Luke Shaw had to clarify his comment but the damage had already been done and the quotes, in full context, reflect unflatteringly on Manchester United.
United excel at going round in circles or coming full circle. Shaw closed the loop again by remarking Gareth Southgate has created an environment with England where Shaw is 'playing games with a smile on my face'. Staff at United mischievously said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been parachuted in to put 'smiles back on people's faces'.
"It is always important to feel like you are wanted. I think especially here I always feel that," Shaw told the pitchside reporter Patrick Davison. "I am not saying I don't at United but especially here, the way things are, I feel wanted and I enjoy my football. A big part of football is the enjoyment."
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Shaw is 27 this summer and approaching the seventh anniversary of his transfer to United. He was so exceptional last season it was as much of a travesty he did not receive the Sir Matt Busby statue as it was when he did in 2019, an accolade Shaw himself said 'you could've picked anyone out of the hat' for.
His resurgence started as a left-sided centre-back at the start of 2020 and Shaw overcame lockdown, another hamstring injury, and starting on the bench at the European Championship to end the tournament as its standout left-back, fulfilling the prophecy of Jose Mourinho, of all people, to become the best in his position.
Shaw recovered from a horrific double leg-break aged 20 in Eindhoven, with his helpless parents watching in the stands, to establish himself at United. He is still, in spite of a regressive season, their best full-back and unlikely to be affected by the player turnover in the summer.
It is a quirk of Shaw's career he has still not played in a winning club final. He has a Europa League winner's medal from five years ago but was a member of the 'crutch crew' that night, clad in a Paul Smith three-piece.
When Shaw effectively questions the set-up at United, it is more galling than one of Roy Keane's bloody post-mortems from yesteryear. Back then, United players would withdraw from England squads with a broken toenail. Now it appears they are itching to get back to base at St George's Park for some escapism.
A scorer for England on Saturday, Shaw has not played for United in a month. That is straight out of the Edinson Cavani playbook and even Cavani did not start for Uruguay in their defeat of Peru on Thursday.
It had been a while since Paul Pogba caused a stir on international duty and his unwillingness to accept accountability for his inability to nail down a role in the United team over reflects the culture in the dressing room. Many always feel wronged and are never in the wrong. One player has slagged off just about every competitor for his role.
That backbiting among players takes precedent over the next manager's style or whether their transfer targets are Glazernomic. United are about to restore authority to the manager's role and require an authoritative figure to whip underachieving players into shape.
United did not have the nerve to tweet a piece on their website titled 'Why leader Maguire deserves our backing' last week, with its only byline the 'editorial team', usually reserved for official announcements.
Prior to joining United, those close to Maguire spoke of how much he relished his popularity among England supporters and on Saturday impartial observers at Wembley tweeted he had been jeered before kick-off. The crowd at Wembley has long had a penchant for heckling United players and it used to fuel the partisan Neville brothers. With Maguire, a player who reserves his finest performances for England, it has cut deep. With some of the current players, the 'United > England' banner does not resonate.
Activity at United, the Maguire family's own reaction to criticism of the defender and his risible ear-cupping celebration on England duty in November would suggest that beneath the burly physique is a thin skin. Maguire's premature promotion by Solskjaer was another attempt to justify an £80million transfer fee - still a record for a defender - and Maguire was last seen at Old Trafford being sarcastically cheered off by a section of the crowd.
With supporters clicking through the turnstiles again and the expectations raised, this season was the acid test for the United players and staff and almost all of them have been rumbled. Solskjaer is long gone after the misleading second-place finish and Shaw's sole season of sustained excellence was in front of vacant stands.
He is far from the only player lacking the mentality but Shaw is as synonymous as anyone in the United squad for five years of failure, a player whose association with the club dates back to David Moyes's final day as manager on Easter Monday in 2014, partially spent finalising an offer for Shaw.
United are now sixth - where they have finished twice in the last five years. That is about right for a yo-yo club not worthy of the Champions League and braced for soulless Thursday night football in the autumn. The damage has been done.
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