Jose Mourinho’s first comment on Luke Shaw before Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Swansea City in November seemed fair enough. “Luke told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play,” Mourinho said when quizzed about his team selection on MUTV. “So we had to build a new defensive line.”

It was the comment that followed, ostensibly not even about Shaw, that did the damage. “Daley Blind has some problems but he put himself available to be on the bench and to try to help the team. So the people that are here are people that I trust for a difficult match.”

The implication was obvious. Shaw - signed by Louis van Gaal in 2014 for a fee in the region of £30 million to become the most expensive teenager in world football - was weak. Not up for the fight. Delicate.

Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings <b>Manchester United:</b> David De Gea – 5 out of 10 It was a relatively quiet day at the office for the keeper, with Bournemouth showing little goal threat, but he saved well when Afobe through on goal. Could do nothing about the penalty. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Antonio Valencia – 7 out of 10 Created the first goal and he was relentlessly charging up the pitch to create more chances. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Phil Jones – 4 out of 10 There was a catalogue of errors for Jones today. He was out of position, clumsy and gave away the penalty. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Marcos Rojo – 6 out of 10 Cleverly finished the first goal and defended well for the remainder. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Luke Shaw – 6 out of 10 The long term absentee returned to the side in style. Tackled tough, worked hard and looked strong forward. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Michael Carrick – 6 out of 10 It was a textbook display from the experienced United man. He was disciplined, organised and supplied the strikers with endless service. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Paul Pogba – 5 out of 10 A dismal display by a man of such ability – he wasted through balls and continued to make wrong decisions in possession. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Juan Mata – 5 out of 10 Hunted possession constantly, but his final product could do with some work. His crosses were failing to beat the first man. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Wayne Rooney – 6 out of 10 When he received the ball, he did very well. However, he seemed to lack any determination or fight. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Anthony Martial – 7 out of 10 Dominated Smith throughout and continued to charge down the wings and deliver balls into the danger zone. An impressive display. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 5 out of 10 Should have been red carded in the first half and missed a penalty in the second. It was not Ibra’s day today. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings <b>Bournemouth:</b> Artur Boruc – 8 out of 10. Made a tremendous save to deny Ibrahimovic from the penalty spot and made a handful of great stops to keep scores level. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Adam Smith – 6 out of 10 Was dominated by Martial at times, but held his own and kept his position well. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Steve Cook – 6 out of 10 The skipper did well today, making a number of interceptions, challenges and headers. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Tyrone Mings – 5 out of 10 Should have had a red card towards the end of the first half for a disgraceful stamp on Ibrahimovic. Subbed after the interval for what proved to be a slight niggle rather than a recurrence of a serious knee injury. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Charlie Daniels - 5 out of 10 Should of made more of an impact and failed to provide any outlet for the Bournemouth strikers. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Ryan Fraser – 7 out of 10 Continued to cause a nuisance of himself throughout, worked hard and did his job. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Harry Arter – 5 out of 10 Was flying into unnecessary challenges – was lucky not see a second yellow. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Andrew Surman – 3 out of 10 Saw his second yellow just before the interval to leave his side a goal down for the remainder. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Marc Pugh – 6 out of 10 Won the penalty, which levelled the scores for Bournemouth. Was subbed off at half-time due to Surman’s red card. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Josh King – 7 out of 10 He scored a tremendous penalty, worked relentlessly and proved his ability both on and off the ball. Getty Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1 player ratings Benik Afobe – 6 out of 10 Showed glimpses of excellence going forward and he caused numerous problems for the United defence. Getty

Mourinho’s comments did not go down well within the football community. The head of the PFA said he was “disappointed” by the public dressing down while England manager Gareth Southgate also expressed surprise — and perhaps they rankled Shaw, too.

Because, 21 minutes into his highly anticipated first-team recall against Bournemouth at Old Trafford, Shaw absolutely flew into a full-blooded tackle with Adam Smith. It was a superb tackle — brave, committed, fair — the kind you don't often see in the Premier League anymore, certainly without the flourish of a card immediately afterward.

Such commitment was especially praise-worthy, given Shaw’s history. The full-back’s right-leg was broken by Héctor Moreno in two places in a Champions League match against PSV in September 2015 but Shaw, who told the Guardian “I could hardly walk for six months, never mind play football” after the incident, would appear to retain no mental anguish.

Defensively, Shaw was impressive in the chaotic 1-1 draw between United and Bournemouth. Prior to his crowd-pleasing slide tackle on Smith, he had disposed the defender with a well-timed interception to quell a promising Bournemouth attack.

He made the joint-highest number of interceptions of any United player while he also registered five successful tackles, more than any other player on the pitch, which is an especially remarkable feat when you consider it was Bournemouth, rather than Manchester United, who were defending for large spells on the game.

Shaw made his name at Southampton as an attacking full-back, rampaging forward down the wing whenever possible. But his opportunities to get forward against Bournemouth were limited, although he did hit a fine long-pass to send Paul Pogba clear in the first-half and the Frenchman really should have opened the scoring.

With the game locked at 1-1 and 10-man Bournemouth dropped deep and defending for their lives, Mourinho eventually decided to withdraw Shaw after 70 minutes in favour of Marcus Rashford, as Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard also came on for Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney in an ambitious triple-substitution.

Prior to the match, Mourinho told reporters that “the player who should be in a couple of years the best of all of our left-backs is Shaw”, while Gary Neville remarked on Sky Sports that Shaw “has the potential to be one of the best left-backs Manchester United have produced.”

Shaw put in a number of fine tackles (Getty)