It was not a night to remember for Manchester United, their first game back in Europe ended in defeat, and to add to the misery, Luke Shaw suffered a horrific injury. 15 minutes into the game, Shaw had made a typical surging run, when PSV’s Mexican defender Hector Moreno caught his standing leg just when he was going to nick the ball past him.
The injury is a major setback for both United and England. Shaw has been in excellent form at the start of this season after a stop start campaign in his first season at Old Trafford.
Shaw tweeted from hospital in Eindhoven thanking supporters for there messages and vowing to come back even stronger.
Thank you everyone for your messages , words can’t describe how gutted I am , my road to recovery starts now, I will come back stronger.
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) September 15, 2015
Even Piers Morgan, a lifelong Arsenal fan, tweeted a message of support showing at times like this there is no rivalry in football.
@LukeShaw23 very sorry for you Luke. Wish you a speedy recovery.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 15, 2015
Following his struggles to cement a position in United’s back four last season, and being told by Van Gaal that he needs to get fit to play at the standards he requires, Shaw responded this season by taking a fitness coach with him to Dubai before the start of the pre-season tour. That move did him wonders, as he was very strong in pre-season and that form continued at the start of this campaign.
He looked to have made the left back position his own and was starting to build a good understanding with Depay. United also had started to get a consistent look in the back four and this will now be interrupted. It will be interesting to see who Van Gaal deploys in the left back role, as he has a few options, with Rojo coming back to fitness he could play him out there or can move Blind into that position.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure, Luke Shaw will be a huge miss for United and they will be hoping for a full recovery and one that does not leave any lasting damage.
