SEE-SHAW CAMPAIGN But more downs than ups
LUKE SHAW has called on Manchester United’s players to lift the pressure on beleaguered boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. skin. Sometimes it’s easy for people to forget what I have actually been through.
“You need to have a thick skin to play football anywhere but especially so when you’re at the biggest club in the world.
“Everyone’s watching, everyone wants to have a go whenever you lose, everyone is just waiting to criticise the moment anything goes wrong.
“It’s just part and parcel of playing for United. No disrespect to Arsenal but they’re not exactly having the greatest of seasons and it hardly gets spoken about.
“I do find it quite funny that if it’s United everyone criticises but Arsenal don’t get a mention.”
Shaw added: “Ole is different to what we’ve had before. But in the dressing room he always lets us know if we aren’t doing the thing he expects from us.
“And there isn’t a lot he can do once we go out on to the pitch. Then it is down to us.
“We know when we haven’t been good enough at times this season.
“But we all know why we’re here. We’re here to take this club back to where it belongs
– winning trophies and challenging for titles. And I honestly believe we’re on the way towards doing so. “We know when we’re not at our best and we know when we play well what we can achieve – but we have to sustain it.
“That’s why I believe there are a lot of good days to come.”
United spent a week in Spain preparing for a period of games in the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League that will define their season. Solskjaer’s team have beaten Chelsea twice already this season. They have also won twice against Manchester City and prevailed against Tottenham and Leicester as well as drawing with Liverpool.
Shaw said: “There is a lot of confidence in our team and that seems to come out when we are playing against the other top teams. “We have played really well and got some great results against City, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and Leicester.
“We’ve got to become clinical, work on taking our chances, and when we go to Chelsea have to make sure we’re in the right state of mind to come home with three points.” And of the winter break, Shaw added: “The trip to Spain has been good for us to really get together and talk about the season and what needs to improve.
“It’s been hard work but the big bonus has been the bonding side of it – out here everyone’s together pretty much all the time. And with Bruno Fernandes being new, it was a great chance for everyone to get to know him.
“We’ve been out for dinners and there was a paintballing place nearby, so about 15 or so of us went there.
“The best shot? You’re talking to him!”
‘Players need to take blame – not the manager’