John O’Shea told Setanta Sports News that Manchester United must use defeat in the Champions League final as a means of ensuring that their hunger for success is still as insatiable as ever.
Barely more than a month ago United looked on course for a clean sweep and an unprecedented quintuple but have since stumbled against Everton in the FA Cup and Barcelona on the European stage.
Sir Alex Ferguson has built a reputation on his ability to remodel one team after another whilst maintaining his own will to win despite seemingly endless trophies.
The Scot baulked at post-match suggestions that his future could now be cast into doubt after losing in Rome and O’Shea was keen to echo similar sentiments.
“We need to make sure the hunger is there because there’s nothing better than a defeat to make you realise that,” the Ireland defender told Setanta Sports News.
“We’ve got to move on.”
Ryan Giggs was, as with his team-mates, magnanimous in defeat and insistent that United’s campaign can still be judged an unequivocal success.
“It’s a very difficult trophy to win,” added the PFA Player of the Year. “We deserved the right to get to the final but we probably didn’t deserve to win.
“It’s been a fantastic season with what we’ve achieved – three leagues on the trot – but we just fell at the final hurdle.
“Credit to Barcelona because they deserved it on the night.”