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(Re)making Luke Shaw | How Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got him going again

As Manchester United reclaimed top spot in the Premier League on Wednesday night, Daniel Harris j...



(Re)making Luke Shaw | How Ole...
Soccer

(Re)making Luke Shaw | How Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got him going again

As Manchester United reclaimed top spot in the Premier League on Wednesday night, Daniel Harris joined us on Thursday's OTB AM to discuss the revival of left back Luke Shaw. 

Signed by Manchester United for £30 million in 2014, Luke Shaw has endured a series of ups and downs since leaving Southampton as the world's most expensive teenager.

"He is now a good player, which sound like a very bizarre sentence to say, but it is true," Daniel Harris stated of the English defender's consistent run of good form this season on Thursday's OTB AM.

"He is defending well, attacking really well and he's able to take the ball and carry it forward. He's 6 ft 1 in, but hasn't always played or behaved that way. He is starting to impose himself physically in attack and defence."

After suffering an horrendous injury during Louis van Gaal's spell in charge of the club, Shaw became a regular target of Jose Mourinho's throughout the Portuguese's  tenure.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, however, Harris believes that Shaw has found a manager who understands how to get the best out of him.

"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was asked about Luke Shaw before the game," Harris remarked of the general interest surrounding the left back's form, "and he basically said that Shaw can drive forward with the ball but didn't really believe he could do it.

"They had been forcing and convincing him to do it. He is happy now and clearly enjoying his football. You can see how that would not have been the case under Jose Mourinho when if Shaw played well Mourinho would say, 'Well, it was his legs and my brain', or whatever.

"It takes different kinds of personalities to build a football team, usually."

A constant threat up and down United's left wing, Harris examined how he believed Solskjaer has gone about readjusting Shaw's outlook.

"Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial in particular look like players who have gotten as far as they have in the game on talent, more or less," Harris speculated. "They haven't spent that long thinking about their game or working on their game because naturally they have all the attributes.

"What Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given Shaw is the belief that he can extract the most from that ability and we're seeing that now. He is showing patience and probably a little bit of tough love by signing a replacement."

While many suspected that summer signing Alex Telles may push Luke Shaw for that starting spot at left back, the 25-year-old Shaw has thoroughly made the role his own this season.

You can watch back Daniel Harris on Manchester United in its entirety here

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Read more about

England Jose Mourinho Louis Van Gaal Luke Shaw Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Southampton