Luke Shaw is as injury prone as anybody in world football, and this past season, he missed out from mid-February onward with a muscle injury. So when England manager Gareth Southgate included Shaw in his squad for Euro 2024, he admitted it was a bit of a “gamble” and a “wild card.”
???????? OFFICIAL: England squad for Euro 2024.
? Jack Grealish
? Harry Maguire
? James Maddison
? Jarrad Branthwaite
? James Trafford
? Curtis Jones
? Jarrell Quansah pic.twitter.com/j1teMHthfj— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 6, 2024
“He’s progressed really well in the last couple of weeks,” said Southgate, who axed Shaw’s United team-mate Harry Maguire due to his calf injury.
“At the moment, we think he can have some involvement in the second group game. But of course, you’ve got to keep hitting the markers.
“He’s had a good volume of work operating at good speeds as well. I think you can take one gamble and that’s the gamble that we’ve got enough evidence to believe it can pay off.
“And also, positionally, because of what he brings, with his experience, the fact he’s a left-footer who can drive forward and give us a different attacking option as well, then it is a situation we wanted to explore.”
Luke Shaw is among the best at his position when healthy (he even won the MUFC Player of the Season award a couple years ago), it’s just that he isn’t fully fit too often.
For today though, there is no need to dwell on that. Instead it’s just a great feel-good story for a guy who hasn’t had much good luck lately.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.