Luke Shaw has issued a damning warning to his Manchester United teammates urging them “to get better quickly” after throwing away more Premier League points.
For the third game in succession United took a first-half lead, only to concede an equaliser, this time settling for one point against Southampton.
Jadon Sancho put the Red Devils in front, but Che Adams hit back shortly to serve a major blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four.
The draw moved United ahead of Arsenal, but the Gunners, along with Wolves and West Ham all have games in hand.
And Shaw has voiced his frustrations on the current situation, admitting “history is repeating itself” in their current malaise.
Have your say! Will Man Utd finish in the top four this season? Let us know in the comments
“I think history is sort of repeating itself, really,” Shaw told MUTV. “The first 30 minutes we were good. We created chances, we felt on top, we got the crowd behind us.
“We were aggressive, everything was good and we score…and then the same scenario again.
“We go into half-time. We speak about it, we say we need to start bright, we know we need to with what has been happening and they score early and it’s just an uphill task from then.
“I think because we’ve been in that situation so many times, maybe the confidence drops and the composure goes and we struggle.”
Shaw knows the importance of finishing in the Champions League places and has sent a message to the dressing room that the excuses must now stop.
He added: “We can keep saying it all the time but it’s not good enough.
“We need to improve fast. We need to get results. The most important thing is results and points.
“Where we want to be, what we want to achieve for the rest of the season, if we keep dropping points, we’re not going to get into the Champions League.
“We need to be in the Champions League and in the top competitions, so we need to get better quick.”
United were booed off at Old Trafford following the draw with the Saints and Ralf Rangnick insisted his side must get ruthless if they are to turn their form around.
The interim boss said: “The question isn’t about how much we run. It is about how we can get more compact, more aggressive - and even more nasty when we are defending a lead.
“They’re not happy giving away points - and it’s the third game when we’ve been 1-0 or 2-0 up and we haven’t taken full points.”
