Paul Pogba has apologised to Manchester United’s fans for his sides shocking performance during their 4-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday.
Manchester United‘s form has deteriorated badly in recent weeks after an initial resurgence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the Old Trafford outfit losing seven of their last nine games.
A poor showing at the Camp Nou against Barcelona in midweek was followed up with an abysmal display on Merseyside, a performance many fans are describing as the worst they have ever seen.
Criticism of Solskjaer’s players’ lack of intensity or desire has been widespread in the aftermath, and Pogba has now admitted that he and his teammates performed so badly that it showed a lack of respect to everybody connected with United.
“I wish I knew [what went wrong]. It was the details, the desire, we spoke about courage and everything we had when the manager came,” Pogba told Sky Sports.
“What we had there, it was just like another team and this is not good. It is not good for Man United, for the story of the club or for the fans. It is not good at all what we did. Losing a game is something really bad that we don’t want to when we are in the race for the top four and losing 4-0 as well.
“Not to be disrespectful and I am not disrespectful on Everton, but the way we played and the performance of myself, of the team, of everyone is disrespectful. We didn’t respect ourselves, the club or the fans.
“Sometimes, you try to give everything but nothing comes with it. You keep trying, you might lose some balls that you might not lose, you lose some challenges that you win, and most of the time we would create chances that we would score but we missed.
“Everything went wrong but the most important thing is the mentality that we put on the pitch – that has to change. Now it is in the past and we cannot stay on the past because it is a headache. You have to think about the next game and do better.
“[In the dressing room after the game] we let the manager speak, the staff speak and they spoke the truth. They said what happened in the game and it is not respectful for ourselves.
“What we did on the pitch is not respectful for the team-mates, for the staff, for the people, for the kitman, for everyone. For their work, they put their life on us, the team and this club. What we showed on the pitch, we did not give them the joy back and that’s why we are angry with ourselves. We want to do better for sure and we have to. The reaction has to be there.
“I want to say [to the fans], and I know it may not be enough, but the fans want a reaction from the players and the only way to apologise to them is to give everything on the pitch, do our best, create chances, score goals, defend, work for the team and we can even lose games, but with a good performance and pride on the pitch.
“That’s how we should apologise to the fans, just to give everything for us, for the club, for the shirt, for the team-mates and for ourselves as well because it is us on the pitch and we cannot perform like we did.”
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