Garnacho's late winner papers over a lot of cracks at the Cottage

Luke Shaw's performance will be a warning to England supporters.

Mon, 14 Nov, 2022 - 07:36

Jon West

Kudos to Luke Shaw for recovering from both a broken leg and being bullied by Jose Mourinho but if he defends like this in the World Cup then England's stars will be back with their clubs before November is out.

The 27-year-old was culpable for Fulham's goal in Manchester United's 2-1 win at Craven Cottage in which quite a few cracks were papered over by Alejandro Garnacho's last-gasp winner.

Shaw is all but certain to start at left back for the Three Lions in a seemingly not particularly taxing group that includes Iran, USA and Wales. Especially as he is currently the only out and out left-back currently out and out of A&E...

His technical ability, comfort on the ball and ability to pick a pass are all admirable of course but his penchant for dozing off defensively will not have been missed by the national coaches of those respective nations.

Daniel James, the forward United deemed not good enough when they packed him off to Leeds last year, needed just a minute to make a point to his former employers by cancelling out Christian Eriksen's first-half opener.

The on-loan speed merchant had a hand up to indicate his willingness to get on the end of a swift counter-attack down the left featuring Willian and, to his credit, Shaw spotted the danger. The man with 23 on the back of his red shirt put on a sprint to draw level with his man as the cross was about to come in.

And then he stopped. James did not and was soon celebrating a first goal in Fulham colours.

Yes, Shaw could reasonably have expected Lisandro Martinez to have at least attempted to block the cross at the near post, which did not happen. But to do all the hard work and then just let your man go? Unforgivable. Perhaps Jose had a point after all.

And, let's not forget, James is likely to be up against him again when England take on Wales on November 29 in what may well be a Group B decider. Imagine him and Trent Alexander-Arnold protecting the Three Lions' defensive flanks with everything at stake? It's a nightmare scenario for England fans, and an enticing prospect for the rest of the planet.

As it turned out, United also possessed a substitute keen to make an impact, with youthful Argentinian Garnacho having come on for Anthony Martial in the 72nd minute.

Beforehand, United manager Erik ten Hag had described Martial as “definitely” the best finisher at he had at his disposal. If ever there was a comment to make Cristiano Ronaldo storm down another tunnel then that was it, if only for the enraged Portuguese to send his manager a screenshot of his Wikipedia page.

With CR7 once again absent anyway the stage was set for the Frenchman to invoke the spirit of Ivan Toney and prove a few things to those who don't rate him, specifically Didier Deschamps.

France coach Deschamps has left the forward out of his playing pool for a third successive tournament and you can see why. The last time it was along the lines of 'sorry, but you have been too injured' an excuse that would have applied this time to man who has picked up a variety of ailments this season - had Raphael Varane not been handed a ticket for Qatar despite having been on the treatment table since October 22.

Martial had plenty of opportunities to prove his club manager right but spurned the lot.

The forward, wearing gloves in the warmest November on record, was denied early on by Bernd Leno having rather snatched at his shot, although having the unit that is Issa Diop converge on you at speed certainly recommends a hurry up.

Half an hour was on the clock when Bruno Fernandes slipped him in on the left of the box for his clearest of opportunities but Leno was able to get enough of a body deflection to turn his shot into live slow motion and jump on it before it could approach any paint.

That was certainly not better than CR7 but a powerful header that was just too high 10 minutes later was more in Ronaldo mode. The less said about his second half the better, however.

Martial did play a key role in Christian Eriksen's opener though, receiving a pass with his back to goal and moving away from Tim Ream to allow Fernandes to find the Dane at the back post, so at least there was that.

Marcus Rashford was also guilty of some poor finishing, and not being in the right place to even have a go on other occasions.

He spent much of the game complaining how fouled he was, with makeshift right-back Bobby De Cordova-Reid, giving him a hard time, and no doubt Gareth Southgate feared the worst when his shoulder hit the turf heavily after Tom Cairney had 'made a back' for him going for a header.

Rashford was able to complete 90 minutes without any further mishap and no doubt Southgate was relieved that Harry Maguire spent the entire evening watching from the safety of the away bench.

Which of course United fans and their manager both agree is the best place for him anyway...