Luke Shaw Gives Brutally Honest Assessment of Manchester United After Wolves Defeat

Luke Shaw Gives Brutally Honest Assessment of Manchester United After Wolves Defeat

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:53 PM
  • Shaw strongly hinted at a divide in the United dressing room in his post-match press conference
  • The left-back was critical of his side’s attitude after the 1-0 defeat to Wolves
  • United are now four points behind Arsenal in the final Champions League spot after the lowly defeat at Old Trafford

Left-back Luke Shaw was frank but brutally honest in his post-match interview after Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, January 3.

Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw hinted at a lack of unity among United players after defeat to Wolves. Photo by Clive Brunskill.
Source: Getty Images

This was United’s first defeat under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but in terms of performances, it was the same old story for the Red Devils.

Wolves were by far the better side for large parts of the 90 minutes, constantly creating chances and threatening the United goal at Old Trafford.

The visitor’s persistence eventually paid off as Joao Moutinho struck late on to secure all three points for Bruno Lage’s side.

Defeat leaves United in seventh place, four points behind Arsenal who occupy the final Champions League spot.

Speaking after the home defeat, Shaw openly questioned his side’s attitude and mentality, saying he did not believe the team was ‘together’ throughout the match.

"Not good enough, we really struggled," he told Sky Sports.
"We couldn't get hold of the ball and when we didn't have the ball we weren't aggressive enough. We didn't put them under any pressure.

He also seemed to aim a thin-veiled dig at the interim boss.

"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 didn't think we were all there together. You look at the players we have, we have unbelievable quality but sometimes quality is not enough.” He added.

“Phil Jones should be proud”

The only positive that came from the defeat was the return of Phil Jones, who made his first start for Manchester United in 712 days.

Despite the dismal performance from the team, Jones was one of the stand out players within the Man United squad on the night who enjoyed a decent performance – something Shaw also took note of.

"Phil Jones should be proud of himself. He has been criticised for years, and has gone through a lot, but he is so professional and he was phenomenal. He was exceptional, I am very happy for him and he deserves it." Shaw said.

“Tweak the squad”

On social media, United fans were up in arms after the Wolves performance, as the majority urged Rangnick to make wholesome changes to the squad, even if it meant benching some big names to improve the play.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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