Search icon

Sport

26th Aug 2016

Luke Shaw has changed his mind about *that* tackle that broke his leg

He's back in action after nearly a year out

Rob Burnett

Luke Shaw is back in the Manchester United team a year on from breaking his leg.

The 21-year-old was establishing himself as United’s first choice left back when he suffered a horrific leg break during a Champions League tie at PSV Eindhoven last September.

He had surged into the opposition box when he was brought down by Hector Moreno. It was immediately clear that it was a bad one. He was given oxygen on the pitch before he was carried off with what turned out to be a double leg break.

And now Shaw has revealed that he has changed his mind about the challenge that put him out of action for a year.

“At the time I thought: ‘Give him the benefit of the doubt, it wasn’t actually a bad tackle,’” he told the Guardian. “But the more I’ve seen it since, the more I think: ‘You know, that was actually a really bad challenge.’

during the UEFA Champions League Group B match between PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United at PSV Stadion on September 15, 2015 in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

 

“To be fair to him, he did come to say sorry. He came to the hospital and I saw him face to face in my room. I was quite sympathetic at the time – ‘Aah, look, you can come in, it’s fine’ – but at the end of the day it was me lying there with a broken leg, and I went through so many bad times since then I did start thinking about it some more. It really annoys me they [Uefa] gave him man-of-the-match. Some people were saying it was a good challenge, others were saying it was a bad challenge. For me, it’s a bad challenge.”

Shaw says his immediate reaction was anger that we would be out of action for so long. The pain came later, he said.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 14: Lewis Grabban of AFC Bournemouth (l) challenges for the ball with Luke Shaw of Manchester United during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Manchester United at Vitality Stadium on August 14, 2016 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

 

“Then, that night, lying in hospital, I swear to God the pain was something else. Oh God, the worst you could ever imagine. My mum was next to me and I remember saying to her: ‘They have to do something because I actually can’t keep going with this amount of pain.’”

But after a full pre-season under his belt, Shaw is back and has played in United’s two opening Premier League games for Jose Mourinho.

Read more from SportsJOE:

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required