Ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Selhurst Park, Erik ten Hag told reporters after the game against Manchester City that he sees Luke Shaw as one of his leaders.
The United number 23 has been in excellent form in recent weeks and he has shown his versatility as he has played at both centre-back and left-back for United in the Premier League, helping the Reds to maintain their 100% winning record in the league following the resumption of the season after the World Cup.
DERBY DAYS 😍 pic.twitter.com/X9S8MCfNo4
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) January 14, 2023
Ten Hag was asked about the England man’s performances, and when answering the question he said that Shaw is an “honest” player, which is something that pleases the Dutchman, as well as a leader within the United dressing room.
“It’s quite obvious. I like it that he is so honest. After the second game [at Brentford], he didn’t play but he said ‘I fully understand, my performance is not right’. But, from the first day in training in pre-season, he was working really hard. You can see, when he is in the right approach, he is a top player.
“Not even only a team player, he is a leader. He has shown a lot of leading capacity, the example at this moment, with his skills, his physical power. He brings a lot to the team, also in his mentality. Now he is an example, how to win big games, and I’m really happy with his development. I think it’s huge, if it’s at centre-half or left full-back, he is a really great player and a great personality for the dressing room” [via Man Utd].
⚠️ This is a @LukeShaw23 appreciation post. #MUFC || #MUNBOU pic.twitter.com/fq9vYJ2rC5
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 3, 2023
He also agreed that it was “a big decision” to play the former Southampton man at centre-back against the division’s top scorer, Erling Haaland, but the Three Lions defender repaid his manager’s decision as he put in an assured defensive display, limiting City to just having one shot on target in the whole game in United’s 2-1 derby day win.
“It is a big decision but I think, when you analyse the profile of Haaland and analyse also the combination with [Kevin] De Bruyne, I think it was the right decision. He has the physical power to compete with them but also has the tactical feel to make the right decisions and he has the technical skills as well to play in that position. I think, for [the City game], it matches really well but, in other games, he can contribute even more from the left-back position. So we can see the tactical choice, we can see from game to game what we need. I think we have more players in our squad who have that capacity to be multi-functional and we can use them as a weapon in games” [via Man Utd].