Diogo Dalot says Manchester United’s players need to become “more obsessed” about representing the club and leading it to success.
Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils looked to have put a wretched 2024/25 season and stumbling start to this campaign behind them during a promising five-match unbeaten run.
But a pair of Old Trafford setbacks either side of last weekend’s comeback win at Crystal Palace have darkened the mood, with the shock 1-0 loss to 10-man Everton compounded on Thursday evening.
Boos greeted the end of an uninspiring 1-1 draw with 18th-placed West Ham, which left long-serving wing-back Dalot frustrated on a number of levels.
“I think we’ve shown this season that we can be a very good team and we can beat anybody,” Thursday’s goalscorer said. “Then, it’s something that we need to get into ourselves.
“Sometimes, it’s not football qualities. It has to be from inside. It has to be from the anger and the drive that you have every day to win football games and to live your life like that.
“I think we need to become a bit more obsessed about playing for this club, winning games and winning trophies for this club. But it’s a process.
“I’m not going to get into the ‘we need time’ thing. I think we have to win straight away because that’s what the club demands.
“That’s why it hurts sometimes even more when we have opportunities like this (against West Ham) and we don’t win.”
Exasperated boss Amorim expressed his fury after Thursday’s draw, giving the players an honest debrief the following day as attention turns to Monday’s trip to winless Wolves.
Dalot said: “Even after winning three or four games in a row, people will expect you to win five or six or seven. So, we just have to focus on one game, one win at the time.
“(Against West Ham) we had a good chance to get closer to the top positions and I think that’s what hurts even more.”
Dalot will be hoping to make a third straight start in Monday’s Molineux meeting as he seeks to hit the standards meticulous Amorim demands.
The United boss recently spoke about his demands for more from him and Patrick Dorgu, saying “they are far from the best and they know it”.
“I think it’s something in general,” Dalot said when those comments were put to him. “He could be talking about me but I think he could be talking about everyone at the club.
“We always have to find ways to improve ourselves, be more consistent. We are in a team where you’re as good as your last game.
“So, you just have to know that this is a type of pressure for a big club like Man Utd.
“Fortunately, I’m here long enough to understand how it works and find a way to help the team. I think that’s the aim for everybody.”
