Within the last two weeks, Manchester United have beaten runaway La Liga leaders Barcelona and picked up their first silverware in almost six years.
And oh yes, they have also now suffered their biggest defeat since 1931 within that period. Exactly a week on from beating Newcastle United at Wembley, they fell foul to a 7-0 annihilation against their fiercest rivals, Liverpool.
"I don't have an explanation," was Erik ten Hag's response. And that feeling was fairly unanimous. It beggared belief that, a mere seven days on from the climax of the best few days in years for the club, United could go to Anfield and perform so submissively.
It was frankly a weird match of football. A match of football that made very little sense. Even now, it is hard to process exactly what happened, and why it happened.
Credit: Michael Regan via Getty Images
This was a United side that has become much more mentally strong in recent times, and a United side that has been lauded for their desire. But they capitulated in an embarrassing fashion.
"I am surprised because I have seen the last weeks and months this team is resilient and has a winning attitude," Ten Hag said, puzzled as anyone as to the disintegration of his side.
Contributing to the game being difficult to make sense of, United started with their strongest side among available players - considering Fred's form and Wout Weghorst's importance. And, with that, despite a fairly slow initial period, they had a good first half.
Chances were created - one from each full-back. The first was probably the most clear-cut, with Bruno Fernandes squandering a header from Diogo Dalot's cross. Luke Shaw later produced a sublime pass from deep in behind to Marcus Rashford, who saw his first-time attempt saved by Alisson.
Liverpool's defence looked there for the taking, with United managing to disjoint them at times. But they weren't clinical when chances came about, and not taking advantage of big opportunities was left to be rued.
Against the run of play, and with their first shot on target, Liverpool took the lead through former United target Cody Gakpo. Fred was culpable for neither cutting the passing lane or getting tight to Gakpo, meaning Andy Robertson was able to play the ball into space. Gakpo was then able to cut inside of Raphael Varane and curl the ball past David de Gea.
Had United scored one of their good chances, the game could have taken an entirely different route. But they conceded at a crucial time, moments before half time.
Credit: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images
After the break, it descended into turmoil for United. Their late concession in the opening period dealt a psychological blow that they have seemed able to deal with this term, but their woes were only exacerbated promptly after the juncture.
United's deficit was doubled in the most calamitous of manners - foreshadowing what was to ensue across the half. Shaw initially gave the ball away in slack fashion inside his own half, with neither Casemiro nor Weghorst able to win back possession completely and both left scrambling.
Casemiro twice almost had control of the ball, but it was ceded both times - a marker of an unusually poor showing, which was in tandem with a collective second half nightmare. The Brazilian slipped on the second attempt to intervene, taking the ball away from Varane and allowing Mo Salah to get hold of the ball in the box. Shaw's block from Salah's attempt only went as far as Harvey Elliott, whose cross found an unmarked Darwin Nunez.
United imploded in sizeable fashion from there. Errors were strewn all over the place as for the second concession, and that became a theme that only continued as the half progressed. And more often than not these came in dangerous areas.
Their desire, possibly in coordination with their confidence, completely diminished. Consequently, a mere three minutes after doubling their lead, Liverpool scored again - a lethal transitional goal aided in part by United's unusual lack of commitment to tracking back, which was lamented by Ten Hag post-match.
There was an air of naivety to United, committing too far forward and losing their shape as a result. They descended into panic as they tried to recover the game, and this lack of discipline caused them to get caught on the counter attack.
United were lacklustre in their defence of the breakaway, with Salah left by Shaw and allowed to drive, making Lisandro Martinez, who admittedly slipped in the end, look slightly foolish. The Liverpool winger beat the United man, playing the ball to Gakpo to score - his run not watched by an unaware Shaw.
Credit: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images
At this point, it became a blur for United - a further four goals almost merged into one as Ten Hag's side continually made blunders as they invited pressure from Liverpool. United were punished in relentless fashion by a Liverpool side rampant and in a groove, sending them plummetting into more and more disarray.
Salah scored the fourth - another transitional goal after United found themselves out-battled and lost the ball cheaply. Scott McTominay, who had replaced Fred, missed two interceptions, which allowed for the ball to be played to Salah - in space inside the penalty area between both United full-backs with the centre-backs out of position. The finish was ruthless.
United were disjointed in comical fashion, and they were made to pay for this. The whole second half was an utter comedy of misplaced passes and severe miscalculations.
They were a team who looked as though they had forgotten how to play football - the drilling from Ten Hag and his coaches had gone out of the window.
The fifth Liverpool goal most pertinently displayed United's constant weakness in duels, which saw them get to nigh on every ball second. Jordan Henderson wasn't closed down after a free-kick, and he was able to deliver a cross for Nunez to meet above Varane.
