EXCLUSIVE
first choice
John O’Shea believes Harry Maguire will walk back into the Manchester United starting line-up despite the Red Devils' strong defensive performance against Paris Saint-Germain.
United came away from the Parc des Princes with a 2-1 win thanks to a late Marcus Rashford goal.
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Solskjaer played five at the back and kept PSG’s much vaunted front three of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Angel Di Maria quiet for most of the night.
David de Gea looked back to his best in goal, while there was a good debut from Alex Telles and young starlet Axel Tuanzebe earned plenty of plaudits.
Captain Maguire was absent with an injury but United in fact played better without him in the side.
The £80million signing has come under scrutiny this season over his poor performances with club and country.
Even with United's strong performance on Tuesday night, former Man United defender O’Shea thinks that, if he’s fit, Maguire will walk back into the starting line-up.
The Red Devils face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, with commentary of the 5.30pm kick-off exclusively LIVE on talkSPORT.
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O'Shea told Wednesday's talkSPORT Breakfast: “That’s what Ole wants; he wants the tough decisions and he wants the competition for places.
"It will be a tough decision because whatever team you pick that goes away to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and gets a win.
“To be fair, I think Harry will come back in because he is the captain.
“You look at different teams and different systems up against Chelsea. They have plenty of competition now and plenty of games for the squad to be utilised.
“If he is fit he will be back because he’s the captain of the team.”
Youngster Tuanzebe played his first game in months after coming back from injury and put in a stunning performance against some of the world’s best attackers.
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O’Shea added on his showing: “To go away to Paris Saint-Germain and win you are obviously going to need your defence and keeper to play well.
“David de Gea made a couple of fantastic saves, you had a debut for Telles, and you had Tuanzebe coming in like that against that attacking force. That was very positive for everyone at United. It shows he’s gone out on loan and he’s got that experience.
"The system they played with the five at the back meant they had cover, and you can be that bit more aggressive against players when you need to be.
“The talking that would have been going on with De Gea and with Lindelof, experienced players, and Telles coming in for his debut and Shaw. That system will be coming back.
“With Rashford and Martial on the break - United breaking in the second half was great to see again.”
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O’Shea also thinks we saw a bit of the De Gea of old in his performance against PSG.
He added: “It’s been coming, especially with the competition he’s got.
"We all know if you have competition for places, if you are that type of competitor that you want to improve and stay at the top like he has done, he needed that.
“He’s showing glimpses again of why he’s one of the best keepers in the world. If he can get back to that form and stay at that level it will be crucial for United.”