Luke Shaw has opened up about the ‘crazy’ atmosphere in the dressing room at half-time in yesterday’s crunch clash against Liverpool.
In one of the biggest games of the season, Shaw put in one of his best performances in a Manchester United shirt till date. The Englishman had 53 touches, 5 clearances, 3 tackles and won 8 out of 12 duels. By far United’s best player on the pitch, he pocketed Mohammed Salah all afternoon. It prompted even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to come out and say it was his best performance under him.
A majority of United’s players were lauded for their performances yesterday, considering how they were forced to use all of their three substitutions before half-time. Key players such as Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard, who came on for Mata but had to be replaced soon after, all suffered injury set-backs.
As a result, Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira – two players who have largely been criticized as not being good enough for the club by it’s own fans – were forced to enter the foray. They, too, played the game of their lives and put in warrior like performances.
We're forced into our third and final change as @Alexis_Sanchez comes on for @JesseLingard. #MUFC #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/qtCoqgisFl
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 24, 2019
The injuries did affect United though, going into the break. Their training ground plans had gone straight out of the window. Confusion reigned supreme around the dressing room as to why their first-half performance was so poor.
However, according to Shaw, they had a ‘good chat’ about it and sorted it out. Although, they weren’t at their very best in the second half either, every player gave it their all. That’s all that ever could have been asked of them, considering the circumstances with injuries.
Shaw, during the post-match interview, said:
“We were all very disappointed with how the first half went,”
“We didn’t play well at all.
“We gave too many balls away too cheaply and luckily that didn’t cost us. But we had a change of formation, we had a good chat at half-time. Everyone was going crazy.”
“We said ‘relax and we just need to play our game’ and I think the second half was better.”
“We still weren’t at our best but overall I think we created the best chances and I feel we should have won.”
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United arguably should have won the game, having had the better chances. However, avoiding defeat meant they continue to be in the race for a place in the top 4, while also denting arch-rivals Liverpool’s title bid in the process.
