Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has urged his team-mates to hold themselves accountable for the rut that may well have derailed their season, but acknowledged that the club is suffering from problems away from the pitch as well.
Saturday's 3-1 thumping at the hands of top-four rivals Arsenal leaves United six points adrift from the top four, having played one game more than the rest of the bunch. With just four matches to play - against Chelsea, Brentford, Brighton and Crystal Palace - time looks to be running out.
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The latest defeat was hugely frustrating for McTominay, who told BT Sport that United need to figure out solutions to issues at every level.
"Goals change games of football. We didn't put the ball in the back of the net enough and they did," the Scot began. "We dominated the first 20, 25 minutes of the second half and they go up our end of the pitch and score, which is about the way it's going at the minute.
"There's a whole lot of problems, in terms of players, staff and everything higher up. We need to concentrate on what happens on the pitch. It's self pride whenever we go on the pitch and nothing else. You don't need to worry about who's saying what. It's pride when you go on the pitch. Give your best, everyone."
He continued: "There's a lot of things going on at the minute, don't get me wrong, but when we get back in the dressing room, it's 'go home and take a look at yourself in the mirror'.
"You can't go back to your house and be satisfied with conceding three goals away at Arsenal when we deserved to win the game. That's just not the way that football works. For us, self belief, lack of confidence... you can see it all in the last two months.
"We have a half-decent game today, and even then, it's the belief which is so big in football, confidence... it's just not there at the minute."
Listen now to 90min's Manchester United podcast, The Promised Land, with Scott Saunders& Rob Blanchette. On this week's show they discuss Erik ten Hag’s appointment as new permanent manager, as well as the reaction from Mauricio Pochettino & Donny van de Beek.
Then asked about the impact of Erik ten Hag's imminent arrival in the dugout, McTominay warned the United squad that they must play with pride and prove that they deserve a spot under the Dutchman next season.
"The last four games are about pride for us, going out on the pitch and showing a bit of balls with your performances and not shying away.
"It's for us, we've got to finish as well as we possibly can do, but when the new coach comes in, we need to be ready for everything. We need to be so dialled in and concentrating on our jobs, so we can impress him and build from there."
"It's looking at next season in terms of how we can improve, what we can do and, with the players that we do bring in, how much they can add to the group. For myself, it's a bit of balls in your performances. That's what it comes down to, the fundamentals of football. It comes down to the basics and we never do them well enough."
Source : 90min