Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has put his faith in defender Luke Shaw, even claiming the left-back could become the best in England.
Shaw has been somewhat of a scapegoat at Old Trafford in recent times, with now Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho often singling him out for criticism during his time in Manchester. However, his current coach is not so quick to dismiss his talents.
The defender hasn't featured for the Red Devils due to injury since their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal back on New Year's Day, and the stellar form of his 19-year-old replacement Brandon Williams has left many to speculate on whether Shaw is still the club's number one left-back.
But according to the Manchester Evening News, Solskjaer still believes Shaw has a bright future at United, while also feeling confident about the defensive unit his side have assembled.
"Potentially we have the best left-back in England. Luke has the potential to be the best one," said the United manager. "And that is the great challenge for him now, Brandon has come in and done so well."
Williams has thoroughly impressed during his time in the first team, while Ashley Young's departure for Inter has bolstered both his and Shaw's chances of making the starting lineup.
But Solskjaer is highly optimistic about the current defence's chances of forging a watertight unit going forward, partly due to their youthfulness.
"I would hope so. Then again we have got Diogo who is a great attacking full-back, Tim is coming back who is 21 and played loads of games of Holland, and Axel as a centre-back," stated Solskjaer. "So for me the foundation is there. Of course the back two as well, David [De Gea] and Sergio [Romero], make you very confident. So that is the foundation."
He added: "We did spend the majority of our transfer money in the last window on Aaron and Harry because I felt we needed to defend better but also dominate and control games more, with Harry back there because he is such an authority back there and he is confident on the ball."
United have significantly improved their defensive performances this season, despite failing to consistently shut out the opposition. The Red Devils will need to defend with their lives if they are going to keep league leaders Liverpool at bay this Sunday afternoon.
Source: 90min
