Rio Ferdinand praises ‘fantastic’ Luke Shaw form for Man Utd after FA Cup win

Luke Shaw has been hailed after playing a huge part for Manchester United in their FA Cup fifth round win over Derby County on Thursday night.

The left-back scored one and was a constant threat at both ends of the pitch in the 3-0 win at Pride Park.

Shaw has been criticised throughout his United career with many questioning his mentality and fitness at times.

But several top class performances this season have led to calls for him to be recalled back into the England set-up.

Former United legend Rio Ferdinand was at Thursday’s game working for BT Sport and watched Shaw’s performance up close.

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“He came under a lot of scrutiny, Mourinho was a big part of it. We questioned his mentality, was he strong enough to come back,” he said.

“He's proving people wrong, now in great vein of form, he was the best player on pitch with Ighalo.

“He's upped his game. some criticism was deserved at time in his performances, he's in fantastic form now.

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“A lot of stuff he was doing in years gone by, the word passive suited him perfectly in terms of defending but now he penetrating on and off the ball.”

Fellow BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage highlighted the emergence of Brandon Williams at left-back and felt the added competition has been a key factor in Shaw's recent improvement.

Savage added: “He's younger than Shaw, he's got the competition he needs. Let's not underestimate how bad of an injury that was which he had.

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“Now he's got a run in the side. The standard of full backs has been raised.

“Robertson TAA, he's seen that and knows now. he wants to get in the England team. Chilwell is in there, he knows he needs to improve to be among these.”

The Red Devils are now unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions and have conceded only two goals in that spell.

Next tip though they face a trick encounter with city rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.

• Rio Ferdinand
• Manchester United FC
• FA Cup

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