Diogo Dalot has said Manchester United's players have not been "near good enough" this season and has called on his teammates to step up following a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Roma in the Champions League.
United trailed by two goals at half-time on Tuesday night, but a penalty from Bruno Fernandes and a brace from Matheus Cunha completed the turnaround. The result ended a run of nine games without a win in all competitions and eased the pressure on manager Michael Carrick, whose future at the club had been under serious scrutiny.
Dalot's demand and backing for Carrick
Asked whether the dressing room still supported Carrick, Dalot stressed that the pressure extends beyond the manager. "Not just the manager, everyone is under pressure," he told journalists. "When you don't win games for this football club, every moment, every person, everyone involved gets under pressure."
He added: "We're not near good enough of what we should have done. And like I said, nights like this can change momentum, can change seasons, and I think this win is going to give us confidence for the next games."
Second-half response and tactical instructions
Reflecting on the performance, Dalot praised the team's second-half attitude. "I think a really good second half. I think we came with the right attitude," he said. "We did pretty much everything that we needed to do to turn the game on."
Dalot was caught out of position in the first half after pushing high on the left wing, but he confirmed that was part of Carrick's instructions. "We knew that they were going to play man-to-man, but that requires some things that we need to avoid, especially losing balls in the middle," he explained. "After the second goal, we tried to fix it straight away. I think we balanced a little bit more the game and kept ourselves in the game."
Turning the season around
Dalot acknowledged the difficult period the squad has endured. "These moments are really tough, I'm not going to lie," he said. "Unfortunately, I've had a few moments like this in the past, and the only way for us to get out is by winning football games."
He added: "Nights like this give you extra confidence that make you believe that you can create these moments, not just for us, but for the fans. It's important from everyone around the club feeling that we care, that we want to turn this around, and I think we've showed, especially in the second 45 minutes, that we really want to turn this around."
