A product of Southampton's youth policy, age 16, left back Luke Shaw made his first team debut on January 28th, 2012, against Millwall, 1-1, in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round, substituting for left winger, Jason Puncheon, in the 77th minute, before signing as a professional, after 'The Saints' beat Coventry City, 4-0, on April 28th, to finish second on 88 points below Reading's 89, but above West Ham United's 86, and gain promotion from English soccer’s 2nd tier Championship to 1st tier Premier League for the 2012-13 campaign. Manchester United's Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, had him transferred for the 2014-15 season for £30m.
In an injury ravaged start to his career, Luke also had the talents of Argentine defender, Marcos Rojo, bought by van Gaal from Portugal’s Sporting CP, Lisbon, for £16m, former Aston Villa left wing, England’s Ashley Young, bought for £17m for 2011-12, and converted by then manager, Alex Ferguson, to left back, and left footed Dutch center back, Daley Blind, after a hamstring injury to Shaw kept him out of the team for the first month of the season, also bought by Gaal for 2014-15 from Eredivisie Ajax for £13.8m, to compete for a place in the team.
Rojo, a center half, also played at left back, as he did in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final for Gaal, though Rojo himself was replaced on 66 minutes by Italian full back, Matteo Darmian, transferred from Italy's AC Milan for 2015-16, after being on loan at Torino, Turin, Italy, for £12.7m, specifically as cover for Shaw, while Young came on as substitute for England center forward, Marcus Rashford, on 72 minutes, with French left wing Anthony Martial, switching to center forward, as Young took the left wing position. United drew, 1-1, but won, 2-1, a.e.t., through a volley on the right edge of the 18 yard box, right footed, top left corner of the net, from England's Jessie Lingard, on for Spain's left footed inverted right wing, Juan Mata, on 110 minutes.
Before the appointment of Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, as Gaal's successor for 2016-17, as the club wanted the league title as well as the F.A. Cup, Young, along with right wing, Ecuador's Antonio Valencia, similarly at right back in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, Ashley having been converted to left full back by Ferguson, to win the last of his 13 league titles in 2012-13, before he retired to be replaced for 2013-14 by Everton's David Moyes.
Gaal had replaced Moyes, after David lost to Sunderland, 1-2 away, and 2-1 at home, with the aggregate score, 3-3, a.e.t., in the second leg, 1-2, on penalties at Old Trafford of the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final. A catalyst for dismissal. However, the non-availability of Shaw for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was indicative of the problems that injury and competition for the left back role represented for him. In the 2014-15 season, ruled out by a hamstring complaint for the first part, Luke made 15 starts and 1 appearance from the substitutes' bench, as the specialist left back, while Rojo and Young had more opportunities to compete for that spot in 2015-16, after Shaw suffered a double leg fracture, subsequent to a 15th minute sliding tackle by Dutch club PSV Eindhoven's Mexican center back, Héctor Moreno, in a defeat, 1-2, on September 15th, 2015, at Philips Stadion, during a Group B Champions League qualifier for the knock-out Round of 16 stage. However, finishing 3rd the club were relegated to competing in European soccer's 2nd tier competition, where in the Europa League’s Round of 16 they lost to Liverpool, 1-3, on aggregate, 0-2, at Anfield, and 1-1 at home.
Shaw made only 5 starts in 2015-16, and 9 starts and 2 appearances in 2016-17, followed by 8 and 3 in 2017-18, which indicated not only the extent of his injury concerns with regard to recovery and fitness, but also the ability of the competition, for example, Darmian, who made 15 starts and 3 appearances for Mourinho in 2016-17, with Rojo at left back for the League Cup Final defeat of Southampton, 3-2, was at left back in the Europa Cup Final defeat of Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0, at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, while Young was at left back for the defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final.
Luke's England career was similarly disrupted, with only 8 appearances, subsequent to his 4 in 2014, after his debut as half-time substitute for Chelsea's Ashley Cole, while still at Southampton, in a friendly at London's Wembley Stadium against Denmark, 1-0, on March 5th, and second choice to Everton's Leighton Baines in the 2014 World Cup Finals, selected only for the Group D, Game 3, World Cup qualifier, at Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 24th, against Central America's Costa Rica, 0-0, eventual group winners, with former World Cup winners England and Italy eliminated, while another, Uruguay, progressed.
