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Football

20th Apr 2019

Manchester United players avoid Marcos Rojo in training, says Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw has revealed in an interview that Manchester United players avoid Marcos Rojo in training due to his aggressive tackling

Reuben Pinder

Understandable, to be fair

When you hear the words ‘Marcos Rojo’, what goes through your head? For me, it’s images of the Argentine centre-back flying through the air, feet together, studs raised, arms outstretched, crunching into an opponent like it’s the most natural thing in the world before getting to his feet, opponent writhing in pain, and gesticulating to the referee as if to say, ‘me? what did I do’?

For all his talent, he has become synonymous with bad tackles. That’s just who he is on the field. Even when people try to make YouTube compilations of his ‘defensive skills’, about half of them are erratic fouls that probably deserve red cards.

It should come as no surprise then, that Manchester United players avoid him in training due to his over-zealous tackling. This revelation comes from Luke Shaw, who told Soccer AM: “It’s got to be Marcos Rojo. Honestly, no-one goes near him in training. He’s the sort of tough cookie in the team,’ Shaw told Soccer AM.

“But it’s just one of them, you’ve just got to allow it because it’s the way he is. ‘But people like that aggression, it’s sometimes needed – but not as aggressive as that. But he’s a nice one to have on your team.

“In training, he’s probably on the floor 90% of the time, slide tackling everyone with his studs up, so everyone knows to stay away from him.”

Rojo has only featured five times for United this season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer favouring the likes of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones™️. That tells you all you need to know about how much faith they have in him at Old Trafford.

The Argentine will likely move on from United this summer, but we can always look back on all the horrendous tackles he made during his five year spell in England for years to come.