Dalot: Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback vs Roma showed angry fans we care
Diogo Dalot said Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback win over Roma at Old Trafford in the Champions League on Tuesday can transform their season and showed unhappy supporters that the players care. United had trailed 2-0 at half-time and were booed off by the home crowd.
The Glazer family, who have owned United since 2005 and loaded £1.2bn of debt onto the club, were again the focus of protest before kick-off, with thousands of green and gold balloons released from the Stretford End. Supporters sang anti-Glazer songs and threw tennis balls on to the pitch at 20 minutes and five seconds to symbolise the year 2005. United have seven points from their opening nine Premier League games, their worst start since 1987-88, and fans had turned on the players after a recent 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth; they had previously serenaded the manager, Michael Carrick, whom they back. Dalot was the last player to leave the pitch after that Bournemouth game, walking off slowly and appearing defiant in the face of jeers.
Bruno Fernandes began United’s revival by scoring with a retaken penalty and Matheus Cunha’s two late goals sealed the 3-2 victory. The team had been booed off at half-time as they trailed 2-0 before mounting the comeback.
“These moments are really tough, I’m not going to lie,” Dalot 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. Nights like this [against Roma] give you an extra confidence that makes you believe you can create these moments – not just for us but for the fans. And it’s important from everyone around the club feeling that we care, that we want to turn this around. I think we showed, especially in the second 45 minutes, that we really want to turn this around.”
Now into his ninth season as a United player, Dalot has been asked to fill the left-back role with Luke Shaw injured and has faced social-media abuse while striving to compensate for wider defensive imbalances. The club’s decision not to sign defensive reinforcements over the summer was described in the report as continuing to dumbfound observers, and Dalot was part of United’s dismal first-half showing against Roma.
Carrick accepted the risk of asking Dalot to push high up the field at the outset, which left United vulnerable when Kobbie Mainoo lost the ball in central midfield and Roma exploited the vacated space down the left to score through Matias Soulé; the penalty for Roma’s second goal also came as Dalot was committed forward. “Yes, obviously,” Dalot replied when asked whether Carrick had told him to play so high. “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 because we knew that we’re going to be too open. Obviously, after the second goal, we tried to fix it straight away. I think we balanced a little bit more the game [after that].”
To borrow a phrase from Thomas Tuchel, United played “fuck it football” in the second half, a style Tuchel said Argentina used against his team in the World Cup semi-final as they trailed 1-0. “If you analyse it really cold, we had nothing more to lose,” Dalot said. “I mean, that’s the unfortunate situation we are in. So we just had to really go at it. In the first five, 10 minutes of the second half, we were winning duels, we were on the front foot. The crowd came with us and pushed us forward. Once you create that energy inside the stadium, it’s really tough for the opponents to create even a chance. That’s the biggest thing we need to get out of this game – when we play like this, when you have the right attitude, when the fans really believe that we are there, we can be a very strong team. It is not just the manager, everyone is under pressure. We felt it, obviously. Nights like this can change momentum, they can change seasons.”
United face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday. “The key message from us [during half-time against Roma] … it’s like we’re getting disappointed too quick,” Dalot said. “Every moment in the game where it doesn’t go the way that we want, it’s like we let ourselves down a little bit. That’s the momentum we need to change.”