.
“He’s really smart. For me, I said already, I think he’s a world-class player. We are not taking special measures for him in this moment, but we had to do it in the beginning [when] he was starting to have more minutes.”
Shaw still needs to prove himself at Man Utd
Amorim’s words will come as music to the ears of Shaw, especially as he has had managers at Old Trafford who didn’t rate him at all, like Jose Mourinho.
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Having said that, his availability continues to swing like a pendulum because he played brilliantly in Erik ten Hag’s debut season before breaking down again.
For Man Utd fans to be completely convinced that Shaw has left those worries behind him, he needs to do it consistently for more than a season.
This season is an anomaly anyway because there’s only one game every week, making it easier for him to recover.
Even then, it can be argued that Amorim’s wanting to be careful with Shaw is holding the team back because his ideal position is as a wing-back.
Shaw’s quality has rarely been in doubt, and now the “special consideration” to ramp up his minutes has vanished as well.
The next step is to play consistently and play well, because “world-class” billing from a hard-to-please manager like Ruben Amorim can’t have a low bar for vindication.
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