It's clear that the blame has to be apportioned two ways - both with the players, and with the manager for failing to put together a team who can play week in week out with belief.
He had this to say following yesterday's training session:
“The next morning I always rewatch the game; some are more painful, some are more enjoyable. This one was a very painful one but you have to face the reality. We were weak on the day. People forget that on the day we conceded four goals in the last 20 minutes with 10 men and we played for our lives three days before at Udinese in 33 degrees heat. The game of the week was not United, it was Udinese to qualify for the Champions League.
“When young managers ask, ‘what kind of advice would you give me?’ it is always to survive big disappointments.
“You have to live with the ups and the downs. It was three points lost in a humiliating way but we can come back. This is a big game that comes at a moment when we want to convince people we are capable of coming back into the top four. There is no better opportunity than playing United to show that. You do not play a game for revenge, you play a game because you want to win.”
We can only hope that United don't give us a spanking at our place - frankly they shouldn't because they're not that good, but then we can be worse so it's anyone's guess.
Wayne Rooney insists that we're not yet out of the title race - I'm not sure I concur, but the fact is we're capable of a lot more than we've shown recently. Will the lads step up to the plate? - we shall see.