Louis van Gaal was impressed with the performance of Luke Shaw, who played the second half of Manchester United's win over Inter Milan despite going through a punishing training session on the morning of the match.
On the eve of the 5-3 penalty shootout win, Van Gaal criticised Shaw for turning up to pre-season out of shape.
The Manchester United manager created a special individual training plan for the player to get him up to speed for the new season. That plan included an intense fitness session on the morning of the International Champions Cup game in Washington DC.
Van Gaal had planned to bring Reece James on as a second-half substitute, but he introduced Shaw instead after the United youth product suffered an injury just before kick-off.
Despite a lack of preparation, Shaw performed well off the bench, much to Van Gaal's happiness.
– Sport360° view: Van Gaal’s assessment of Man Utd more than a slight at Moyes
"I think he did very good tonight," Van Gaal said. "He's working very hard. He was lucky today because I was going to play our friend Reece James but he was a little bit injured.
"And so I asked (Shaw), in spite of a very heavy training session this morning, (to play)."
Van Gaal maintained his unbeaten record as United boss, but his latest victory came courtesy of a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes with Inter.
Ashley Young, Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher and Javier Hernandez all scored from the spot to give United a 5-3 victory. The players showed supreme confidence in dispatching the penalties – a complete contrast to United's last penalty shootout, which they lost 2-1 to Sunderland under David Moyes.
Van Gaal, who masterminded a penalty victory over Costa Rica in the World Cup, made his players practice penalties extensively on the eve of the match.