In the 2016 European Championship, with the Finals due to be held in France, without injured Shaw, who'd been fit for the Group E European Championship qualifiers against a European microstate within Italy's borders, San Marino, beaten 6-0, at Stadio Olimpico, Sarravalle, on September 5th, 2015, and against Switzerland, defeated 2-0, at Wembley, on September 8th, 2015, before England lost to Iceland, 1-2, at Grande Stade de Nice, Italy, in the Round of 16, with Tottenham Hotspur's Danny Rose at left back, while at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, Ashley Young was at left full back for the semi final, 1-2, against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
Shaw was available for the inaugural 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, Portugal, Group A 4 defeat to Spain, 1-2, at Wembley on September 8th, 2018, while England, losing to the Netherlands in the semi final, 1-1, and 1-3, a.e.t., at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal, June 6th, 2019, with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell at left back, on June 9th, again in the city of Guimarães, beat Switzerland, 0-0, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, in the game to decide 3rd and 4th place overall, but this time with Rose at left back.
For 2020's European Championship Finals, held multi-nationally in 11 countries, Shaw was selected for Group D, Game 3, to face the Czech Republic, won 1-0, on June 22nd at Wembley, and against Germany, won 2-0, on June 29th, in the Round of 16, at Wembley, before the defeat of Ukraine, in the quarter final, on July 3rd, 2021, 4-0, at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, and then Denmark were beaten, 2-1, in the semi final, on July 7th, at Wembley, but the side lost at London’s national Stadium on July 11th, 2-3, to Italy on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with Shaw getting England's goal from open play on 2 minutes, striking low, left of 'keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, from a cross by Atlético Madrid's right back, Kieran Trippier, at the right corner of the 18 yard box to Luke at the far post.
Losing the final of the European Championships was a close affair, and Manchester United wouldn't win another trophy until 2022-23, when manager from the Netherlands' Ajax, Amsterdam, Erik ten Hag, steered the side to victory in the 2023 League Cup Final, 2-0, against Newcastle United, having replaced Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, former ‘red devils’ striker, and Mourinho's successor, after the 2018 F.A. Cup Final defeat to a penalty on 22 minutes by Eden Hazard, when the Belgian striker was recklessly challenged in the penalty area by England center back, Phil Jones, 0-1.
Shaw had made the left full back position his though, with 29 starts in 2018-19, and Daley Blind returned to Ajax for €16m, although Solskjaer assessed Brandon Williams, 19 years, 11 starts and 6 appearances in 2019-20, while Luke was making 20 starts and 4 appearances. For 2020-21 Ole had Brazil left back, Alex Telles, 8 starts and 1 appearance, transferred from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m to sustain the pressure on Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances, to perform. The competition was productive, as Ole's team made four semi-finals in two seasons; the League Cup, F.A. Cup and Europa Cup in 2019-2020, and the League Cup semi final in 2020-21.
The club also reached the 2021 Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, beating Roma in the first leg of the quarter final at home, 6-2, but losing, 2-3 in Rome, winning 8-5 on aggregate, only to lose to Spain’s Villarreal in the Final, 10-11 on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with South America's Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, arriving on a free transfer, age 34 from French club, Paris Saint-Germain, striking twice in the semi final first leg against Roma, with United behind, 1-2, right footed volleying a pass infield from Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, to his right on 49 minutes into the top right corner, and a tap in on 64 minutes after Spanish ‘keeper, Pau López, was unable to hold onto Croydon born right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross shot from wide on the right.
Edinson, in the second away leg, put through by Fred, right footed, bursting through from inside his own half into Roma’s, receiving the pass infield, ran on to rifle a shot, on 39 minutes, into the net, a yard or so from the edge of the 18 yard box, 1-0, then later, Fernandes, left outside the 18 yard box, chipping the ball towards Cavani, running in at goal from the right corner of the 18 yard box, center, a yard or so outside the penalty area, on 68 minutes, a header down, and inside the right post, 2-2.
On 55 minutes Cavani equalized in the Final against Villarreal, with a close-in strike from 5 yards, 1-1. Left back, Alfonso Pedraza, midway inside the 18 yard box, could only block, with the outside of his right boot, Rashford’s low effort, center field, from 20 yards, as far as Scots’ midfielder, Scott McTominay, who set himself to run at the ball to strike at goal. Although center back, Pau Torres, dove in with a sliding tackle to clear, Cavani, coming in from the left ahead of him, swept the ball with the inside of his right boot, past Argentine ‘keeper, Gerónimo Rulli, into the net.
The team lost comprehensively to Manchester City in the 2019-20 two leg League Cup semi final, 1-3, at home, with Williams at left back, but with Shaw, 1-0 away, 2-3 on aggregate, while in the F.A. Cup semi final the side again lost comprehensively to Chelsea, with Williams at left back, 1-3, and in the Europa cup semi final a loss, 0-2, to Spain’s Sevilla, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, with Williams again at left back. Luke was at left back against Manchester City in the 2020-21 League Cup semi final defeat, 0-2, and in the 10-11 Europa Cup Final loss to Villarreal, which led to Solskjaer's replacing in 2021-22, with former RB Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, an interim appointment on December 3rd, 2021, until season's end.
