Erik ten Hag heaps praise on “fabulous” Luke Shaw and offers Lisandro Martinez update

One surprising but positive development over the last week at Manchester United is that Luke Shaw is an incredibly capable left back.

With Erik ten Hag having only one centre-back available when Man United faced Burnley in the EFL Cup towards the end of December, Casemiro slotted into place alongside Raphael Varane.

However, once Scott McTominay suffered an injury, Casemiro had to step back into midfield against Nottingham Forest, and despite the return of Harry Maguire to the substitutes bench, it was Shaw who stepped up to fill the left centre-back role and did brilliantly.

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He then followed it up with another top-class display in the same position away against Wolves, handling Diego Costa well and keeping consecutive clean sheets. Speaking ahead of the home tie against Bournemouth, Ten hag was full or praise for the Englishman.

“We have seen the last two games he has been fabulous,” said Ten Hag. “In possession you can have better angles with the left foot. He has impressed but, of course, we know he is really good as a left full-back. It’s an extra option and that’s always good for a team.”

Ten Hag went on to describe how well both he and Varane defended against Wolves, calling it the “best match”.

“I thought (against Wolves) it was the best match with Rapha and Luke. Especially defending wise, we know the speed from Wolves on the right side, and (Shaw) could cover that because we want to attack over on the left side with offensive game from Tyrell Malacia so that was a good fit.”

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The man who Shaw is covering for, Lisandro Martinez, made his much-anticipated return to first team training last week, with Ten Hag “optimistic” that he can make the squad set to play Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

“We have to see,” he said, speaking about Martinez and McTominay. “Both were training yesterday and today. I’m quite optimistic that they can both return to the squad.”

With Manchester United having made it five wins in a row last Saturday afternoon, the return of Martinez and brilliance of Shaw’s form will only add to what is shaping up to be a good run under Erik ten Hag so far.