SHAW ENCOURAGED BY UNITED'S FAST DERBY START
Luke Shaw believes Manchester United have started a repair job on the problem that had become the team's Achilles heel this season.
Prior to the draw with Manchester City, the Reds had not made the quickest of starts in a number of games since this campaign opened in September, often falling behind.
That habit has meant United have had to dig deep and produce some impressive comebacks but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men haven't always been able to overtake opponents on the last lap.
It proved costly in the Champions League last Tuesday when we were knocked out of the elite European tournament by RB Leipzig in the final Group H match in Germany, after being 3-0 down before pulling back two late consolation goals.
And after the 0-0 derby stalemate at Old Trafford in the Premier League, left-back Shaw told MUTV that United could not afford another ponderous start against our Manchester rivals.
“On Tuesday night, there were a lot of mistakes from individuals and maybe us as a team,” he said. “But the most important thing was the start of the game.
“We haven’t been starting well and that has cost us and we have been quite lucky at times in the second half that we have come back from being very sloppy in the first half.
“But today we started more brightly and we needed to against a team like Man City.
“This is the Premier League, not just Man City. You need to concentrate in every single game you play because, if you look at the games before this, we have been conceding goals maybe from mistakes and lack of concentration and we need to improve on that.
“Tonight was maybe a start of how we need to go on.”
Shaw told Sky Sports: “I would be lying if I said we haven’t stared really slowly in recent games, the last three or four. Maybe even in most of the games this season.
“We said before the game that we needed to start brightly because if you don’t against Man City, you could be looking at being three or four down before 30 minutes.
“We started better, but we can still push more and start brighter in games and we need to keep our heads up and focus on Thursday (away at Sheffield United).
“It was very tight and a very even game. We made it difficult for them at times. They couldn’t get their normal rhythm going. I think we defended very well.
“Either team could have taken it towards the end. We both had chances but we will take a point and move on.
“A point is better than none and maybe we could have taken it towards the end but Man City are a very good team and we showed tonight we are improving.
“Derbies before this have been more dominated by Man City but we have showed a bit more about us and there is still a lot more to come. We know we have to improve to be fighting at the top. We have to keep our heads down and work hard.“
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