- The Manchester United left-back was critical of his side’s recent form
- Luke Shaw insisted United must use Liverpool draw to build consistency
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Luke Shaw has brazenly labelled Manchester United‘s defensive issues as ‘not acceptable’ and insisted errors needed ‘to be addressed’ after inconsistencies this season.
The England and United full-back played the entirety of Sunday’s goalless draw at Anfield that saw his team become the first to take points away from Liverpool‘s home this season.
However, that has only plugged the flow in the club’s disastrous season so far that has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency, with United crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage last week.
Shaw returned for selection against Everton at the end of November following an injury lay-off and was quickly thrust back into his starting role by Erik ten Hag.
The 13-time Premier League champions have taken seven points from five games since and Shaw claims United have to use their deserved draw at Anfield as a foundation to build on heading into Christmas.
Luke Shaw helped Manchester United earn a hard-fought point at Liverpool on Sunday
Shaw slammed United’s defensive issues this season as ‘not acceptable’
‘That has to be the foundation now. Every game, whether it is at Anfield away or here (at Old Trafford), it always has to be the same and I think that is where we have been lacking I think is the consistency,’ Shaw told Betfred.
‘I think one game we are excellent, for example the game against Chelsea here – we played a really good game, then we go and let ourselves down by playing Bournemouth here and losing 3-0.
‘It’s not acceptable, we can’t accept that and it’s something that needs to be addressed and changed very quickly because we can’t keep doing this,’ he added.
Shaw is now one of the most senior members in United’s squad having initially moved to Old Trafford from Southampton in 2014 during the reign of Louis van Gaal.
He has been involved in unsuccessful campaigns under Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since then, with Ten Hag now the latest manager to come under pressure.
United manager Erik ten Hag will be hoping to use his side’s clean sheet at Anfield as a foundation to build progress on
Shaw believes United have shown signs of improvement but stressed they must now be consistent
However, a clean sheet performance at Liverpool was a much-improved performance than what recent results suggest and Shaw believes it shows positive progress is being made.
‘Really important [to get a clean sheet], especially with the results we’ve been having recently conceding a lot of goals,’ said Shaw.
‘To go there, especially away at Anfield, what happened last year there – we all remembered that very well. It was one of the worst days in my footballing career. And for all of us.
‘I think it was definitely showing a step in the right direction, still obviously little things we can do better on when we have the ball, but I think as a defensive block, a defensive unit, I think that is the foundations we need to approach every game with, exactly how we defended in that game,’ he added.
