Football: Ten Hag slams 'unprofessional' Man United after Liverpool humiliation
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Manchester United manager ten Hag criticised his team after a humiliating 7-0 defeat at rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Erik ten Hag accused his Manchester United players of an “unprofessional” and “unacceptable” performance as they crashed to a humiliating 7-0 defeat
United’s stunning loss ranked as their worst defeat by Liverpool and the joint-heaviest in their history.
Ten Hag’s team collapsed after falling behind to Cody Gakpo’s opener just before half-time.
Liverpool scored six times in the second half, with Gakpo striking again, while Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez netted braces before Roberto Firmino capped one of the most astonishing Premier League results.
United boss ten hag was ashen-faced on the touchline as the scoreline kept mounting and he admitted his players had let themselves down badly.
“I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time. Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. Yes (I am angry),” ten Hag told the BBC. “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.”
The incredible loss came just seven days after United had ended a six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle United 2-0 in the League Cup final.
That was heralded as the start of a new era for United, with ten Hag praised for transforming a team that finished sixth in the Premier League before he arrived from Ajax Amsterdam in the close-season.
Defender Luke Shaw said he felt standards had dropped since United won the League Cup.
“We need to find the good things we were doing before and bring them back because this hurts a lot,” he said.
“It’s really unacceptable what we did in that second half with mistakes. We showed no personality, no mentality and for a big team to come here we need to be better.”
But United’s wretched display in such a significant game showed how much work ten Hag still has to do to rebuild a club that have not won the title since 2013.
United, who remain third in the Premier League, had already endured an embarrassing 6-3 loss at Manchester City this season, as well as a 4-0 defeat by Brentford.
This was a new low but ten Hag urged his team to use it as motivation for the rest of the season, starting with Thursday’s Europa League last 16, first leg at home to Real Betis.
“We have seen in the past we can bounce back... This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry about it,” he said. “It is a reality check. We have to take this strong.”
Midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who was blasted by pundits for his poor leadership and attitude, echoed ten Hag’s call for a strong response, telling Sky Sports: “It’s very frustrating and disappointing. It’s sad because it’s a really bad result. We came here with a different mindset before the game.
“We tried to go forward and score goals and we lost a bit of balance. We gave too much space away...
“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.” AFP
