Luke Shaw looks unlikely to play again this season after he broke his leg in two places during Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven. Shaw was carried off on a stretcher while receiving oxygen after a tackle from behind by Hector Moreno in the 15th minute.
United confirmed the left back’s injury was incredibly serious after the match.
“It’s awful,” United manager Louis van Gaal said. “He’s an 18-year-old boy who comes to Manchester and his first season is very difficult. Then he has a fantastic second season and this happens. When he came into the dressing room he had an oxygen mask and was crying.”
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Before his injury, Shaw had played every minute for United this season, starting all five of his team’s league matches as well as the team’s three contests in Europe. Argentine international Marcos Rojo came on for Shaw in Eindhoven and is expected to be van Gaal’s first choice to pick up the first choice left back’s minutes.
“When I say it’s a penalty and a red card, I’m a bad loser,” van Gaal said of Moreno’s tackle. “It was a bad tackle with two legs. Every word I say is always interpreted in the wrong way. It was in the 16 meter and it was a very bad tackle, with two legs.”
Fitness concerns limited Shaw to 15 league starts last season, his first with United after a €39.5 million transfer from Southampton. With only eight appearances this season, Shaw’s first two years in at Old Trafford will be defined by injury, with next summer’s European Championships now a doubt for the six-time England international.
United’s next match is Sunday at Southampton. The team resumes Champions League play on Sept. 30 when they host Wolfsburg.
World Soccer Talk contributed to this report.
