Shaw: I want to win at everything!

The Reds' in-form left-back, Luke Shaw, recently gave United Review this insight into his competitive nature, how he relaxes after matches and how he never wants to change who he is...

Game for anything
“I play Xbox with my mates, because they come around a lot, and we play FIFA and Fortnite at the moment. I also like to play a bit of pool and we go bowling – we always have competitions. We like to play for a forfeit so the loser might have to eat a hot chilli or something like that. It’s just a bit of fun and makes the game more intense, although you don’t want to get videoed on Snapchat doing the forfeit. Obviously, I also spend time with my girlfriend and we go to the cinema and different stuff like that. But I’m always competitive with her, too, if it’s a board game, then I want to win [laughs]. I want to win everything, no matter what it is!”

Time away
“When you go home, that’s the time to switch off. Sometimes, if you’re thinking about having a bad game, it could mess up your mentality a little bit or you overthink things and start making more mistakes. So it’s nice to be at home with my family, friends and girlfriend. But, when your day off is finished, you switch your mind back on and focus on the team's next game.”

Restless nights
“It’s honestly really hard to sleep after a game because of the adrenaline. Of course, if you win, you can go out for a nice dinner or something. But, if we don’t win, then you don’t feel good, you’re sad, you’re disappointed that we didn’t win, so you tend to stay in. If I'm struggling to sleep, I’ll sneak downstairs and watch TV or flick on my Xbox and play that for a bit.“

Staying grounded
“I’m really close with my mates, so I just do normal things. Sometimes it’s hard to do that, but you’ve got to stay grounded and just enjoy it. Of course, you had a life before all of this and you’ve just got to remember what you were before any of this. You’ve got to stay grounded and keep doing what got you to where you are today. There’s no need to change because of what I do. I’ll always be the same boy that I was before I started being a professional footballer to the day I finish playing.”