England international and full back, Luke Shaw has voiced out saying Arsenal don’t get the same treatment as United do despite similar poor results. Luke Shaw has struggled to nail a first-team spot for United this season. The emergence of young full-back Brandon Williams has provided real competition in defence.
Meanwhile, his United side sit in ninth place and Shaw believes Arsenal who is below them, hasn’t got the same judgment and treatment. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils have been slated for an underwhelming campaign so far and the 24-year-old believes the Gunners are equally as guilty.
Talking to the standard sports outlet, The Mirror, Luke Shaw told:
“I’ve had to have a thick skin. Sometimes it’s easy for people to forget what I’ve actually been through,”
“You need to have a thick skin to play football anywhere, but especially at the biggest club in the world here at United. Everyone’s watching and wants to have a go whenever you lose.
“They’re just waiting to criticise the moment anything goes wrong but that’s part and parcel of playing for United.
“No disrespect to Arsenal who are a fantastic club, but they’re not exactly having the greatest of seasons and it’s hardly mentioned.
“I find it quite funny that if it’s United, everyone criticises, but Arsenal don’t get a mention.
“Look, we know when we haven’t been good enough and at times we haven’t been. We all know why we’re here.
“We’re here to take this club back to where it belongs – winning trophies and challenging for titles. And I honestly believe we’re on the way towards doing so.
“We know when we’re not at our best and we know when we play well what we can achieve – but we have to sustain it that’s why I believe there are a lot of good days to come.”
Shaw, 24, continued to praise Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for his handling of the criticism but believes many players have let the Norwegian down on the field. Shaw opined:
“We’re all aware how the manager has tried to take the criticism on himself this season,”
“We admire him for that, but there does come a time as a player when you have to look at yourself and realise that it’s all on you.
“The manager can’t keep defending us and taking the criticism. It’s up to us now – we’re the ones who need to shoulder the blame and start performing on the pitch.
“Ole is different to managers I’ve played for in the past at United who have not been slow in criticising us.
“Every manager has their own way of doing things and as a professional you just have to accept that they believe that the best way to be successful is their way.
Manchester United fullback also concluded:
“In the dressing room he always lets us know if we aren’t doing the thing he expects from us. But there isn’t a lot he can do once we go out onto the pitch. Then it is down to us.
“Ole can only do so much to prepare us but once the whistle goes then it’s up to us to prove we deserve to be Manchester United players.
“We’re all here because the manager believes in us and it is disappointing there have been times this season when we’ve let down him, ourselves and the United fans. We know we’re much better than our results suggest.
“The good thing is we’ve still got a lot to play for, with top four and two cup competitions, so there is time to put it right. Playing Chelsea is a good place to start.”
