“Reality Check”: Erik Ten Haag Furious At “Unprofessional” Manchester United Players After 7-0 Defeat

Erik ten Haag accused his Manchester United players of an “unprofessional” and “unacceptable” performance as they fell to a humiliating 7-0 defeat at bitter rivals Liverpool on Sunday. United’s shock defeat was ranked as their worst ever defeat against Liverpool and United’s heaviest in their entire history. Ten Haag’s side fell behind to Cody Gakpo’s opener just before half time. In the second half, Liverpool struck again with Gakpo scoring six times before Roberto Firmino netted braces from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez to seal one of the most surprising results in Premier League history.

United boss Ten Haag faced off on the touchline as the scoreline continued to mount and admitted his players had let themselves down badly.

“I think we played a good first half. One mistake in organization just before half time. The second half just wasn’t us. It wasn’t our standard. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. Yes (I ) angry). Definitely,” Ten Haag told the BBC.

“I’m surprised because what I’ve seen over the past weeks and months is that this team is resilient and has a winning attitude. In the 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 back down and it was really unprofessional.

The incredible defeat came just seven days after Ten Haag’s team ended United’s six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle 2–0 in the League Cup final at Wembley.

‘Frustrated and angry’

That result was heralded as the start of a bold new era for United, with Ten Haag praised for turning around a team that had finished sixth in the Premier League the previous season before his arrival from Ajax.

But United’s poor performance in such an important game showed how much work Ten Haag still has to do to rebuild a club that hasn’t won a title since 2013.

United, who are third in the Premier League, have already suffered an embarrassing 6-3 defeat at Manchester City this season, as well as a 4-0 defeat at Brentford.

It was a new low, but Ten Haag urged his team to use it as motivation for the rest of the season, which begins on Thursday with the Europa League last 16 first leg at home to Real Betis.

“We’ve seen in the past that we can bounce back. After Brentford, after Manchester City. It’s definitely a strong blow and unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry by this,” he said.

“It’s a reality check. We have to make it strong.”

United midfielder Bruno Fernandes echoed Ten Haag’s call for a stronger response to the humiliating capitulation on Merseyside.

“It’s very disappointing and frustrating. It’s sad because it’s a really bad result. We came here with a different mindset before the game,” Fernandes told Sky Sports.

“We tried to get forward and score goals and we lost a bit of balance. We gave away too much space against a team like this. We have to avoid that.”

“We’ve had setbacks in the past and we have to get back quickly again. That’s what Manchester United is about. We can go down but we have to get back up.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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