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Manchester United centre-back Luke Shaw and his team had a bad day against Liverpool
Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images
"Unprofessional", "embarrassing", "embarrassing": After Manchester United's record 7-0 defeat in the Premier League at Liverpool, coach Erik ten Hag and his players struggled with their performance in the second 45 minutes.
"The second half was unprofessional.
We didn't play as a team," said the Dutchman at the press conference and announced an intensive reappraisal.
»This must not happen and we have to talk about it.«
On Sunday evening, the team, unbeaten in eleven games against Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool, conceded six goals in the second half alone.
For Manchester United it was the heaviest defeat in the Premier League in more than 90 years - the Red Devils were last defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931 with this fabulous result.
Central defender Luke Shaw called his team's performance "unacceptable" and "embarrassing".
»The performance was a disgrace.
On the pitch I was ashamed of us players, of the fans who supported us and who are watching at home," said the England international.
Manchester United were surprised by a double strike from Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez just after half-time on Sunday and then collapsed completely.
»You have to stick together, support each other and fight for each other.
You have to defend.
We didn't do that,' said Ten Hag.
The 53-year-old has had some tough days as coach of the 20-time English champions: United lost 4-0 to Brentford in their second game of the season and were beaten 6-3 in the first Manchester derby.
End of United's championship dreams
Manchester United will probably have to write off the fight for the championship, in third place the Ten Hag team is 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.
But after last week's League Cup win, Ten Hag's side are still in contention for the FA Cup and Europa League.
Liverpool, on the other hand, could have given the starting signal for a strong end of the season with the fabulous win.
In fifth place, just three points behind Tottenham Hotspur, the Champions League places are in sight again.
“We look a lot more like ourselves.
It's important that everyone knows we're here and that we're still alive," said Jürgen Klopp after the game.
cf./AP/dpa
