SHAW: I'LL TAKE ANY KIND OF GOAL!

Luke Shaw spoke exclusively to United Review to discuss his recent run of great form, feeling the best he's felt and his determination to score his first goal for the club...

How enjoyable has it been to be back playing regularly in recent weeks?I’m feeling good and it’s been really nice to be back on the pitch and enjoying having game time. The last few weeks personally have been good but, as a whole and as a team, we’ve been disappointed with some of the results [over Christmas]. But I hope there are many more games for me and many more good results for the team as well.
You began your recent run of games with a Man of the Match display against CSKA Moscow at the start of December – that must have been a real confidence booster…Yes, it was. I’ve always, especially recently, felt really confident, and I knew I was in a good moment fitness-wise with the work I’d been doing. And I knew when my chance would come, I’d be ready. It was really nice to be recognised by the fans in that game and from there I wanted to build on that performance and now it’s been four or five full games I’ve had and I just want to kick on now. I’m not looking back, I’m only looking forward.
The manager has been full of praise for your performances which must be pleasing…It’s really nice to hear. The manager has been really good with me and has given me extra confidence. He’s just told me to go out and enjoy the games and that’s what I’ve been doing. I’m just focused on working really hard for the manager and for the team because I want to keep on playing and hopefully more games will come.
You’ve always had so much support from the United fans – what would you say about that support particularly over the last few weeks?It’s been amazing. The fans have always been really good to me. It’s so nice to see the messages I get on Twitter and Instagram. I always try to take time to read them and you might get the odd bad one [laughs] but the support I’ve had has been incredible and I really love our fans. They’ve stuck by me through thick and thin and I know I owe it to them to give something back and hopefully I can keep doing that by playing many more games and helping the team win points and trophies.
You’ve worked really hard to get to this point – do you look back at any setbacks in a positive way in the sense that they’ve made you stronger mentally and physically?Yes of course. A bad injury like I had always stays with you a little bit afterwards but it’s in the past and I feel really good and really fit, and my leg feels perfect. Body-wise and fitness-wise I probably feel the best I’ve ever felt. Mentally, I feel very strong as well and I’m enjoying my football, and it’s now about pushing on and helping the team.
Have you worked on anything differently with your training or has it just been a case of simply working hard?Yeah, it’s always about working hard, that’s something I’ve always tried to do throughout my career and will always try to do. I just kept my head down, kept working hard with the manager and the coaching staff and I knew in the end the benefits of that would come and right now everything is on track, and I want to keep that going.
How much has it helped getting a good run of minutes to help get into a proper rhythm with your game?It’s really helped. I think there is training fitness and match fitness and in training I’ve always been doing okay but it was hard to get that match fitness up because there is so much competition for places here. The Christmas period was actually the best thing for me having lots of games close together and I felt really good after three games in a week because that’s what I needed.
You’re always keen to get forward and support in attack and you’ve not been too far away from opening your United account...[Laughs] I hope so! I’ve been close but close isn’t good enough! I really want to score and hopefully it will be at home. I’ll keep pushing for a goal but my job is to defend and as long as we’re getting clean sheets and we’re winning, then I’ll be happy. But I really would love to score my first goal for United. I’ll take anything, a deflected effort, anything, as long as it’s my goal! [Smiles]
How determined is everyone to give things a really good push for the second half of the season now?Really determined - we want to make it a really good second half of the season. There are so many games coming up and any player that goes into the team is ready. There is a lot to play for with the World Cup as well. A lot of players want to impress their national managers and, personally, I want to try to play as many games as possible to help United and also, if I can, state my case to go to the World Cup. I had a taste of it in Brazil [in 2014] and it was amazing. I can’t wait for the Champions League to start again too. I broke my leg in my first Champions League game so it’s a competition I’m determined to help the team do well in.
Have you set yourself any particular aims for the remainder of the campaign?To score a goal! [Laughs] Personally I just want to play as many games as possible and keep in good form, keep working hard, keep focused and as long as I’m doing that and I feel fit and strong, hopefully everything goes well. There are a lot of things to look forward to and I’m just going to continue to push myself even harder because playing for this club means a lot to me.