Like most of the Manchester United team, Patrice Evra started the season extremely slowly. His touch seemed to have deserted him, he didn’t look as mobile and he quite simply wasn’t as effective as he has been over the years.
But it’s been great to watch him improve over the the last couple of weeks. Manchester United have needed somebody to pick them up and lead them back up to the top of the Premier League table. No surprise that Patrice Evra, the club’s captain, was that man.
All of a sudden, we’ve seen him charging down the flanks once more, carrying the Manchester United threat forward. Whenever the midfield need an outlet he’s there and he’s got the smarts, power and presence to make things happen when he’s taking a defender on or cutting inside. He was particularly impressive against Arsenal, were he handled his defensive and offensive duties well.
But his early season performances will have given fans cause for concern. Let’s not forget that the Frenchman is 32-years-old. In footballing terms, he’s approaching retirement age. The next three or four seasons will go down as the Autumn of his career. Over the course of the coming years, his pace will start to disappear, he’ll become less mobile, more prone to injury and less dynamic. It’s sad to say, but given the job that full-backs are asked to do, their careers at the top level tend to be shorter lived than in other positions.
As such, it makes sense for Manchester United to start looking at other options. David Moyes has yet to be particularly forceful in the transfer market, but I’d like to see him go out there and snap somebody up before the need becomes even more apparent.
I certainly hope that they’re already weighing up a move for Southampton star and England U21 International, Luke Shaw. He’s a top talent, who has already started to earn comparisons to Gareth Bale (who spent his early career with the Saints as a left-back).
Unfortunately for United, he seems to be happy with his current situation. Check out these recent quotes from Shaw:
“They (the media) don’t know anything because they aren’t around the training ground and in the dressing room with me. They should know that I’ve signed a contract at Southampton and I’m not even thinking about moving. I am happy at Southampton because I’m playing football, which is exactly what I want to be doing.” (Source: The Mirror)
It’s up to David Moyes and his team to get the youngster’s imagination going. With talent comes ambition. He’ll doubtless want to play at a big club at some stage in his career. United are as big as they come and they’re able to afford him. So whilst Shaw’s current happiness will make things difficult, it’s not impossible for Manchester United to move in and get their man.
All it would take is a bit of decisiveness on David Moyes’ part. Let’s see if he’s capable of it.
What’s your take? Should United move in for Luke Shaw, or leave him well alone?
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Give me ur sister to marry and i will give u Luke Shaw,o i kiss alot