Pogba and his United teammates were embarrassed by Everton
Paul Pogba has described Manchester United’s humiliating defeat to Everton on Sunday as “disrespectful” to everyone connected to the club.
Everton ran out 4-0 winners at Goodison Park, with United failing to produce a shot on target until the 86th minute of the game.
United’s performance was met with scathing criticism from supporters, with Gary Neville making his feelings known about the manner of the loss on Sky Sports shortly after the full-time whistle.
In an interview with Sky’s Laura Woods, Pogba delivered his own frank assessment of the display.
“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,” the French international said.
“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.”
He continued: “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.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men must pick themselves up for the Manchester derby with City on Wednesday night, a game they must now win to resurrect their hopes of a top four finish.