For Ole 2021-22 began optimistically, with Portugal’s legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, agreeing to leave Italy's Juventus for £12.85m. He'd won back-to-back titles there in 2018-19 and 2019-20, after leaving Real Madrid for £88m, where he'd won the European Champions League in 2014, against Spain’s Atlético Madrid, 1-1, and 4-1, a.e.t., on May 24th at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal; 2016, against Atlético Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-3 on penalties, on May 28th at the San Siro, Milan; 2017, against Italy's Juventus, 4-1, on June 3rd at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, and 2018, against Liverpool, 3-1, on May 26th at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, against Argentina's San Lorenzo, 2-0, on December 20th at the Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco; 2016, against Japan's Kashima Antlers, 2-2, a.e.t., 4-2, on December 18th at the International Stadium, Yokohama, and 2017, against Brazil's Grémio, 1-0, on December 16th at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, after leaving Old Trafford for £80m, where he'd won the 2008 Champions League Final at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, against Chelsea, 1-1, and ahead on 26 minutes from his own headed goal, through a cross on the right from the full back there, Wes Brown, 6-5, a.e.t., on penalties, with legendary Welsh left wing, Ryan Giggs, converting # 6.
Despite the legend’s desire to unfold further, scoring 6 of his 18 goals that term for Solskjaer, the club, 7th in the league on November 20th, was taken out of Ole’s control and given over to first team coach Michael Carrick who, caretaker manager until Ralf, saw his charges draw, 1-1 on November 21st against Chelsea at home.
Right footed inverted left wing, Jadon Sancho, brought from German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, for 2021-22 for £73m, and returning on loan there from January 11th, 2024, for a fee of £4m, ‘underperforming’, according to ten Hag, dispossessed Brazilian born Italian international defensive midfielder, Jorginho, who tried to control on his chest, just outside the center circle, inside the Chelsea half, a volleyed left footed lob from Fernandes, left of United’s 18 yard box. Sancho ran the ball into The Blues’ penalty area, rounding Senegalese ‘keeper, Édouard Mendy, and drove the ball right footed into the net on 50 minutes, 1-0.
On November 28th Carrick effectively relinquished his caretaker role, after a win away to Spain’s Villarreal in Group F of the Champions League, after securing for the club a place in the Round of 16, with Ronaldo, on 78 minutes, lobbing the ball over ‘keeper Rulli, after his too-short kick out to French defensive midfielder, Étienne Capoue, challenged by United’s Brazilian left midfielder, Fred, bounced favorably for Cristiano to side footed, lob, with the inside of his right boot, 1-0.
Fernandes, right of center, completing a sweeping cross field move from the left touchline, flicked a pass infield from Rashford, on as a 66th minute substitute for Martial, and in his preferred role of right footed inverted left winger, out to Sancho, at the right of the 18 yard box, almost level with the corner of the 6 yard box, and the England striker, right footed, struck high, on 90 minutes, into the top right corner of the net, 2-0.
With United on 10 points in Group F, at worst the club would complete their fixture list to finish second to Villarreal on goal difference. Completing their fixtures, home and away, against United, Italy’s Atalanta, and Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne, Villarreal finished on 10 points, with a goal difference of +3. With a game against Young Boys at Old Trafford remaining, under Rangnick’s guidance, the team drew, 1-1, after a cross from Shaw out on the left wing near the goal line, was struck, left footed, falling backwards, low inside the left post, 1-0, by then 20 years England center forward, Mason Greenwood, later sent off on loan to get offers at Spain’s La Liga club, Getafe, after January, 2022, social media video recordings alleging rape, but 18 in 2019-20, when he reached double figures in goals, 10, for the first and only time in his then United career. With the same goal difference as Villarreal, +3, United finished top of Group F on 11 points.
Shaw made 19 starts and 1 appearance in 2021-22 before ten Hag's arrival. Curiously the Dutchman managed to leave the team without recognizable left back cover for Luke, 30 starts and 1 appearance in 2022-23, by the close of 2023-24, which significantly impinged on the club's progress, as they had to negotiate the later rounds of the F.A. Cup without Shaw. Telles, allowed to go on loan for 2022-23 to Spain's Sevilla, where he won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, after normal time, 1-1, was transferred for $7.8m to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2023-24, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1, alongside Ronaldo, given a free transfer by ten Hag, who got both goals.
