Diogo Dalot has claimed his Manchester United team-mates need to become more mature after their latest Premier League defeat.
The Red Devils’ slim hopes of finishing in the top four were all but ended on Saturday as goals from Nuno Tavares, Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka condemned them to a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal. The loss, United’s fourth successive away defeat on the spin, has triggered yet another post-match autopsy with players, management and board members all deemed equally culpable.
From the players’ point of view, there have been a number of damning indictments, including Scott McTominay’s verdict that they have problems at every level. "There's a whole lot of problems, in terms of players, staff and everything higher up. We need to concentrate on what happens on the pitch. It's self pride,” he explained.
"There's a lot of things going on at the minute, don't get me wrong, but when we get back in the dressing room, it's 'go home and take a look at yourself in the mirror’. You can't go back to your house and be satisfied with conceding three goals away at Arsenal when we deserved to win the game. That's just not the way that football works.”
And Dalot has offered a similarly grim view of the state of affairs amongst the United dressing room, claiming a select few players need to learn what it takes to play for the club.
"I think it’s a lesson to be honest. Some people might say bad luck and some people might say we’re not playing well. I completely understand the frustration of the fans who travelled so far to watch the game," Dalot told MUTV.
"It's hard to go in the end and thank them for what they did during the 90 minutes, but I think this is a lesson for everyone. We need to mature everyone in terms of the team and we need to be more energetic, to want it more than them and dominate, I think that starts from our efforts everyday.
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"It's not just hope on the Saturday afternoon that things come for themselves, you play for Man United but you need to do things right, that’s the standard that I’ve learned since I’ve been here."
He added: “I think we need to look at ourselves and try to see how we can change this and go onto the pitch and show that at least we are a team, a unit, we are all together. We need to be together and that’s the key message I want to give to everyone.
“At least for myself, I’m going to try and give that energy to the team because this club is all about winning and we’re not doing that, so something is wrong.”
Defeat at Arsenal leaves United in sixth place in the Premier League table, six points behind the fourth-placed Gunners, despite the fact they have played an additional two games.
