Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has fronted up following Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool, admitting he and his team-mates all need to improve.
The left-back spoke to club reporter Stewart Gardner at pitchside and acknowledged everybody must reflect on a chastening loss at Old Trafford. Shaw also offered an apology to our fans around the world and thanked those inside the stadium who supported the team in difficult circumstances.
“I will reflect on it tonight, watch the game back, see what went wrong, see what is wrong. I have not been at my best and I know that, for maybe the last few weeks, so I need to reflect on that, look myself in the mirror and see what is going wrong. I will do that. But, of course, tonight was a very disappointing night.”
“We are extremely disappointed, it is not good enough, and it hurts a lot,”said Luke. “I think football is obviously a team sport, we are in it together and we are all together. But I think, as individuals, we need to take responsibility for some of the actions tonight. Personally, that is of course why I am here, I am not hiding inside. I know I was not at my best tonight, I know I was not good enough, and of course I will take some responsibility for that.
“I will reflect on it tonight, watch the game back, see what went wrong, see what is wrong. I have not been at my best and I know that, for maybe the last few weeks, so I need to reflect on that, look myself in the mirror and see what is going wrong. I will do that. But, of course, tonight was a very disappointing night.”
Asked what it is like to suffer such a painful defeat, Luke continued:
“It is something that we shouldn't allow. We are at one of the best clubs in the world, one of the biggest clubs in the world, playing at our home stadium in front of all these fans. It shouldn't happen.
“We should be much better in these games and especially in key moments. We had a big chance in the first minute or so. If that goes in, maybe we could be looking at a different game, but that is not to blame anyone. I am not here to blame individuals. It is a team game. Of course, you always look at yourself. I know that I can do better and I am disappointed with myself of course.
“I just want to thank the fans because 5-0 down is never easy for them and, of course, it is not easy for us, but they stuck with us, they carried on singing and they could have easily left the stadium. We would have totally understood that with the way we performed and the scoreline, but they stuck with us, they kept on singing and we really appreciate that. I can only apologise for the performance.
“I know we can better, I know we have to be better. I think it is not just us as players. The whole club needs to have a look at ourselves to see what went wrong and what is going wrong. We need to reflect on that and we need to do something about it.”
United’s next match is against Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday and the free week provides time for the squad to reflect on the loss to Liverpool, to assess how we move on.
“It is better to speak about it than keep it inside and not say anything, and to just carry on. Not just today, but the last few weeks we haven't been good enough. We might have won the games, but performance-wise in games we could feel that sometimes we weren't in control and we concede a lot of chances. That should not happen, we know that, we need to work on things and tonight we will reflect on what happened and what went wrong.
“We are all so disappointed,”said Luke. “It is not good enough for the standards this club sets. We should be challenging for leagues and for trophies. We haven't been doing that for a while now. It is not what this club expects. We all want to be doing that but with performances like that there is no way we can be doing that. We have to be honest, we have to be honest with ourselves in the changing room, speak about it.
“It is better to speak about it than keep it inside and not say anything, and to just carry on. Not just today, but the last few weeks we haven't been good enough. We might have won the games, but performance-wise in games we could feel that sometimes we weren't in control and we concede a lot of chances. That should not happen, we know that, we need to work on things and tonight we will reflect on what happened and what went wrong.
“Tomorrow is a new day and we need to forget about this. Of course, it is going to be really tough to do that, but we will reflect tonight, wake up tomorrow and we have to go again. I know it is quite cliched to say 'we have to go again', people have probably heard that a lot and it is probably not what they want to hear now, but we are professionals, it is our jobs. We need to improve, not just as individuals but as a team. It is nowhere near good enough.”