Erik ten Hag namechecks Man Utd star who 'didn't perform at his full potential' before his sacking

Erik ten Hag has picked out one Manchester United player who didn't play to his full potential during his time in charge at Old Trafford.

Dutchman Ten Hag was brought in to replace Ralf Rangnick as United's manager back in the summer of 2022.

During his time in charge, he led the Red Devils to glory in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

However, the 55-year-old was let down by the team's performances in the Premier League and the Champions League.

After yet another dreadful start to the campaign, Ten Hag was sacked in October 2024, replaced by Ruben Amorim.

The Dutchman has since been linked with the likes of Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and most recently, Feyenoord.

During a recent interview with Voetbal International, Ten Hag spoke about full-backs Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw, stating the latter failed to play to his full potential due to a series of different injuries.

As reported by The Express, Ten Hag said: "Tyrell was a young and very promising footballer at the time. He had made a big impression at Feyenoord as an up-and-coming left back and had already made it to the Dutch national team.

"With me, he was given the time to get used to the high level of United and the Premier League. He did well. Tyrell knew that he had Luke Shaw, one of the best left-backs in the world, in front of him."

He added: "But Shaw was also not able to perform at his full potential the entire season due to the serious injury he had sustained in the duel with PSV [in 2015]. So Tyrell would play a lot of matches, and that turned out to be the case."

Luke Shaw has struggled with injuries in recent years. Image: Getty

Speaking last week, United boss Amorim stated that Shaw suffered a setback but could return to training soon.

He said: "Luke has one small issue in a different area from the last injury, so we try to be careful."

United will return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon when they take on Tottenham Hotspur.