Ten Hag's solution to his left full back issue was to bring from Everton Spain's Sergio Reguilón on loan, 5 starts and 4 appearances, but he was allowed to return to Everton on January 4th, shortly before Shaw's injury on 45 + 2 minutes, during the February 18th, 2-1, win at Luton Town, which in the absence of left footed Argentine center back, and sometime left back, Lisandro Martínez, foot and knee injury, brought from ten Hag's former club, Ajax, for 2022-23 for £47m, and Tyrell Malacia, knee, left back transferred from Holland's Feyenoord, also for 2022-23, for £13m, both out for most of the season, meant the side hadn't a left full back for the remaining F.A. Cup games.
A loan spell for Brandon Williams at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Though a rugged, long-legged tackler, with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign, and loaned to England's 2nd tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24, he wasn't recalled after Shaw's setback. Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances, on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, before Shaw's injury in February, who then had only 12 starts to his name, Carreras again went on loan to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season, which for ten Hag seemed to preclude Carreras being recalled, while emphasizing how it was Shaw hadn't any rivals.
At 3rd in Group 2, with Trippier at left back, England didn't qualify for the biennial 2020-21 UEFA Nations League Finals, Italy, but England's Luke, selected for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Group I against Hungary, 4-0, on September 2nd, 2021, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, and against Poland, 1-1, on September 8th, at Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, before the return against Hungary, on October 12th, 1-1, at Wembley, was at left back for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Holland, Group A3, Game 5, against Italy, on September 23rd, 2022, at Stadio San Siro, Milan, 0-1, and against Germany, Game 6, on September 26th, in which he scored England's first at Wembley on 77 minutes in a draw, 3-3, although England, bottom of Group A3, were relegated to Group B.
Shaw, selected for the 2022 World Cup Finals against Iran, on November 21st, in the Group B Game 1, experienced victory, 6-2, at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar, while drawing in Game 2 against the United States, 0-0, on November 25th at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, before winning in Game 3 against Wales, 3-0, on November 29th, at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, and beating Senegal in Game 4, 3-0, on December 4th, at Al Bayt, but losing the quarter final against France, 1-2, on December 10th, at Al Bayt.
Luke went on to play for England in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship, Germany, against Italy, Group C, winning 2-1, on March 23rd, 2023, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, and in the defeat of Malta, 4-0, on June 16th, at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, Valetta, as well as against North Macedonia, beaten 7-0, on June 19th, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and England's last opponent ahead of Shaw's February 2024 injury.
Ten years at 'the theater of Dreams', and some dreaming with ten Hag, deserves a testimonial, according to received soccer wisdom. Shaw was the latest in a considerable line of left back heroes for the faithful amongst the terraced ranks at the Stretford End to applaud. Eire's Johnny Carey, captain of the 1948 F.A. Cup Final winning side that beat Blackpool, 4-2. Roger Byrne, captain, and another left winger, 7 goals in 1951-52’s league title team, switched to left full back. Eire's Tony Dunne, left back in the 1968 European Cup Final defeat of Portugal's Benfica, 4-1, a.e.t., 1-1, at Wembley. Scot, Arthur Albiston, winner of the F.A. Cup Finals of 1977, against Liverpool, 2-1, 1983, against Brighton and Hove Albion, 4-0, after a replay, 2-2, and 1985, against Everton, 1-0. England left back, Lee Martin, lashing home the winner on 59 minutes in the 1990 F.A. Cup Final Replay, 1-0, after the first game ended, 3-3. Northern Ireland’s Denis Irwin's marathon stint as a right footed left back, after his transfer from Oldham Athletic for season 1990-91 for £650,000, during 7 of the team's championship winning seasons, as well as the 1999 European Cup Final in Spain at Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, 2-1, against German Bundesliga club, FC Bayern Munich. Fans have had some cheer from the left back position.
Although Shaw reportedly idolized Chelsea's Ashley Cole, prior to van Gaal’s injection of Luke's panache in 2014-15, his immediate predecessors in the left back role at United were equally as deserving. France's Mikaël Silvestre, five league titles before 2007-08, and his second European Champions League title in 2007-08, although France’s left back, Patrice Evra, edged him out of the starting line up, and Alex Ferguson’s converted left wing, Ashley Young, at left full back, assuring him and his players of their 13th league title in 2012-13.
Shaw Got Ten Years
A product of Southampton's youth policy, age 16, left back Luke Shaw made his first team debut on January 28th, 2012, against Millwall, 1-1, in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round, substituting for left winger, Jason Puncheon, in the 77th minute, before signing as a professional, after 'The Saints' beat Coventry City, 4-0, on April 28th, to finish second on 88 points below Reading's 89, but above West Ham United's 86, and gain promotion from English soccer’s 2nd tier Championship to 1st tier Premier League for the 2012-13 campaign. Manchester United's Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, had him transferred for the 2014-15 season for £30m.
