Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has explained how manager Jose Mourinho inspired his team to a comeback from 2-0 down to beat Newcastle 3-2 yesterday.
The Red Devils looked to be heading for a fifth game in a row without a win after going behind at home to Newcastle, though they did well to peg it back to 2-2 in the second half.
Still, it wasn’t until a stoppage time header from Alexis Sanchez that United took the lead and claimed a vital three points to end their torrid recent run.
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Speaking after the game, Shaw admitted some strong words were said at half time in the dressing room.
The England international says, however, that this message spurred the team into life in the second half as they performed much better than in a calamitous opening 45 minutes.
‘If I’m honest yeah 100% as soon as we came out in the second a lot of strong words were said at half time in the changing room,’ Shaw told MUTV.
‘I think everything of what was said was correct, 2-0 down at half time against Newcastle at home is really bad, and it helped us, it helped us we came out a new side in the second half.
‘At half time, I’m there were a lot of happy people loving every moment of it, but the team spirit is very strong.
‘The half-time team talk was very strong and it was needed and gave us a kick up the a***, the way we were much better in the second much quicker and more direct and more like the United we saw in the old days and we need to do that more and we will hopefully and we look forward to our next games.’
While there has been so much talk about Mourinho’s position at Old Trafford after a disappointing start to the season, it seems clear the Portuguese still knows how to fire his team up.
As well as that, the 55-year-old’s tactical decisions also worked wonders as he made some early changes to his side that had a big effect on the outcome of the match.