Diogo Dalot admitted that Manchester United are too immature as a collective after their 3-1 loss to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Against the Gunners, United slumped to their 10th Premier League defeat of the 2021-22 campaign, with goals from Nuno Tavares, Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka cancelling out an effort from Cristiano Ronaldo for the visitors.
Dalot struck the woodwork twice on a frustrating day for the Red Devils, and gave an honest assessement of the squad's current level after the game.
What did Dalot say after the Arsenal loss?
"I think it’s a lesson to be honest. Some people might say bad luck and some people might say we’re not playing well. I completely understand the frustration of the fans who travelled so far to watch the game," the Portuguese full-back told MUTV.
"It's hard to go in the end and thank them for what they did during the 90 minutes, but I think this is a lesson for everyone.
"We need to mature everyone in terms of the team and we need to be more energetic, to want it more than them and dominate, I think that starts from our efforts everyday.
"It's not just hope on the Saturday afternoon that things come for themselves, you play for Man United but you need to do things right, that’s the standard that I’ve learned since I’ve been here."
Dalot not giving up Champions League yet
United are now six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more, and look likely to miss out on Champions League qualification unless they can pick up maximum points from their final four games.
Even then, Ralf Rangnick's side would still be relying on their rivals to slip up, but Dalot is refusing to give up on a top four berth and has urged his team-mates to fight until the end.
"It is difficult for us to accept as this club belongs in the Champions League," he said.
"All I want to say is that if it is still mathematically possible then I will believe to the end. Obviously it is going to be really difficult and we need to be realistic, everybody can see that in football things can happen until the end.
"We have to believe at least that we can grab that as a strength and as a motivation for the upcoming games.
"We have to fight for ourselves, for the club, for our families, for the fans that travel every time."