Manchester United player might become undroppable for Ruben Amorim

'Special' - Manchester United player might become undroppable for Ruben Amorim

Luke Shaw started the opening Premier League game of Man Utd's season and must maintain a clean bill of health.

Manuel Ugarte pictured with Luke Shaw. (Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)

Luke Shaw made an appearance in each of Manchester United's pre-season games.

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Shaw made three starts and came on from the bench twice across the summer schedule, so it was no surprise to see him start against Arsenal, especially with Lisandro Martinez unavailable.

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The 30-year-old jumped into a rash challenge early in the first half but recovered well. Shaw delivered a strong performance, keeping Bukayo Saka quiet, and reminded fans of what he can do when fit.

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The truth is that nobody has ever doubted Shaw's quality. He was even the best left-back in the world in 2020/21 (that sounds absurd, but look back at the other left-backs from that season and you'll agree).

The only problem with Shaw is his United career has been plagued by injuries, some of which are due to his lack of robustness, some of which have been the club's fault, and others that have just been unfortunate.

Shaw suffered a double leg fracture in 2015 and his muscle injuries were mishandled in 2023/2024, with United expecting him to play two games in the space of a few days after returning.

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Referring to that season, Shaw said: “I felt something against Aston Villa and came off at half-time. It’s kind of ­everyone’s fault. Partly my fault, partly medical staff, I think everyone would admit that.

"I didn’t train the whole week. The scan came back and there wasn’t too much there. But I didn’t train all week, then trained the day before the game. If the manager asks me to play, I’m never going to say no. I shouldn’t have played.”

You don't need a degree in medical science to work out Shaw shouldn't have been playing two games in the space of four days, immediately after recovering from a muscle issue.

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Having said that, Shaw is not a robust athlete and can be fairly scrutinised for missing so much time on the pitch. The positive news is United are competing in just the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season, which means Shaw should be able to cope with the fixture load.

Saka didn't get a sniff against Shaw last weekend.

United's defeat against Tottenham in the Europa League final meant there would be no European football at Old Trafford, and that is good news for Shaw's chances of maintaining fitness.

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If Shaw is available, it seems he will be a regular starter on the left of the back-three. Martinez is due to return from a knee injury, but he might find it hard to wrestle back the starting role from Shaw.

Amorim rates Shaw highly and he discussed the left-back and Mason Mount at his press conference on Friday. "More important [than England] is for them to help Manchester United to reach our goals," said Amorim.

"Then they are very, very good players, they are experienced and have played a lot of matches. Mason Mount won the Champions League, and Luke Shaw, I've already said, when he's fit, is really a special player and you can see it every time he plays. So it's really important for us to have these two guys available for more games."

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Shaw will compete with Martinez and Ayden Heaven for the left side role in the back-three, but he has the advantage of starting the new campaign in that position, so something must give for him to lose it.

That could be Shaw picking up an injury and performing poorly. However, on the evidence shown against Arsenal, Shaw will be confident of retaining his role, providing he's able to stay fit.

It was interesting to hear Amorim describe Shaw as a "special" player. That was high praise from United's head coach, but Shaw's quality has been rarely seen over the last few seasons.

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Shaw needs to remind everyone why he is a special talent consistently each week.

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