LUKE SHAW has continued his Manchester United resurgence to top the Premier League’s attacking stats for defenders in 2021.
Tuesday night saw the left-back snap up a pair of assists in the Red Devils’ 9-0 thumping of Southampton.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Edinson Cavani both scored from Shaw crosses, before the defender was taken off at half-time to rest.
The performance emphasised his stunning improvement under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Signed in 2014 as the world’s most expensive teenager, the 24-year-old experienced a quiet life in Manchester and missed much of his second season due to injury.
Jose Mourinho was certainly not a fan of his when in the Old Trafford dugout.
Shaw started just 17 league games in the two full seasons the Portuguese coach led the side.
But Solskjaer’s arrival saw him handed a regular role once more and he was voted United Players’ Player of the Year for a strong end to the 2018-19 season.
Luke Shaw’s current form is a far cry from his downturn under Jose MourinhoCredit: Getty – Contributor
And the defender may be dreaming of a European Championship call-up having boosted his attacking contribution in recent weeks.
In his seven appearances since the turn of the year, Shaw has created an average 3.4 chances per 90 minutes.
That tops Arsenal star Kieran Tierney (2.5), the in-form Joao Cancelo (1.9) and Andrew Robertson (1.8) over that period.
It is also a big improvement on Shaw’s own stats in 2020, when he made 1.32 chances per 90 minutes.
A big help has been the increase in crosses, from 1.77 to 5.55 per 90 minutes.
Last month, Solskjaer revealed his thoughts on Shaw’s star turn.
He told the club website: “Luke has immense quality. He has a very good technique, good quality.
“You see against Liverpool, he takes the ball and drives forward, that is something that I have pushed him more to do because we know he can do it.
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“It is generally down to the boy himself, mentally he is very good at the moment, he has become a dad.
“He is physically very good, his fitness is so much better and he keeps beating his high-intensity stats and his total distance stats. He has been consistently up there with what a full-back should be doing.
“When you have the talent of Luke, when that fitness and the mental bit is sorted then you are always going to get good performances.”
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Record equalling night at Old Trafford as Man Utd smash Southampton 9-0
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
