Chris Smalling admits Manchester United defeat 'not acceptable'
Saturday 20 February 2016 15:16, UK
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling admits his side's 2-1 defeat to Danish club Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday night was "not acceptable".
The defeat piled further pressure on boss Louis van Gaal, and United face a banana skin on Monday in the FA Cup when they travel to Shrewsbury Town.
Defeat there could make Van Gaal's position untenable, with newspaper reports continuing to link Jose Mourinho with the Old Trafford hotseat.
Reflecting on the Midtjylland game, Smalling told MUTV that the players must respond and give the supporters something to cheer about.
"It was a performance that wasn't acceptable," he said.
"We need to start rewarding these fans who travel so far and give us great support throughout the whole game. I think we all know that it wasn't good enough.
"Conceding before half-time didn't help [Midtjylland made it 1-1 in the 44th minute], we didn't really kick on with that belief in the second half, and I think we lost far too many tackles and a lot of second balls.
"I think in these games when you play teams that are lesser than Manchester United, you need to win your tackles and second balls.
"When you don't do that, then it is an even playing field on the pitch. So I think that we've only got ourselves to blame for the result."
