Luke Shaw has apologised to Manchester United supporters for the “disgraceful” performance in their 7-0 Premier League mauling against Liverpool on Sunday.
United had arrived at Anfield full of confidence after the highs of beating Barcelona in the Europa League and winning the League Cup final against Newcastle United.
But it was back down to earth with a shuddering bump for Erik ten Hag's men at the home of their fierce rivals, when United unravelled in a loss that matched their heaviest-ever defeat, conceding six goals in a catastrophic second half. “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.” Shaw said he felt standards had dropped since beating Newcastle in the Wembley final. “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.” The 27-year-old said the team needed a big debrief on Monday, with a Europa League match against Real Betis looming on Thursday. “We need to keep the belief, keep the character and bring back that personality and mentality that we know we have … we can't let this one result derail our whole season because I think we're in a really good place.” That was a sentiment repeated by Shaw's teammate Marcus Rashford who urged United to “stick together”