"In the past that's not been the case" - Luke Shaw claims that the Manchester United team was not always picked on merit

Luke Shaw has taken a dig at former Manchester United managers, claiming Erik ten Hag's predecessors did not pick teams on merit. The English left-back joined Manchester United in 2014 and has worked under four permanent managers at Old Trafford.

Louis van Gaal and Ole Gunnar Solskjær put their trust in him and picked him in the starting XI more often than not. But Jose Mourinho pushed him to improve and publicly claimed that the defender needed to 'change his football brain'.

Shaw was quoted by The Guardian as taking a dig at former Manchester United managers, while praising Erik ten Hag. He said:

"The good thing with this manager is that if you're not playing well then you won't play. In the past that's not been the case but I think the good thing about this manager is that he's keeping everyone on their toes.

"He makes sure that everyone is 100% every day. If you're not at it then you won't play. That's a positive thing. We all know that. And for me I've just got to keep working harder."

Luke Shaw on the new Manchester United boss benching him

Luke Shaw was dropped by Erik ten Hag after Manchester United lost their opening two matches of the Premier League season.

The Dutchman opted to play new signing Tyrell Malacia but has now gone back to the Englishman in the last two games.

Speaking about his time on the bench, Shaw said:

"I didn't really need him to say anything to me – I knew. I knew the first two games were nowhere near good enough. I completely understood that it was my time to come out of the team. The results were bad, my performances were not good enough."

He continued:

"I just had to keep training hard every day so the manager could see I was training hard. I was just waiting for my opportunity and had to bide my time because the team were doing well and we were winning.

"You can't moan; I just had to be there every day with the team, being involved and helping the team, whether that is starting or being on the bench."

The Red Devils are fifth in the Premier League table - 11 points behind leaders Arsenal but have a game in hand.