In the summer of 2020, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was responsible for bringing Donny van de Beek and Alex Telles aboard for Manchester United. The two players combined to make just 12 appearances in the Premier League during that campaign, spending the majority of the season warming the bench.

With the benefit of hindsight, it has been demonstrated that Solskjaer's recruitment during his time at Old Trafford was beyond questionable. Van de Beek and Telles are included on that extensive list of players that would be considered unsuccessful signings. While Telles is currently playing for Sevilla on loan, Van de Beek has hardly played at all under Erik ten Hag, the coach who brought him to prominence while he was working at Ajax.

Telles is a left back, but he is unable to defend, and he started a significant number of games in the previous season. It should not have come as a surprise that Ten Hag deemed him unnecessary this summer, and the best work he accomplished at Old Trafford was actually pressuring Shaw to improve his play.

It is common knowledge that increased competition for positions in a dressing room is a factor that contributes to higher overall quality, and the bringing in of Telles in October of 2020 served as the impetus that Shaw required in order to advance. It seemed as though the left back had become complacent, and that was something that needed to change.

The reaction from Shaw to the acquisition of Telles was better than Solskjaer could have possibly imagined it would be. Shaw has been a member of the club for the past eight years, and he unquestionably played the best football of his career during the 2020/21 season when he was truly world-class. Shaw has been at the club for a total of eight years.

Erik Ten Hag on Ronaldo Rashford

Before his match in the UEFA Europa League against Real Sociedad, Erik Ten Hag gave his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.

He had a better season than Andrew Robertson, Alphonso Davies, Ferland Mendy, and Ben Chilwell, which made him the best in the world at his position, and he did his reputation no harm when he continued in that form at the 2020 European Championship. [Citation needed]

After Shaw's goal in the final of Euro 2020, which was played against Italy at Wembley Stadium, the possibility of a fairytale ending to the perfect individual season was raised. Instead, Italy prevailed through the penalty shootout, and Shaw has not been able to return to the levels of performance he was once consistently achieving.

Shaw was given the opportunity to prove himself despite the fact that Ten Hag signed Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord this summer. As a result, Shaw started the first two matches of the Premier League season, one against Brighton and the other against Brentford. Overall, United came out on the losing end of those matches with a score of 6-1.

Shaw was left standing desolate after Bryan Mbeumo outran and outmuscled him to score Brentford's fourth goal. The left-back was left standing desolate as the 17,000 fans inside the Brentford Community Stadium hysterically celebrated the brutal capitulation of Ten Hag's side. Shaw was left standing desolate after Bryan Mbeumo outran and outmuscled him to score Brentford's fourth goal.

Nine days later, United played Liverpool, and they were able to pull off an incredible victory by beating Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford. Shaw was moved to the bench, and Malacia was phenomenal, appearing more than capable of dealing with the importance of the occasion and the difficulty of the task despite being only 23 years old.

Since making his debut in a full capacity, Malacia has started each Premier League game for United, and the club has earned 12 points as a result of those contests. Shaw is no longer the team's starting left back, and he was sidelined with an injury during the competition in the Europa League, so he was unable to make a statement there.

It is believed that Shaw has been dealing with a minor foot injury, which caused him to miss the matchday squads against Leicester and Real Sociedad. However, on Thursday, Shaw made his return in Chisinau when he played 20 minutes off the bench in a match against FC Sheriff.

The international break has started, and Shaw is already included in Gareth Southgate's England squad despite not having earned a spot through competition. This coming week, Shaw will be making his way to St. George's Park, where he will be required to practice with England at the same level of ferocity as is required during actual games.

Shaw is vying for a spot at Old Trafford, and in order to do so, he needs to make sure that he returns to Carrington in the best possible shape, both mentally and physically. Although he has frequently been accused of not being physically fit, photos of him in training have demonstrated that this is not a cause for concern.

He worked out on a Saturday afternoon, and a few hours later, after supporters complimented him on his physical appearance, he went viral on the internet. Even though Shaw appears healthy and trim right now, that should only be considered the bare minimum. To uproot Malacia, he will definitely need to be in better shape than just fit.

On Sunday, October 2, United will play their next game, which is scheduled to be against Manchester City. Malacia is anticipated to start that matchup. Shaw will need to be patient in order to win back his starting position, and when he does get the opportunity to play, he will need to perform at the same level he did in the 2020/21 season.