Man Utd outcast admits he has ‘accepted’ being ‘understandably’ dropped by Ten Hag
Man Utd left-back Luke Shaw says it is “understandable” that he was dropped by Erik ten Hag after a difficult start to the season.
Ten Hag has made some big calls in his short time in Manchester after leaving Ajax at the end of 2021-22.
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Following two embarrassing defeats to kick off the new season, club captain Harry Maguire was dropped to the bench alongside Shaw.
Summer signings Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia slotted in for the England duo and have both impressed in their early Man Utd days.
Cristiano Ronaldo is another player out of favour under the Dutch manager, though his late return for pre-season and transfer request did not help his bid to keep his spot in the starting XI.
Despite their struggles at club level, Maguire and Shaw were called up by England boss Gareth Southgate for the current international break.
Maguire played the full 90 minutes of the Three Lions’ two games and was not too convincing; apologising for an error he made in the 3-3 draw against Germany on Monday night.
Shaw, on the other hand, featured for 18 minutes against Italy last week before playing the full match and scoring against the Germans.
Since being hooked at half-time of Man Utd’s 4-0 loss at Brentford on matchday two, the 27-year-old hasn’t played a minute in the Premier League.
And Shaw says he has accepted the fact he has been dropped for Malacia.
He told talkSPORT: “I think Ten Hag, the boss, he knows my qualities, he knows what I’m capable of and we’ve had chats.
“It’s understandable that, and I even agree, the start of the season wasn’t good enough and he had to make changes and I fully accept that, I accepted it.
“The only thing I can do is train hard and wait for my opportunities, whether that’s in the cup games or the Premier League, whatever I play in I just have to be ready and play at the standard I should be at.”
Southgate has received a lot of criticism for England’s performances this year.
Shaw is baffled that his manager is coming under so much scrutiny, however, after he led the Three Lions to the final of the European Championships last year and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
“You look at the results of the last two major tournaments and it’s bizarre how people can attack him and say it’s not good enough,” he said.
“At the moment we haven’t won, we have to win a major tournament to be extremely successful, but we’re heading in the right direction and he’s guiding us in the right direction.
“From when he first came in, you’ve seen the difference in the England team to where we are now but of course the results recently haven’t been good enough and we’ll be ready in the World Cup.”