In an injury ravaged start to his career, Luke also had the talents of Argentine defender, Marcos Rojo, bought by van Gaal from Portugal’s Sporting CP, Lisbon, for £16m, former Aston Villa left wing, England’s Ashley Young, bought for £17m for 2011-12, and converted by then manager, Alex Ferguson, to left back, and left footed Dutch center back, Daley Blind, after a hamstring injury to Shaw kept him out of the team for the first month of the season, also bought by Gaal for 2014-15 from Eredivisie Ajax for £13.8m, to compete for a place in the team.
Rojo, a center half, also played at left back, as he did in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final for Gaal, though Rojo himself was replaced on 66 minutes by Italian full back, Matteo Darmian, transferred from Italy's AC Milan for 2015-16, after being on loan at Torino, Turin, Italy, for £12.7m, specifically as cover for Shaw, while Young came on as substitute for England center forward, Marcus Rashford, on 72 minutes, with French left wing Anthony Martial, switching to center forward, as Young took the left wing position. United drew, 1-1, but won, 2-1, a.e.t., through a volley on the right edge of the 18 yard box, right footed, top left corner of the net, from England's Jessie Lingard, on for Spain's left footed inverted right wing, Juan Mata, on 110 minutes.
Before the appointment of Portuguese manager, José Mourinho, as Gaal's successor for 2016-17, as the club wanted the league title as well as the F.A. Cup, Young, along with right wing, Ecuador's Antonio Valencia, similarly at right back in the 2016 F.A. Cup Final, Ashley having been converted to left full back by Ferguson, to win the last of his 13 league titles in 2012-13, before he retired to be replaced for 2013-14 by Everton's David Moyes.
Gaal had replaced Moyes, after David lost to Sunderland, 1-2 away, and 2-1 at home, with the aggregate score, 3-3, a.e.t., in the second leg, 1-2, on penalties at Old Trafford, of the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final. A catalyst for dismissal. However, the non-availability of Shaw for the 2016 F.A. Cup Final was indicative of the problems that injury and competition for the left back role represented for him. In the 2014-15 season, ruled out by a hamstring complaint for the first part, Luke made 15 starts and 1 appearance from the substitutes' bench, as the specialist left back, while Rojo and Young had more opportunities to compete for that spot in 2015-16, after Shaw suffered a double leg fracture, subsequent to a 15th minute sliding tackle by Dutch club PSV Eindhoven's Mexican center back, Héctor Moreno, in a defeat, 1-2, on September 15th, 2015, at Philips Stadion, during a Group B Champions League qualifier for the knock-out Round of 16 stage. However, finishing 3rd the club were relegated to competing in European soccer's 2nd tier competition, where in the Europa League’s Round of 16 they lost to Liverpool, 1-3, on aggregate, 0-2, at Anfield, and 1-1 at home.
Shaw made only 5 starts in 2015-16, and 9 starts and 2 appearances in 2016-17, followed by 8 and 3 in 2017-18, which indicated not only the extent of his injury concerns with regard to recovery and fitness, but also the ability of the competition, for example, Darmian, who made 15 starts and 3 appearances for Mourinho in 2016-17, with Rojo at left back for the League Cup Final defeat of Southampton, 3-2, was at left back in the Europa Cup Final defeat of Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0, at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, while Young was at left back for the defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final.
Luke's England career was similarly disrupted, with only 8 appearances, subsequent to his 4 in 2014, after his debut as half-time substitute for Chelsea's Ashley Cole, while still at Southampton, in a friendly at London's Wembley Stadium against Denmark, 1-0, on March 5th, and second choice to Everton's Leighton Baines in the 2014 World Cup Finals, selected only for the Group D, Game 3, World Cup qualifier, at Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 24th, against Central America's Costa Rica, 0-0, eventual group winners, with former World Cup winners England, 1966, and Italy, 1934, '38, '82 and 2006 eliminated, while another Uruguay, 1930 and '50, progressed.
In the 2016 European Championship, with the Finals due to be held in France, without injured Shaw, who'd been fit for the Group E European Championship qualifiers against a European microstate within Italy's borders, San Marino, beaten 6-0, at Stadio Olimpico, Sarravalle, on September 5th, 2015, and against Switzerland, defeated 2-0, at Wembley, on September 8th, 2015, before England lost to Iceland, 1-2, at Grande Stade de Nice, Italy, in the Round of 16, with Tottenham Hotspur's Danny Rose at left back, while at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, Ashley Young was at left full back for the semi final, 1-2, against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
Shaw was available for the inaugural 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, Portugal, Group A 4 defeat to Spain, 1-2, at Wembley on September 8th, 2018, while England, losing to the Netherlands in the semi final, 1-1, and 1-3, a.e.t., at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal, June 6th, 2019, with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell at left back, on June 9th, again in the city of Guimarães, beat Switzerland, 0-0, a.e.t., 6-5 on penalties, in the game to decide 3rd and 4th place overall, but this time with Rose at left back.
