Luke Shaw has apologised for a “completely unacceptable” and “disgraceful” performance following Manchester United’s embarrassing 7-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
A week after winning the League Cup to end a six-year trophy drought, the Old Trafford giants traveled to Merseyside on Sunday with the possibility of a quadruple in mind.
But their fading Premier League title hopes were dashed at Anfield, when Manchester United surrendered six goals in a second-half meltdown that matched their worst defeat ever.
“Unacceptable, embarrassing, to be honest,” England defender Shaw told MUTV.
“I think out there on the pitch I felt embarrassed for us players, for the fans that were there supporting us, that were watching at home, to watch that second half.
“I can only apologise for that and us as players have to own it, we have to stand up and accept that it was nowhere near good enough.”
Since United won the League Cup at Wembley by defeating Newcastle in the championship game, standards have declined, according to Shaw.
“We need to find the good things we were doing before and bring them back because this hurts a lot,” he said.
“It’s really unacceptable what we did in that second half with mistakes.
“We showed no personality, no mentality and for a big team to come here we need to be better.”
Thursday’s Europa League match against Real Betis necessitated an extensive debriefing on Monday, according to the 27-year-old.
“We need to keep the belief, keep the character and bring back that personality and mentality that we know we have, but we lost today,” he said.
“I think we can’t let this one result derail our whole season because I think we’re in a really good place.”
Photo by EPA/Peter Powell