Luke Shaw Slams 'Horrendous' Manchester United Performance in West Ham Defeat

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has branded the team's display in their 3-1 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday "horrendous." 

Shaw did not mince his words when he assessed their efforts and said the players bear responsibility for the defeat rather than manager Jose Mourinho, who has come under increased pressure as a result.

Per the Mirror, he said:

"We have to look at ourselves as players. We're the ones who go on the pitch. The manager isn't on the pitch is he?

"If you want the truth I think it was honestly horrendous. We didn't look like a team that was going to beat West Ham. I think individually and as a team we were awful.

"That's not good enough. It's hard to take, and we're sorry to the fans for what they saw."

United were 2-0 down at half-time thanks to Felipe Anderson's opener and an own goal from Victor Lindelof.

According to Shaw, Mourinho told his players at the break "we need to be moving, we need to concentrate more, we need to want the ball, we need to be playing," but "that didn't happen. It's disappointing and a very, very bad day for us."

The left-back was one of the Red Devils' stronger performers on a miserable day at the London Stadium and assisted Marcus Rashford when he pulled a goal back in the second half, but three minutes later Marko Arnautovic rounded out the win for the home side.

ESPN's Alex Shaw and football writer Liam Canning believe United should cut ties with Mourinho: 

Midfielder Scott McTominay was deployed in a back three ahead of centre-back Eric Bailly, but United defender Shaw believes they should have been good enough to win.

"You look at our team [against West Ham], and we had a very strong team," he said. "No excuses. As players we weren't good enough."

The Red Devils are capable of far better than they've shown, particularly in the last week having drawn with Wolverhampton Wanderers and been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Derby County on penalties prior to their defeat at West Ham.

Mourinho bears plenty of responsibility, too, and if he's unable to coax a significant response from his players against Valencia on Tuesday or Newcastle United next Saturday, it will be difficult to see him remaining in charge at Old Trafford much longer.