Manchester United defender, Luke Shaw, has Insisted that the players, and not coach Jose Mourinho, are to blame for the club’s poor run of results.
Shaw said the team’s performance in the 3-1 loss to West Ham United last weekend in the Premier League was “horrendous” and “awful”, adding that players did not do enough.
“We have to look at ourselves as players,” said Shaw.
“We’re the ones who go on the pitch. The manager isn’t on the pitch is he? He’s there to put a team out and put a team out that he thinks can win the game.
“If you want the truth I think it was honestly horrendous,” said Shaw. “We didn’t look like a team that was going to beat West Ham. I think individually and as a team we were awful.
“You look at our team [against West Ham] and we had a very strong team. No excuses. As players we weren’t good enough.”
United’s result against West Ham leaves them nine points behind leaders Liverpool and Manchester City after seven games.
The 23-year-old made a point by handing over his shirt to a fan at the final whistle and afterwards, apologised to the 3,000 supporters who travelled to east London.
“That’s not good enough. It’s hard to take and we’re sorry to the fans for what they saw. It was not good enough from a Man United team with all the talent we have.
“From the first minute you could see we weren’t winning the second balls and our duels. It’s hard to take. It just wasn’t good enough from us. That shouldn’t be happening.
“Games like this we should be dominating, creating chances, showing people why we deserve to play for Man United and that didn’t happen. It was very poor from us. Very, very poor,” he added.
Speculations are that the club have lined up former Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane, to replace Mourinho, although a source close to the club reportedly dismissed the news as “nonsense”.
Following a poor run of results, Mourinho’s position has come under the spotlight ahead of home games against Valencia in the Champions League and Newcastle in the next six days.
Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez, who has been criticised by Mourinho over his performances, is likely to be back in the squad for Valencia’s visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday.
According to reports, Sanchez was dropped for the trip to West Ham by Mourinho.
ESPN FC reports that sources said the Chilean was left out of the team after a heated meeting with Mourinho last week, in which the former Chelsea coach expressed his concern at the forward’s performance level this season.
Sanchez is yet to score in five appearances and has been substituted in his last three starts, including in the draw against Wolves after just 63 minutes.
Juan Mata, who was left out the squad entirely against Tottenham and Burnley, could also be back to the squad in the Champions League.
Andreas Pereira could also feature against Valencia, where he played 29 games on loan last season.
