Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has heaped praise on the club’s longest serving player ahead of the Premier League trip to Ipswich Town on Sunday.
The Red Devils restart their campaign against the Tractor Boys at Portman Road. It will be Amorim’s first game in the dug-out, having taken charge during the international break.
Amorim did not provide an extensive team news update yesterday. He confirmed that Luke Shaw is feeling fine, but the club need to build his fitness during games after a long injury lay-off.
The Portuguese tactician added that the left-back is a ‘very good’ player. The 39-year-old wants to take care of him so that he can be an important player in the squad for a long period.
He told Manutd.com: “Luke [Shaw], for example, is feeling fine, but we have to build his fitness during games, so we have to be careful.
“I think he’s a very good player, so I will take care of him and I want these kinds of players that are important in our squad for a long period and not just for a game.”
The £23 million-rated star has not played a competitive game for United this season due to muscular injuries. He sustained a setback during his first pre-season training session.
Shaw had an equally disappointing 2023/24 campaign with 15 appearances. Amorim will be aware of this, and he is unlikely to rush him back to the starting XI which former manager Erik ten Hag tended to go.
United take on Ipswich tomorrow and Amorim is expected to play with his preferred 3-4-3 formation.
The manager has already hinted that he could play with full-backs in the wing-back positions as the current wingers in the squad will need to adapt to extra defensive duties.
Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are poised to start. The latter could feature as the left wing-back, having impressed with his ball control and inverting runs into midfield.
Dalot has been caught out of position often when playing on the left side of the backline.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
Article written by Sri Aswin .