For 2020's European Championship Finals, held multi-nationally in 11 countries, Shaw was selected for Group D, Game 3, to face the Czech Republic, won 1-0, on June 22nd at Wembley, and against Germany, won 2-0, on June 29th, in the Round of 16, at Wembley, before the defeat of Ukraine, in the quarter final, on July 3rd, 2021, 4-0, at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, and then Denmark were beaten, 2-1, in the semi final, on July 7th, at Wembley, but the side lost at London’s national Stadium on July 11th, 2-3, to Italy on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with Shaw getting England's goal from open play on 2 minutes, striking low, left of 'keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, from a cross by Atlético Madrid's right back, Kieran Trippier, at the right corner of the 18 yard box to Luke at the far post.
Losing the final of the European Championships was a close affair, and Manchester United wouldn't win another trophy until 2022-23, when manager from the Netherlands' Ajax, Amsterdam, Erik ten Hag, steered the side to victory in the 2023 League Cup Final, 2-0, against Newcastle United, having replaced Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, former ‘red devils’ striker, and Mourinho's successor, after the 2018 F.A. Cup Final defeat to a penalty on 22 minutes by Eden Hazard, when the Belgian striker was recklessly challenged in the penalty area by England center back, Phil Jones, 0-1.
Shaw had made the left full back position his though, with 29 starts in 2018-19, and Daley Blind returned to Ajax for €16m, although Solskjaer assessed Brandon Williams, 19 years, 11 starts and 6 appearances in 2019-20, while Luke was making 20 starts and 4 appearances. For 2020-21 Ole had Brazil left back, Alex Telles, 8 starts and 1 appearance, transferred from Portugal's FC Porto for £15.4m to sustain the pressure on Shaw, 30 starts and 2 appearances, to perform. The competition was productive, as Ole's team made four semi-finals in two seasons; the League Cup, F.A. Cup and Europa Cup in 2019-2020, and the League Cup semi final in 2020-21.
The club also reached the 2021 Europa Cup Final at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, beating Roma in the first leg of the quarter final at home, 6-2, but losing, 2-3 in Rome, winning 8-5 on aggregate, only to lose to Spain’s Villarreal in the Final, 10-11 on penalties, a.e.t., 1-1, with South America's Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, arriving on a free transfer, age 34 from French club, Paris Saint-Germain, striking twice in the semi final first leg against Roma, with United behind, 1-2, right footed volleying a pass infield from Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, to his right on 49 minutes into the top right corner, 2-2, and a tap in on 64 minutes after Spanish ‘keeper, Pau López, was unable to hold onto Croydon born right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross shot from wide on the right, 2-3.
Edinson, in the second away leg, put through by Fred, right footed, bursting through from inside his own half into Roma’s, receiving the pass infield, ran on to rifle a shot, on 39 minutes, into the net, a yard or so from the edge of the 18 yard box, 1-0, then later, Fernandes, left outside the 18 yard box, chipping the ball towards Cavani, running in at goal from the right corner of the 18 yard box, center, a yard or so outside the penalty area, on 68 minutes, a header down, and inside the right post, 2-2.
On 55 minutes Cavani equalized in the Final against Villarreal, with a close-in strike from 5 yards, 1-1. Left back, Alfonso Pedraza, midway inside the 18 yard box, could only block, with the outside of his right boot, Rashford’s low effort, center field, from 20 yards, as far as Scots’ midfielder, Scott McTominay, who set himself to run at the ball to strike at goal. Although center back, Pau Torres, dove in with a sliding tackle to clear, Cavani, coming in from the left ahead of him, swept the ball with the inside of his right boot, past Argentine ‘keeper, Gerónimo Rulli, into the net.
The team lost comprehensively to Manchester City in the 2019-20 two leg League Cup semi final, 1-3, at home, with Williams at left back, but with Shaw, 1-0 away, 2-3 on aggregate, while in the F.A. Cup semi final the side again lost comprehensively to Chelsea, with Williams at left back, 1-3, and in the Europa cup semi final a loss, 0-2, to Spain’s Sevilla, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, with Williams again at left back. Luke was at left back against Manchester City in the 2020-21 League Cup semi final defeat, 0-2, and in the 10-11 Europa Cup Final loss to Villarreal, which led to Solskjaer's replacing in 2021-22, with former RB Leipzig manager, German Ralf Rangnick, an interim appointment on December 3rd, 2021, until season's end.
