Luke Shaw certainly picked a fine time to remind us that sometimes he can switch off at the most inopportune moments.
The 27-year-old was at fault for Fulham’s goal in Manchester United‘s 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage, although the expression on his face as Daniel James found the net suggested that may be news to him.
James, the winger United sold on to Leeds last year, had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds before he was celebrating the first goal of his season-long loan spell, and it was Shaw’s negligence that made it possible.
A swift counter-attack down the left flank featuring the veteran legs of Willian unhinged United but Shaw had spotted that James intended to arrive at speed in the box and put on a spurt to draw level with his man in the danger zone.
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Arsenal move five points clear of Man City at the top after Odegaard-inspired win at Wolves12 November, 2022Inexplicably, however, he then decided to put on the brakes, allowing James to step away for a simple close-range finish once Lisandro Martinez had failed to cut out the cross.
United supporters were left cursing the former Southampton man, who has recovered from both a badly broken leg and having his reputation trashed by Jose Mourinho to become No 1 pick not just for his club but also for his country.
For England fans the reaction was no doubt one of horror given that Shaw is the only fit out-and-out left back in Gareth Southgate’s pool for Qatar. James, of course, will be gunning for a repeat when the Three Lions take on Wales on November 29 in what is likely to be a Group B decider.
A back-up with plenty to prove
It can’t be easy being understudy to the London legends that are Harry Kane and Aleksandar Mitrovic, or having the same name as someone who scores for fun at Real Madrid.
Carlos Vinicius still has it all to prove at Fulham, though, as the man up front in the absence of the injured Mitrovic.
The 27-year-old Brazilian has now deputised for the Serb against both Manchester sides in the space of a week, and been part of narrow 2-1 defeats that could so easily have featured far more palatable score-lines.
Those are his only starts so far, and the man whose career highlight in English football remains an FA Cup hat-trick against Marine – a club so tiny an electron microscope seems of more use to find their ground than Google Maps – has yet to find the net for his current employers, having only scored once in Premier League action during a season-long loan from Benfica in 2020-21 when Jose Mourinho was Spurs manager.
At 6ft 3in, the Brazilian certainly boasts the build to be Mitrovic’s body double and the early signs against United were promising but, like Anthony Martial at the other end, his second half contribution was minimal.
Once in each half he was denied the goal he craved by reflex stops from David de Gea, who was far busier than United manager Erik ten Hag would have liked. But too many times Vinicius allowed the ball to bounce off him, or a defender to get around him and stick a boot in. Just nine touches in the first half tells its own story.
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