It was the toughest half-time team talk Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is likely to face and Luke Shaw has revealed just what was going on in the Manchester United dressing room against Liverpool.
Having lost Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard to injury inside the first 45 minutes, and with Marcus Rashford struggling having taken a knock inside the first five minutes, Solskjaer had a lot of organising to do during the break.
United were certainly transformed in the second half and the rewritten game plan worked, with the hosts having the better of the chances in the stalemate.
After a first-half punctuated by injuries and lacking any kind of rhythm, Shaw revealed the half-time interval was chaotic for United.
“We were all very disappointed with how the first half went. We didn’t play well at all.” the left-back said. “We gave too many balls away too cheaply and luckily that didn’t cost us.
“But we had a change of formation, we had a good chat at half-time. Everyone was going crazy. But, you know, we said ‘relax and we just need to play our game’ and I think second half was better.
“We still weren’t at our best but overall I think we created the best chances and I feel we should have won.”
Of the injuries that disrupted United, having also lost Nemanja Matic on the eve of the game, Shaw added: “It’s very strange feeling. I don’t know if it has ever happened before in a game.
“But, look, we’re professional footballers so we need to be able to deal with that and adapt to whatever is thrown at us on the pitch.
“Of course it’s not easy, especially the players we lost. It’s quite hard to take.
“We had two injuries during the week as well that sort of changed the team.
“But, no, we kept focused, we did our job, everyone played brilliantly I thought, especially defensively as a team.”
Shaw was named man of the match by Sky Sports for his performance against Liverpool, keeping Mohamed Salah quiet throughout the game.
The 23-year-old felt it was one of his best defensive performances for the club, a claim backed by Solskjaer. But Shaw believes there is still more to come from him despite enjoying his best season to-date in a United shirt.
“These are the games that you want to try and step up in, you want to try and prove why you’re here,” he said.
“You’ve just got to enjoy it and you’ve got to take it as it comes.
“You want to play against the best, you want to test yourself against the best and I want to keep doing that in my career.
“I’m still quite young. There’s always room to improve and that’s what I want to do, keep improving and see what happens.
“I think I’ve still got another level to come. I don’t think I am really at my best and I know what I can do when I’m at my best.
“Of course I am happy with how it went today but there’s still more to come from me especially and that’s me being honest.
“I feel I can do more but the only thing I need to focus on is myself, keeping myself in the right conditions and keep pushing myself every day and trying to become what I want to be.”