Luke Shaw: The simple reasons why Thomas Tuchel needs him back in the England squad

Luke Shaw is quietly staging one of the most timely renaissances of the Premier League season. Twenty-nine Manchester United fixtures into the campaign, the 28-year-old has started every one of them, a startling statistic for a player whose career has been defined as much by medical bulletins as match-winning crosses. Inside Old Trafford they have already christened him “Mr Available”; inside Wembley, the question is quickly becoming whether England can afford to leave him out.

Since the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on 14 July 2024, when Shaw’s marauding runs down the left were one of the few bright spots in a 2-1 defeat to Spain, the left-back has not pulled on the Three Lions shirt. A long-term injury sustained in the aftermath of that tournament sidelined him through the autumn and winter, allowing a cluster of younger challengers—Nico O’Reilly, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Lewis Hall and Newcastle’s Tino Livramento—to audition for a role that, for the past decade, has been Shaw’s whenever his body cooperated.

Yet none of those hopefuls, argues England legend Stuart Pearce, has managed to make the position his own. Speaking to The Sun, Pearce—who worked with Shaw at Under-21 level—left no doubt about where the pecking order should rest if the United man sustains his current form.

“If Manchester United carry on the ascension that they’re on at the moment, you have got to talk about Luke Shaw,” Pearce said. “He’s got experience at the tournaments. When he’s been out of the England side, we’ve missed him. He’s a rounded left-back.”

Pearce’s assessment carries extra weight given the flux in England’s defensive unit. With the World Cup barely eighteen months away, manager Thomas Tuchel is balancing the integration of emerging talents against the need for battle-hardened reliability. Shaw, Pearce insists, offers both.

“More to the point, when you compare him to some of the others around, nobody has really nailed their colours to the mast in regards to playing there,” Pearce continued. “There’s a lot of players there that are good options. But I’m sure if Luke Shaw recovers the form we know he can, he could be the No 1 left-back.”

That recovery appears to be in full swing. United’s medical staff have overseen a carefully managed workload that has preserved Shaw’s match sharpness without exposing him to the relapses that have dogged previous seasons. The dividends are visible in his overlapping combinations with Marcus Rashford, the timing of his recovery tackles, and the whipped deliveries that have rekindled memories of his 2020-21 Player-of-the-Year campaign.

Equally significant, according to Pearce, is Shaw’s intangible value inside the camp. “It’s his history. More so, his history plays a big part. The fact he’s been to tournaments. He knows what it’s like. He’s a good member of the squad. I know his mentality. More to the point, I don’t think there’s been another left-back that has come along that has made us say, we can’t stop thinking about Luke Shaw.”

That sentiment echoes across England’s fan base. Shaw’s previous tournament cameos—including his thunderous goal in the Euro 2020 final—have fostered a sense that he reserves his most authoritative performances for the national team. The pattern has become so pronounced that United supporters often joke their left-back is “injured for club but fit for country,” a quip rooted in uncanny reality.

Now, with a rare uninterrupted run of club games behind him, Shaw appears primed to reverse that narrative. The prospect of a seasoned, in-form defender joining a youthful squad in the final push toward the World Cup is increasingly attractive to Tuchel, who values tactical versatility and big-stage composure. Pairing Shaw with another resurgent United colleague, Harry Maguire, could provide the defensive spine England lacked during their turbulent Nations League relegation campaign.

Whether Shaw is handed the starting shirt or tasked with mentoring the next wave, the logic feels irresistible: a fit Luke Shaw is a player who improves any England squad. After a year in international exile, the path back to the Three Lions has never been clearer—or more deserved.