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Youri Tielemans left no room for ambiguity following Manchester United's embarrassing Champions League defeat to Como on Wednesday: "We need to try and do better at everything."
The Red Devils have gone without a victory since Sept. 10, a winless streak that has now extended to seven matches across all competitions. But while disappointing Premier League stalemates are one thing, it was something else entirely being "outplayed most of the game," in Tielemans's words, by a side making their Champions League debut this season with a youthful roster. The final score read 4–1 in Como's favor.
Even accounting for United's distance from their former glories, the magnitude of the shock was captured by remarks from Nico Paz, the driving force behind their defeat on the lakeside. "It was a historic night because we played against one of the best clubs of all time."
Bruno Fernandes directed criticism toward manager Michael Carrick and the coaching staff's instructions. "That's on the manager and the staff to say [if it cost the match]," he stated, before sharing his own view on what should have occurred. "Sometimes we have to be more brave under pressure and trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable."
Tielemans steered clear of pointing fingers—he separately told MUTV: "We were disjointed as a team, we didn't play well together, our press was off and when we were on the ball, we could not make the right decisions"—but his wider verdict on what ails the club is arguably just as devastating for everyone connected to it, players included.
"It's a combination of everything, whether it's tactical, technical, effort... We need to try and do better at everything," the summer signing admitted.
"You can be good tactically, but if the effort is not good, or the other way around, it doesn't matter. You need to be good at everything and we were poor at everything. It's down to that," Tielemans continued.
What Man Utd Must Do to Improve
When asked how Manchester United can turn things around, Tielemans said the answer is nothing new. "It's the same message as we've had the last few weeks," he sighed.
"We can be here and talk about it but we need to show it on the pitch. We can only apologise to the fans. They're disappointed, we're disappointed, and the only thing we can do is try and show something on the pitch, which we didn't do enough of the last few weeks."
Tielemans's remarks carry echoes of "David Moyes says #mufc must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending," the widely-shared post sent from the club's official X (formerly Twitter) account back in December 2013.
David Moyes says #mufc must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending.
At that point, United had lost two consecutive matches but were only three games without a win. It highlights just how much loftier the standards once were and what constituted a crisis at the club back then. They had thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5–0 just a fortnight earlier and went on to string together six straight wins. It's difficult to envision the current side doing anything similar.
The schedule offers no respite. Bournemouth head to Old Trafford on Sunday, arriving in better shape after claiming their first Premier League win of the season. United failed to beat the Cherries in six attempts throughout the Andoni Iraola era, suffering two 3–0 home defeats during that stretch.
After that comes a trip to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a Champions League fixture against Roma, and then Aston Villa's visit to Old Trafford. Villa endured a rocky start to the campaign but have since found their footing in recent outings, leapfrogging United in the table as a result.