For Ole 2021-22 began optimistically, with Portugal’s legendary right wing, Cristiano Ronaldo, agreeing to leave Italy's Juventus for £12.85m. He'd won back-to-back Serie A titles there in 2018-19 and 2019-20, after leaving Real Madrid for £88m, where he'd won the European Champions League in 2014, against Spain’s Atlético Madrid, 1-1, and 4-1, a.e.t., on May 24th at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal; 2016, against Atlético Madrid, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-3 on penalties, on May 28th at the San Siro, Milan; 2017, against Italy's Juventus, 4-1, on June 3rd at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, and 2018, against Liverpool, 3-1, on May 26th at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, against Argentina's San Lorenzo, 2-0, on December 20th at the Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco; 2016, against Japan's Kashima Antlers, 2-2, a.e.t., 4-2, on December 18th at the International Stadium, Yokohama, and 2017, against Brazil's Grémio, 1-0, on December 16th at the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, after leaving Old Trafford for £80m, where he'd won the 2008 Champions League Final at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, against Chelsea, 1-1, and ahead on 26 minutes from his own headed goal, through a cross on the right from the full back there, Wes Brown, 6-5, a.e.t., on penalties, with legendary Welsh left wing, Ryan Giggs, converting # 6.
Despite the legend’s desire to unfold further, scoring 6 of his 18 goals that term for Solskjaer, the club, 7th in the league on November 20th, was taken out of Ole’s control and given over to first team coach Michael Carrick who, caretaker manager until Ralf, saw his charges draw, 1-1 on November 21st against Chelsea at home.
Right footed inverted left wing, Jadon Sancho, brought from German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, for 2021-22 for £73m, and returning on loan there from January 11th, 2024, for a fee of £4m, ‘underperforming’, according to ten Hag, dispossessed Brazilian born Italian international defensive midfielder, Jorginho, who tried to control on his chest, just outside the center circle, inside the Chelsea half, a volleyed left footed lob from Fernandes, left of United’s 18 yard box. Sancho ran the ball into The Blues’ penalty area, rounding Senegalese ‘keeper, Édouard Mendy, and drove the ball right footed into the net on 50 minutes, 1-0.
On November 28th Carrick effectively relinquished his caretaker role, after a win away to Spain’s Villarreal in Group F of the Champions League, after securing for the club a place in the Round of 16, with Ronaldo, on 78 minutes, lobbing the ball over ‘keeper Rulli, after his too-short kick out to French defensive midfielder, Étienne Capoue, challenged by United’s Brazilian left midfielder, Fred, bounced favorably for Cristiano to side footed, lob, with the inside of his right boot, 1-0.
Fernandes, right of center, completing a sweeping cross field move from the left touchline, flicked a pass infield from Rashford, on as a 66th minute substitute for Martial, and in his preferred role of right footed inverted left winger, out to Sancho, at the right of the 18 yard box, almost level with the corner of the 6 yard box, and the England striker, right footed, struck high, on 90 minutes, into the top right corner of the net, 2-0.
With United on 10 points in Group F, at worst the club would complete their fixture list to finish second to Villarreal on goal difference. Completing their fixtures, home and away, against United, Italy’s Atalanta, and Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne, Villarreal finished on 10 points, with a goal difference of +3. With a game against Young Boys at Old Trafford remaining, under Rangnick’s guidance, the team drew, 1-1, after a cross from Shaw out on the left wing near the goal line, was struck, left footed, falling backwards, low inside the left post, 1-0, by then 20 years England center forward, Mason Greenwood, later sent off on loan to get offers at Spain’s La Liga club, Getafe, after January, 2022, social media video recordings alleging rape, but 18 in 2019-20, when he reached double figures in goals, 10, for the first and only time in his then United career. With the same goal difference as Villarreal, +3, United finished top of Group F on 11 points.
Shaw made 19 starts and 1 appearance in 2021-22 before ten Hag's arrival. Curiously the Dutchman managed to leave the team without recognizable left back cover for Luke, 30 starts and 1 appearance in 2022-23, by the close of 2023-24, which significantly impinged on the club's progress, as they had to negotiate the later rounds of the F.A. Cup without Shaw. Telles, allowed to go on loan for 2022-23 to Spain's Sevilla, where he won the Europa Cup, 4-1 on penalties, a.e.t., with the match against Italy's Roma ending, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, after normal time, 1-1, was transferred for $7.8m to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for 2023-24, where he was in the team that won the Arab Club Champions Cup Final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, on August 12th, 2023, against Al Hilal, also of Saudi Arabia, 2-1, alongside Ronaldo, given a free transfer by ten Hag, who got both goals.
