Tyrell Malacia showed trait vs Kevin De Bruyne to rub salt in Luke Shaw's wounds

Luke Shaw hasn't had an easy ride at Manchester United.

From his near career-ending leg break to his controversial treatment by former boss Jose Mourinho, the left-back has had a rollercoaster eight years at Old Trafford. After a torrid season last time out, the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag was supposed to give underperforming players like Shaw a lift and prompt a turnaround.

Instead, the 27-year-old's chances of making it as Ten Hag's long-term left-back are only dwindling, much thanks to £13million signing Tyrell Malacia. The Dutchman has taken to English football like a duck to water, shutting out Mohamed Salah on his Premier League debut and nailing down his place over four successive wins.

Now, during the international break, Malacia boosted his stock by showing that he's got another string to his bow - weakening Shaw's chances of reclaiming his spot in the process. As the Netherlands beat Belgium 1-0 on Sunday to book their ticket to the Nations League finals, Louis van Gaal - coincidentally the man who signed Shaw while in charge of United - brought Malacia on as a half-time substitute to play on the left-hand side of a three-man defence.

Unfamiliar to the 23-year-old, who usually enjoys marauding up and down the flanks, his task was to stop none other than Kevin De Bruyne. Arguably the finest creative player in world football, the Manchester City star couldn't get the better of Malacia and finished the match with only misery to take home.

Although Ten Hag is yet to deviate from a four-man defence at Old Trafford, there had been hope for Shaw that if the Red Devils switched up their system, he'd stand a good chance of getting the nod. That's because under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the England international was often deployed as a wide centre-back and consistently impressed, even notably against Lionel Messi in the 2019 Champions League quarter-finals.

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Now Malacia will fancy his chances of being selected to play the hybrid role of left-back and centre-back when required, especially if Ten Hag listens to what Van Gaal had to say after about his performance the match. "I wanted to see what Malacia could do," the Dutch coach explained.

"I put him on the left of the central defence because De Bruyne played a lot on that side. It's better to have a pitbull like that instead of someone like (Daley) Blind, who tries to solve it tactically. De Bruyne has more acceleration than Blind as well, so I put Malacia there.

"I had already discussed this with him the day before yesterday, that he could play as a left centre-back. The defensive work he did very well."

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