Alan Shearer believes Luke Shaw’s resurgence could be down to the lack of fans inside stadiums this season.
Shaw previously received a lot of criticism around his inconsistent performances at left-back for United, with former managers Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho both openly deriding his lack of fitness.
The 25-year-old has been at United since joining from Southampton in 2014 but after failing to establish himself during his first few years at the club it looked as though his career might have been fizzling out.
However, Shaw is now one of the first names on the team sheet for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Match of the Day pundit Shearer offered a theory behind Shaw’s consistency ahead of United’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Liverpool on Sunday while talking with Ian Wright and Gary Lineker.
Here’s the transcript of what they discussed at Old Trafford.
Wright: "Now we see someone who should be in and around the England squad again because what he is doing is brilliant."
Shearer: "Do you think he is one of the players who may be benefiting from having no fans inside the stadium?"
Wright: "To a certain extent, yes."
Lineker: "Why do you think that Alan?"
Shearer: "There are some players who thrive on crowds and who love the pressure. I just look at some personalities and individuals that will benefit from having no crowds. People who don't like crowds having a go at them when things aren't going well."
United are currently top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Manchester City and Leicester, and Solskjaer was effusive in his praise of his left-back this week.
"Luke has immense quality," Solskjaer said on Tuesday. "He has got very good technique. You see the few times against Liverpool he takes the ball and drives forward. It is something that I’ve pushed him more to do because we know he can do it.
"It is generally down to the boy himself, he is mentally very good at the moment. He has become a dad, he is physically very good, his fitness is so much better, he keeps beating his high intensity stats, his total distance stats. I think he’s been consistently up there with what a full-back has been doing.
"And when you have the talent of Luke, when that fitness and mental bit is sorted, you are always going to get good performances."
