Luke Shaw says he felt like he was letting Manchester United down with injury troubles

New York Times

2 days ago

Luke Shaw has said he felt like he was letting Manchester United down by being injured for extended periods last season, revealing he had not experienced those levels of problems before in his career.
Shaw said it was a 'really stressful' time, but believes he is over the issues now and has praised Ruben Amorim for being supportive through the process.
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United were without Shaw for 46 games last season. He sustained a calf injury last summer that kept him out from the start of the campaign until Amorim's arrival in November, then after three substitute appearances in a row he picked up another muscle problem which stopped him from playing until April 13. During that time, he even spent some weeks in Doha, Qatar, to try to remedy, with United's blessing.
Shaw played nine more games, including starting the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and he has declared himself 'very happy' with his fitness as he undergoes pre-season in the United States.
Amorim called Shaw 'world class' during a press conference ahead of the Premier League Summer Series friendly against West Ham United, which the 30-year-old found a huge boost.
'It was quite unexpected,' Shaw told reporters in the U.S. 'It's really nice to hear that, especially from the manager. He's been really good with me.
'He understands the problems I had last season, it was really tough. It's something I've not experienced. I know I've had a lot of injuries, but it was more mentally how tough it was. It was really tough. I won't go too much into that.
'I think last season it was one to forget. I've had injuries in the past, but last season it was different kind of injuries. It was horrible.
'It started with a calf and I've never had a calf injury in my life, so I was never used to that. It was just a completely different rehab and stuff. Things just kept happening. It was really stressful, but I'm grateful that I'm here now and I feel fit.'
Shaw was absent for the entirety of the end of Erik ten Hag's reign, returning for Amorim's debut at Ipswich.
'I kind of felt like I let Erik down with the injuries and stuff,' Shaw conceded. 'I wasn't there for him towards the end, and that wasn't nice.
'Then, when the new manager comes in and we speak about different things, different aims for the rest of the season that we had, obviously then again I get injured.
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'A lot of last season, I just felt like I let a lot of people down, in the club and the team, because I was always injured. I might not have been but it was just something in my head where I found it really hard. I put a lot of blame on myself.
'The team and the manager were really good with me. Especially the manager, he stuck by me.'
Shaw does retain confidence in his abilities. 'I know I must have it because every manager always plays me,' he said. 'I feel like I must be doing something right.'
Amorim has preferred to play Shaw as a left-sided centre-half, rather than a wing-back. 'I really like this formation,' said Shaw. 'I've spoken a lot about left-centre back or left-wing back, just in general with a lot of people asking me the same question. Not too much with the manager, to be fair.
'I don't mind wherever the manager wants me to play. I'm happy to play anywhere. I think at the moment, I've been playing left-centre this pre-season so we'll have to see if that carries on.'
Shaw has bold ambitions still.
'Of course, our aim for the season is — after last season, it might sound a bit ridiculous — but we want to be winning the Premier League,' he added. 'We should have those ambitions. Not just me individually, but the whole team. We all have to have the same ambitions and all push for that.
'It's Man United and we need to be having those aims. Otherwise, there's no point in being here, you know? I think it's the biggest club in the world and it needs to have the biggest ambitions.
'I feel real happiness right now. I don't want to keep banging on about last season but I couldn't have got any lower.
'So, I think right now, I feel really good, really happy with great people around me in the team and a really good manager.
'I can't feel any better, to be honest. I'm really looking forward to this season. I've got big ambitions this season, so I'm looking to fulfil them.'