Sport
Erik ten Hag slams ‘unprofessional’ United as pundits take lumps after Liverpool embarrassment
United matched a 90-year-old record they'll not soon forget as a result of the defeat.
Danny Jones -
6th March 2023 
Erik ten Hag has slammed his Manchester United players after their hefty defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Dutch coach was on the end of an unbelievable 7-0 thrashing in just his first visit to Merseyside and just his second competitive match against Liverpool as United manager, with the home team only scoring one in the first half before slotting in another six in the second 45.
Despite starting the game ok and showing some semblance of control in the first half, even scoring what they thought was the opener before it was ruled offside, United clearly lost their heads and once the second goal went in, the floodgates were well and truly open.
Speaking to media after the game, ten Hag summed things up by saying that mistakes can happen but “it’s not possible to make the wrong decision in the transition and not match the runs, we didn’t track back. That is, for me, unprofessional”.
ten Hag went on to repeat his “very unprofessional” verdict in the post-match press conference too, going on to state that “as a team, you have to stick together. That is what we didn’t do. It is a surprise for me, I didn’t see this from my team.”
As per BBC Sport, the 53-year-old conceded that he didn’t recognise his side in the second half: “I don’t think it is us. I don’t think it is Manchester United. It was really bad, really poor.” As well as confessing his anger, he also admitted that this was a “reality check” for the squad, especially after the “resilience” and results they have shown over the last few weeks.
Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t the only one with plenty to say following the battering: captain Bruno Fernandes hinted that the result could be ‘psychologically damaging‘ for the rest of the season Luke Shaw said he and his teammates will be forced to watch back the “embarrassment” in great detail.
Turning to the pundits, club legends Gary Neville and Paul Scholes labelled the game a “shambles” and even “criminal” at times, with the former calling out Bruno’s second-half performance in particular as a “disgrace” — the midfielder playing most of the game stuck out of position on the left wing.
🗣️ "That Man United group of players have been eaten alive in the second half!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 5, 2023
Gary Neville reacts to Man United's 7-0 defeat to Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/MuZhtoKFrU
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The defeat itself was Man United’s heaviest defeat in any competition since Boxing Day, 1931, when they were hit for seven by Wolves.
On the other hand, many went on to insist that was just a ‘blip’ for United and that they will obviously “bounce back”, but as Micah Richards told Match of the Day, it’s hard to call that result anything other than what it was: a “humiliation”.
You can watch Erik ten Hag’s post-match press conference in full and the highlights from Liverpool vs United HERE.
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Featured Image — beINSPORTS/Sky Sports/Liverpool (via Twitter)
