Varun Pai
Manchester United ace Luke Shaw gives brutal verdict on disappointing Wolves result
Speaking to Sky Sports, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United star Luke Shaw claimed that the team struggled in the defeat against Wolves at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils slumped to their first defeat under Ralf Rangnick on Monday night. The away side looked like the better team and used the ball far better than us. Man United looked bereft of ideas while there was very little cohesiveness amongst the players.
The press was half-hearted, and the midfield was overrun comfortably by a robust Ruben Neves and goal-scorer Joao Moutinho. Luke Shaw had a fine game and did not make a lot of mistakes until the final minutes when he allowed Adama Traore to get behind and cross the ball in a dangerous area. Phil Jones headed it out, and Moutinho scored from the edge of the box.
However, there were several other problems on the night. and Shaw did not hold back in his interview after the game.
“We really struggled; we could not get hold of the ball. We did not put them under any pressure. It maybe looked like an easy game for them. A disappointing performance and result. We did not have many options on the ball, and we were not on the front foot.
“We have to put more pressure on them; we have to have intensity. Us players, we have been here a long time. Maybe tonight, we struggled. I did not think we were all there together. You look at the players we have; we have unbelievable quality but sometimes quality is not enough.”
As blunt as possible
The Englishman addressed the game as it was rather than offering apologies for the mistakes. There needs to be some accountability and responsibility on the part of the players. For far too long, the manager has been scapegoated at Old Trafford.
There was only one team that deserved to win today, and they got the result they wanted. Rangnick named an unchanged XI, despite Bruno Fernandes returning from his one-match suspension. However, the team put out was strong enough to beat most teams in the league.
But the intensity was not there. A lot of the methods the German employs require commitment and tenacity. Winning the ball is important and then knowing what to do with it is crucial. The players failed in both phases. Captain on the night, Cristiano Ronaldo, cut a frustrated figure again while one cannot understand the problem behind the ineffectiveness of Jadon Sancho.
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Aaron wan-Bissaka was defensively sound but just as guilty going forward. Nemanja Matic is ageing, and it is no secret, especially after the performance against the Molineux outfit. It is time to go back to the drawing board, and Rangnick needs to come up with solutions. Shaw delivered a brutal verdict on the game today, and the full-back would be hoping not to do so again when we travel to Villa Park for our next league fixture in two weeks.
It speaks a lot about our performance if Phil Jones, who came back to the team after an immense time out on the fringes of our first team, was one of our better players. This showing from the team simply cannot be allowed to happen again if we want to challenge for top 4 spots this season.
