Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw had a chat with the Brazilian media following the Red Devils’ 2-1 loss to Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Trying to explain why the English side suffered a comeback in the second half, the 26-year-old gave his reasons for it, and claimed the artificial grass was one of the factors which affected the team’s performance.
“I don’t know. It’s always hard with ten men. I think we started well. It’s a hard pitch to play on, it’s not easy to get used to”, Shaw told TNT Sports.
“We got the early goal, comfortable in the game, we didn’t feel they were too threatening. Then, ten men, they had more of the ball, more chances. Towards the end we gave everything, we tried to give them as many less chances as possible. But they got the goal, and the last goal, these things happen in football. We need to move on. We’re disappointed, but there’s still a lot more games to go.”
Then quizzed about the difference when compared to natural grass, Shaw even claimed they shouldn’t even be used in the tournament.
“A lot. A lot. No excuses, we lost the game tonight, you can’t blame the pitch. But for Champions League, these pitches, they shouldn’t be possible. It’s dangerous. It’s hard to turn on. But like I said, it’s no excuse. It’s football, we lost tonight, we have to take it on the chin and we need to focus on the games coming up on the weekend.”
Then with a little bit of insistence from the reporter on why it is dangerous for the players, Shaw made it sure to claim that was not the only reason why Manchester United lost the game.
“It’s artificial grass, it’s not proper grass, you can’t turn properly, it’s not good for the knees. But like I said, it’s no excuse. We gave everything, but we come out short, and like I said, we need to focus on our next games.”
Now back to England, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have two encounters with West Ham United, first for the Premier League on Sunday and then for the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
