Erik ten Hag was far from happy with his Manchester United players after their 7-0 demolition at the hands of Liverpool.
Erik ten Hag tore into his Manchester United flops for a “really unprofessional” performance after watching his side get destroyed 7-0 by ruthless Liverpool at Anfield to damage their title hopes. The Red Devils conceded six second-half goals to succumb to their worst-ever defeat at the hands of their long-time rivals, and the Dutchman made no attempt to hide his disappointment with the defeat.
Liverpool led through Cody Gakpo’s effort just before the interval but the hosts ran riot after the Red Devils crumbled in a dismal second-half display. Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez all grabbed braces with Roberto Firmino adding the crushing seventh late on to compound a miserable day.
Ten Hag’s side had been tipped to challenge for an incredible quadruple going into the game off the back of their Carabao Cup success, with United third in the Premier League and also in the latter stages of the Europa League and FA Cup.
But after being torn apart by Liverpool at Anfield, Ten Hag questioned his players’ professionalism and accused the players of failing to follow instructions and stick to their roles in an angry rant.
Erik ten Hag: The Man Utd head coach hit out at his players
“I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time,” Ten Hag told BBC Match of the Day. “Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional.
Asked if he was feeling angry, Ten Hag replied: “Yes [I am angry]. Definitely. I am surprised because I have seen the last weeks and months this team is resilient and has a winning attitude. Second half we didn’t have a winning attitude at all. We didn’t stick to the plan and we didn’t do our jobs.
“We didn’t track back and it was really unprofessional. We have seen in the past we can bounce back. After Brentford, after Manchester City. This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry about it. It is a reality check. We have to take this strong.”
Erik ten Hag: The Man Utd coach fumed at his player
It was Ten Hag’s worst defeat as a manager since his FC Utrecht side lost 7-1 to PSV Eindhoven in 2017, but for United, it was their heaviest league defeat for 86 years – equalling a 7-0 annihilation to Wolves and their worst-ever in the historic battles with Liverpool.
United midfielder Bruno Fernandes admitted the team were unhappy with overseeing a “bad result”, but called on his team-mates to unite and bounce back after a miserable Sunday on Merseyside.
“It is very frustrating, disappointing, sad because it is a really bad result. We came here with a different mindset before the game,” he told Sky Sports. “The first half was really good from ourselves, we had a lot of chances. We controlled most of the first half I think, they didn’t create that much.
“[In the second half] we tried to go forward and score goals and we lost a bit of balance. We gave too much space away against this kind of team. We have to avoid that.
“The games are coming thick and fast. We had setbacks in the past and we have to come back quickly again. This is what Manchester United are about, we can go down but we have to get back up.”
