Luke Shaw Injury Affected Manchester United Players, Admits Daley Blind

Manchester United’s Daley Blind has admitted the injury suffered by team-mate Luke Shaw on Tuesday did affect the Red Devils players, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.  

Shaw suffered a double fracture of his right leg in the first half after a tough tackle from Hector Moreno, with the severity of the injury clear for all to see. Blind refused to use Shaw’s problem as an excuse for losing the match, but he insisted it was ingrained into the mind of the players, per Chris Wheeler of the MailOnline:

"

We are a strong team unit so it cuts into you. Maybe it gets into your heads but you have to let it pass.

It's something that may not actually influence you at that time. But you can be unaware, and perhaps in your head you unconsciously sympathise with him.

But it's a defeat and saying this should not pass the buck. We played well in the first half. We created many chances and had the opportunity to win the game.

"

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As you can see here, courtesy of MUFC Scoop, Moreno, who suffered a broken leg himself at the 2014 World Cup, was also noticeably uneasy in the aftermath of the incident:

Footballers are often thought of as mechanistic figures who should be able to perform regardless of the circumstances. While it’s admirable of Blind to say the problem wasn’t an excuse for the team’s losing performance, seeing Shaw’s leg bent an unnatural way must have been playing on their minds throughout the match.

After all, seeing something like that, it’d only be natural for players to go into tackles a little less full-blooded, or jump out the way if an opponent was on his way into a challenge—never mind the mental duress of seeing a friend go through such a harrowing experience.

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Manchester United podcaster James agrees that it must have had some impact on the players:

On the night, the Red Devils weren’t actually too bad, all things considered. Both Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial dovetailed well, with the former scoring a fine goal against his ex-side. In the end, the team simply weren’t clinical enough to capitalise on chances against a PSV side who were savvy on set pieces and strong on the counter-attack.

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Going forward, it’s an experience they’ll learn from. But as noted here by football writer Graham Ruthven, the implications of Shaw’s injury could have a profound impact moving forward, especially when it comes to Blind:

For Shaw, it’s obviously a massive shame after such a bright start to the season. At least he’s still young and has plenty of years left in his career, in which he’ll inevitably blossom into a world-class full-back. 

United need to shake the incident and the performance out of their system now. After a strong showing against Liverpool last time out in the Premier League, they face a difficult game at Southampton on Sunday. With Shaw absent, Blind, whether he plays left-back or centre-back, will have a key role when it comes to orchestrating a result.