It would now appear that 2014 summer signing Luke Shaw has now at last convinced Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal that he should be a starter in the Dutchman’s first team.
After having arrived last summer from Southampton for £27 million, the newly installed manager was quite brutal in his assessment of the then 19-year-old saying that he was not fit enough to be a starter with Manchester United.
The young England international immediately embarked upon a fitness program to bring him up to par with what van Gaal expected.
Yet despite having attained the fitness level LVG required Shaw was played by a number of hamstring problems that limited him to just 20 appearances last season.
The just turned 20-year-old now has van Gaal’s full backing to provide United with a long-term replacement for Patrice Evra.
“Luke Shaw is a big talent,” says Van Gaal.
“He’s very young so it’s not so easy for him to come from Southampton to as big a club as Manchester United. But he has the benefit that he’s an Englishman. (Memphis) Depay is a Dutchman and it’s a different culture, a different rhythm to the game.
“So I think that it shall be the season of Luke Shaw, that I believe. I believe in him and he has to feel that and I hope he shall show it.
“But he’s 20-years-old. How many players of that age are playing in the Premier League?”
The question now arises as to what you need to do as a player to get in the good books of van Gaal, and become his type of player.
“He has to know what he’s doing as a player as a team player and when you are a Louis van Gaal player then you don’t know only your function in your position but also the other functions in their positions and then you can help each other much more,” says Louis.
“Then you are improving always the team. That’s why you have to improve your vision not only in your position but you also have to know what the team needs. When you have seen our game against Barcelona the pressing and how they expect where the pass is coming that’s fantastic to see.”
