Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag slammed his players following the embarrassing 7-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool on the road on Sunday.
The Red Devils had a good first half performance against Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield and they only went behind after a late strike from Cody Gakpo.
However, United capitulated following the interval, conceding as many as six goals. This is now the club’s joint-worst defeat, a record previously held in 1931.
Speaking after the game, Ten hag was frustrated by the result and said that the performance was ‘unacceptable’ as the players failed to track the runs.
He told Manutd.com: “You can have setbacks but what can’t happen is you don’t stick together.”
“You have to do your job, it’s not possible to make the wrong decisions in the transitions.
“We didn’t track the runs. We didn’t track back and that, for me, is unacceptable. As a squad, as a team, you can’t allow this.”
United suffer unexpected humbling at the hands of Liverpool
United have not been at their best defensively over the past few months but they have had the tendency to secure positive results at the end of games.
Trailing 1-0 at Anfield, the Red Devils were right in the contest but they simply failed to turn up after the interval. There was a genuine lack of cohesion.
United barely offered an attacking outlet in the second half and defensively, they were all over the place. The backline could not cope with the counter-attacks.
The humbling defeat was obviously unexpected and Erik ten Hag will want a strong response from his side when they host Real Betis on Thursday night.
The Dutch tactician is bound to make changes to the starting line-up. It could start from the defence where Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot could be dropped.
Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot looked out of depth in 7-0 defeat to Liverpool
Manchester United full-backs Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot were hugely disappointing during the shock 7-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool on Sunday evening.
The Red Devils went into the game with a lot of optimism and they had a good opening half before Cody Gakpo’s late strike for Liverpool before the interval.
Dalot was partly at fault for the opening goal after being caught out of position but Shaw was equally to blame, having kept Gakpo onside with his poor positioning.
Shortly after the break, Shaw gave away possession and it proved very costly as Darwin Nunez doubled Liverpool’s lead. Dalot played Mohamed Salah onside in the lead-up.
Both Shaw and Dalot continued to struggle over 90 minutes and it was definitely a day to forget for the full-back pairing, who have had excellent seasons thus far.
The duo lost possession on an astonishing 34 occasions. They were overrun by Salah and Gakpo respectively and had no answers after United went behind.
Aside from Lisandro Martinez’s first-half display, there were not any positives from the humiliation and Erik ten Hag should have stern words with his players tonight.
United return to action against Real Betis in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 on Thursday.
It won’t surprise us if a number of players from today’s starting line-up are dropped. Dalot and Shaw should face the axe but the same could be said for several others.
Bruno Fernandes looked a shadow of himself during the second half as United were leaking goals. He was spotted asking to be substituted when they were trailing 5-0.
Hopefully, the embarrassing display at Anfield does not derail United’s season. Ten Hag will want nothing less than a victory when Betis travel to Old Trafford in midweek.
Source: manutdnews.com; manutdnews.com
