David de Gea has admitted that Manchester United must do more to win trophies after their stalemate with Chelsea.
United lost more ground on Premier League leaders Manchester City after being held to a 0-0 draw by the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are now 12 points off the pace in second, with De Gea sceptical about their chances of picking up major silverware come May.
What was said?
“I think that the draw is fine, but if we want to do something good and we want to win trophies and win the league, we have to beat these teams,” the Spanish goalkeeper told MUTV.
“We didn’t have many chances; we didn’t create too much. I think the last pass was what we missed. We created good counterattacks, but at the end, the last pass wasn't the best option, but at least we defended really well.
“They [Chelsea] didn’t have many chances. They had a couple of chances, but the team was strong. We gave everything but it wasn't enough, to be honest.”
United's record against 'Big Six' in 2020-21
United were thrashed 6-1 by Tottenham at Old Trafford in the first of their meetings with one of the 'Big Six' this season, which seemed to spark a change in tactics from Solskjaer.
The Red Devils were far more conservative during a 0-0 draw with Chelsea and a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the same venue, and that trend has continued through to the new year.
Stalemates against City, Liverpool and Arsenal were recorded between December and January, with United still on the lookout from their first goal in open play against their main rivals after seven attempts.
What's next?
Solskjaer must now pick his players up ahead of a midweek clash with Crystal Palace, which comes four days before a derby encounter against City at the Etihad Stadium.
De Gea added on the importance of those fixtures: “Win the next game and then we play against them [City], so let's see if we can beat them and we can be closer to them, because now they are winning games, they are playing well, and now the gap is bigger.
"It's not easy. But this is the Premier League; we want to give everything until the last game and fight to be as high as we can."
Further reading
- Neville: Man Utd closer to title than Mourinho’s ‘strange bunch’
- Solskjaer points finger at Chelsea website after penalty snub
- Shaw: Referee said Hudson-Odoi handball was a penalty