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"The difference between having him and not is massive."

Peter Schmeichel succumbed to injury in Manchester United's 1997-98 run-in when all 96kg of him stormed forward in a vain attempt to equalise against Arsenal and his hamstring went, but even the squad's 'poser' knew Ryan Giggs' strain had the greater impact.

United never recovered from the hamstring injury Giggs picked up in a 2-0 win over Derby in late February '98. In the six weeks he was sidelined, United won just two of their eight games and were ejected from the FA Cup and Champions League, with Marc Overmars' pivotal winner at the Scoreboard End the rotten meat in an unsavoury sandwich.

Another buccaneering left-sided player's injury has had a seismic impact on United this season and, although he might be a full-back, Luke Shaw's broken leg might be remembered as wistfully as Roy Keane's September 1997 cruciate ligament injury or when Bryan Robson dislocated his shoulder in 1986.

Since Hector Moreno thudded into Shaw, individuals' confidence has waned, the defence, steadily assembled, has been dismantled by poor form and injuries while the wing play United used to be synonymous with has been largely absent from their game.

Full-backs have become game-changers in the modern game. Dani Alves might be an ass in defence but he is an asset in attack, a de facto winger who has made a huge contribution to one of club football's great sides at Barcelona. Philipp Lahm, perhaps the best full-back of the 21st century, was described by Pep Guardiola as a 'scandal. He is super-intelligent'.

Shaw has, like most youngsters, been accused of excess even though he is a humble and unfussy lad who waited patiently for a table at San Carlo when other footballers have demanded to be seated immediately.

After a patchy first season beset by nine different injuries and criticism over his weight, he worked with a fitness coach during his summer holidays in Dubai and was arguably United's best performer in pre-season in the United States. Determined to prove that was no fluke, he was the outstanding individual in United's first seven games until Moreno brutally intervened.

Ironically, Shaw broke his leg doing the one thing Louis van Gaal seems to abhor: dribbling. James Wilson was rebuked for doing it in a practice match in training last season and it was rumoured the only individual granted the privilege was Angel di Maria. Shaw showed with that coruscating run against Club Brugge even the handbrake could not stop him surging forward.

Shaw, along with Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian, quickly developed an understanding that not only spawned four clean sheets in United's first seven games but suggested Van Gaal was one defender shy of completing United's next great back four. Over-reliant on David de Gea last season, United's new defence guarded the twitchy Sergio Romero impressively.

No one is pretending Memphis was not struggling until Shaw got injured. He was ineffectual in the No.10 role, bad against Newcastle and substituted at the pause against Liverpool, however the pair's friendship off the pitch was starting to bear fruit on it, and the Dutchman was more dangerous with Shaw supplementing him on the flank.

Memphis has, for the majority of the last six months, looked forlorn without Shaw. The swagger has been replaced by a slump and he has been backed by a multitude of left-backs in Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Ashley Young, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Joe Riley, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah. They are able alternatives but not on Shaw's level and, deprived of consistency, Memphis has rarely thrilled.

Darmian's confidence was shattered by Shaw's broken leg in Eindhoven. Later that night, he was culpable for Moreno's equaliser and Luciano Narsingh's winner and, although he is on the opposite flank, the Italian has barely recovered from Shaw's absence. Five days on from the PSV loss, he was withdrawn at Southampton after 45 fretful minutes and received the same treatment a fortnight later at Arsenal.

Watch United reporter Stuart Mathieson give his views on the Liverpool and City games

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Van Gaal has even trialled Darmian at left-back, so unsure is he of his right-back credentials, and the man bought to become the belated heir to Gary Neville now appears to have been usurped by the game Guillermo Varela.

Chris Smalling, until his December injury at Wolfsburg, went from strength to strength and Blind, despite his stopgap status, has commendably been the glue in a back four constantly reliant on De Gea. Eventually, the dam burst in December.

United's style garnered criticism before Shaw was carried off in the Netherlands. The opening day victory over Tottenham featured one effort on target, while there were boos at full-time against Newcastle in August and at half-time versus Liverpool the following month.

Shaw, though, was relentless on the flank. The football was tentative and insipid but Shaw was so adventurous he was, in the pre-Anthony Martial spell, the one player who had United fans on the edge of their seats. Such was his forward-thinking, Shaw was becoming the most reliable attacking outlet and it was either him or Smalling who were leaving the pitch as United's man of the match.

Left-back is one position Van Gaal has trained United players well, as the aforementioned list suggests. It is Blind and Rojo's best position, while the stoic Borthwick-Jackson has been utterly unfazed.

There is a reason, though, why David Moyes did the legwork on a Shaw deal as early as Easter 2014 and United paid £27m for him. He could eventually be remembered as a greater United left-back than Denis Irwin.

Irwin collected his first United medal in a final and Shaw might yet do so, too.

"As I said to Luke Shaw, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, you can still play the final," Van Gaal said on Sunday. Only one of them should be guaranteed to start.

Shaw would make a massive difference.