Manchester UnitedThe veterans of ‘s arrived for intense criticism from former players. After their 7-0 game in your hand Liverpool.
The Red Devils have been revived under Erik ten Hag this season and have recently won the Carabao Cup, but suffered their biggest league defeat ever at the hands of their biggest rivals at Anfield on Sunday.
Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez each scored two goals, while Roberto Firmino added another goal from the bench – six of those goals came in the second half and United blew up and the Reds took full advantage.
Speaking to Sky Sports during the match, Gary Neville selected Bruno Fernandes For a particularly grumpy and ineffective show, as the Liverpool players were running away from him, as the Portuguese player was shown more than once walking effortlessly for possession of the ball, which seemed to signal that he then wanted to be changed to the United bench.
“Bruno Fernandes asks why it’s not him,” Neville said. “Honestly, some of his actions were embarrassing, his assists and goals, although he was great at times (albeit).
“The second half was a disgrace, a mess, summed up by Fernandes, who was embarrassing at times. This is not their usual performance, spirit or form. (Erik ten Hag) will take care of it,” he said later.
While Fernandes was trying to win a free kick due to a face injury, with repetitions showing minimal contact in a different area, he was criticized for his obvious game play, Neville also underscored the Man United captain’s lack of leadership.
“I start with the captain. You don’t raise your hands in the air, you run back. I’m tired of him raising his arms as a teammate and not running back. He was thrust into his chest and fell to the ground, clutching his face. I think Ten Hag will be dealing with him very strongly in the next 48 hours. It was a disgrace.”
After full time, Roy Keane At the studio, Casemiro included other senior players on United’s roster in his critique, including veteran international players like Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and in-form Marcus Rashford.
“The senior players didn’t show any leadership skills, it was embarrassing,” he said. “It was a tough day for Man United. My players will be ashamed of their performance in the second half, they lost by losing so many goals.”
(Getty Images)
Fernandes went in front of the cameras to explain the performance after the match.
“It’s really frustrating and sad because it’s a really bad result. The first half was really good, we got chances and we were in control but the second half wasn’t at the level we wanted,” he said. “We gave them a lot of time, space and response and that wasn’t our level. We know how much quality we have, so it’s about the next game and getting a result.
“The team tried to react but in a reactive way. You try to advance and score but you lose the balance and control of our positions on the field. We have to avoid that against these teams that are strong on the bench.
“It may be (damaging) but we’ve had setbacks in the past and we need to come back again. That’s what Manchester United aim for.
“We didn’t show our level and perform today but we know this team can do good things. This team will continue to do great things with our fans and we appreciate them even after a game like this. It’s still great to be the Red Devil.
“We set a really good level and now it’s about getting back to that.”