Ten Hag's solution to his left full back issue was to bring from Everton Spain's Sergio Reguilón on loan, 5 starts and 4 appearances, but he was allowed to return to Everton on January 4th, shortly before Shaw's injury on 45 + 2 minutes, during the February 18th, 2-1, win at Luton Town, which in the absence of left footed Argentine center back, and sometime left back, Lisandro Martínez, foot and knee injury, brought from ten Hag's former club, Ajax, for 2022-23 for £47m, and Tyrell Malacia, knee, left back transferred from Holland's Feyenoord, also for 2022-23, for £13m, both out for most of the season, meant the side hadn't a left full back for the remaining F.A. Cup games.
A loan spell for Brandon Williams at then Premier League club, Norwich City, 2021-22, 23 starts and 3 appearances, didn't augur well. Though a rugged, long-legged tackler, with the capacity to cross strongly from the left, Williams didn't figure in ten Hag's 2022-23 league campaign, and loaned to England's 2nd tier Championship club, Ipswich Town, for 2023-24, he wasn't recalled after Shaw's setback. Spanish left back, Álvaro Carreras, 27 starts and 12 appearances, on loan to England's Championship club Preston North End in 2022-23, was again loaned, first on September 1st, 2023, to Granada in Spain's La Liga, then on January 17th, 2024, before Shaw's injury in February, who then had only 12 starts to his name, Carreras again went on loan to Portugal's Primeira Liga club Benfica, with the condition of his signing for €6m being that he should play half (8) of the Lisbon club's remaining games in their league season, which for ten Hag seemed to preclude Carreras being recalled, while emphasizing how it was Shaw hadn't any rivals.
At 3rd in Group 2, with Trippier at left back, England didn't qualify for the biennial 2020-21 UEFA Nations League Finals, Italy, but England's Luke, selected for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Group I against Hungary, 4-0, on September 2nd, 2021, at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, and against Poland, 1-1, on September 8th, at Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, before the return against Hungary, on October 12th, 1-1, at Wembley, was at left back for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Holland, Group A3, Game 5, against Italy, on September 23rd, 2022, at Stadio San Siro, Milan, 0-1, and against Germany, Game 6, on September 26th, in which he scored England's first at Wembley on 77 minutes in a draw, 3-3, although England, bottom of Group A3, were relegated to Group B.
Shaw, selected for the 2022 World Cup Finals against Iran, on November 21st, in the Group B Game 1, experienced victory, 6-2, at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar, while drawing in Game 2 against the United States, 0-0, on November 25th at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, before winning in Game 3 against Wales, 3-0, on November 29th, at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, and beating Senegal in Game 4, 3-0, on December 4th, at Al Bayt, but losing the quarter final against France, 1-2, on December 10th, at Al Bayt.
Luke went on to play for England in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship, Germany, against Italy, Group C, winning 2-1, on March 23rd, 2023, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, and in the defeat of Malta, 4-0, on June 16th, at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, Valetta, as well as against North Macedonia, beaten 7-0, on June 19th, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and England's last opponent ahead of Shaw's February 2024 injury.
Ten years at 'the theater of Dreams', and some dreaming with ten Hag, deserves a testimonial, according to received soccer wisdom. Shaw was the latest in a considerable line of left back heroes for the faithful amongst the terraced ranks at the Stretford End to applaud. Eire's Johnny Carey, captain of the 1948 F.A. Cup Final winning side that beat Blackpool, 4-2. Roger Byrne, captain, and another left winger, 7 goals in 1951-52’s league title team, switched to left full back. Eire's Tony Dunne, left back in the 1968 European Cup Final defeat of Portugal's Benfica, 4-1, a.e.t., 1-1, at Wembley. Scot, Arthur Albiston, winner of the F.A. Cup Finals of 1977, against Liverpool, 2-1, 1983, against Brighton and Hove Albion, 4-0, after a replay, 2-2, and 1985, against Everton, 1-0. England left back, Lee Martin, lashing home the winner on 59 minutes in the 1990 F.A. Cup Final Replay, 1-0, after the first game ended, 3-3. Northern Ireland’s Denis Irwin's marathon stint as a right footed left back, after his transfer from Oldham Athletic for season 1990-91 for £650,000, during 7 of the team's championship winning seasons, as well as the 1999 European Cup Final in Spain at Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, 2-1, against German Bundesliga club, FC Bayern Munich. Fans have had some cheer from the left back position.
Although Shaw reportedly idolized Chelsea's Ashley Cole, prior to van Gaal’s injection of Luke's panache in 2014-15, his immediate predecessors in the left back role at United were equally as deserving. France's Mikaël Silvestre, five league titles before 2007-08, and his second European Champions League title in 2007-08, although France’s left back, Patrice Evra, edged him out of the starting line up, and Alex Ferguson’s converted left wing, Ashley Young, at left full back, assuring him and his players of their 13th league title in 2012-13.