United went into preservation mode as Martinez and Casemiro, and later Rashford, were withdrawn. But those on the pitch continued to lack anywhere near ample application. The sixth concession exemplified a losing mindset in stark contrast to the winning mentality forged this season, with Elliott given the freedom of the right wing to work with as no players showed the endeavour to stop him.
Roberto Firmino beat Varane to the ball, with Shaw's skewed clearance bouncing back into the path of Salah for an open net. It was lamentably laboured from United.
The seventh goal and final nail in the coffin was symbolic of the chaos associated with United's performance, with Salah threading the ball through Shaw's legs to Firmino, and Firmino then rolling the ball through De Gea's legs.
Dalot was unexplainably behind the line when trying to clear the ball - emblematic of the sheer confusion related to United's cataclysmic submission.
Credit: Ash Donelon via Getty Images
It never reflects well on a manager on the receiving end of such a drubbing, but Ten Hag can probably be attributed the least of the blame. The brunt of the criticism has rightly been aimed at the players, who underperformed drastically and bizarrely lacked their usual levels of determination.
Underperformance from every single individual at the same time led to any usual collective display being unable to take force. And the individual errors compiled to such an extent that it went beyond being able to blame or pinpoint any one player for their flaws.
It probably wasn't a coincidence that some of United's marquee players - namely the likes of Casemiro - looking off the pace led to the remainder of the team struggling to take the game by the scruff of the neck. And this certainly pointed towards the lack of sufficient personnel that remains.
United never had control due to no player really being able to step up, with their structure disjointed and no way found to play their football. At the forefront is the necessity of signing a midfielder able to dictate alongside Casemiro given United's build-up was often fragmented.
The attacking structure was confused too - an indictment of the lack of a capable No.9 against sides of Liverpool's calibre. Weghorst has been effective through his work rate, but he offers minimal towards the opposing goal, hence why he was dropped to the No.10 role with Rashford deemed the more viable option to lead the line. This led to Fernandes having to be shifted to the wide left, which is certainly suboptimal.
Regardless of any single aspects of the game that can be flagged, Ten Hag justifiably maintained that it was a cooperative failure. "It was not about one or two players, it was the whole team," he said. "I saw 11 individuals losing their heads, not sticking to the plan. That is unprofessional and that is not Manchester United."
United lost their heads to the extent that they were massively inhibited. Fernandes is supposed to lead by example as captain when Harry Maguire doesn't feature, but he was often whinging at officials and team-mates, even pushing the linesman at one stage.
It was a concerning, inexcusable loss of professionalism.
Credit: Matthew Peters via Getty Images
United seemed to completely implode under pressure, with a loss of the confidence that had been so prevalent on occasions prior - even when behind.
Anger from players at least showed an element of care where they previously rolled over with a whimper in games, possibly softening accusations of an evident lack of effort, but frustration grew to such an extent that it became wholly counterproductive.
Something that must be noted is that United were definitely tired - physically and mentally - to an extent after exertions that have seen next to no time for complete recuperation since the World Cup, which could have contributed to at least elements of their faltering as they continued to look strained.
Flatness has become a factor in recent games, but United managed to mitigate that with their newfound grit - both against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final and to come from behind against West Ham United in the FA Cup. But at Anfield - a stadium that has shown over time it can propel Liverpool onto scoring sprees - it was bound to be different.
United hadn't beaten Liverpool away from home in seven years, and with the crowd always rapturous for a fixture of this magnitude, form often goes out of the window.
Nonetheless, Ten Hag labelled the outcome a "surprise" - and he was more than correct. Maybe it is a marker of United's progress that a result that wouldn't have been a big shock last season was deemed so uncharacteristic. The fact that it is unexpected and merely a 'blip' (albeit a major one) shows development.
Such an outlier of a result cannot be allowed to reverse this development. The reverse fixture against Liverpool was arguably the most defining moment of United's season, setting them on an upward trajectory that, in large part, continued.
This defeat cannot become a defining moment that is known for setting United on any sort of downward spiral.
Credit: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images
In Ten Hag, United are in safe hands and have a manager that will do his utmost not to allow the defeat to be dwelled upon. Shaw admitted straight after the game that the players would be made to watch the whole game back. Reports from The Mirror have since suggested that Ten Hag made the players sit in silence and listen to Liverpool's celebrations as a source of motivation.
Ten Hag gained a reaction after the humiliation against Brentford much earlier in the season, and they are now much further on in their rebuilding process; with resilience having been built over the course of the season, and a winning mentality generally created, they are even better placed to respond immediately.
"We've bounced back many times before," Ten Hag vowed. "We will bounce back."
Concern is elicited by the fact the defeat is so out of character and it is so tough to decipher where exactly it came from, and overreaction is obviously easy when you have lost by a seven-goal margin, but it is important to be measured in reaction.
Expected goals overperformance from Liverpool implies the emphatic nature of the scoreline isn't necessarily the fairest representation of the game - now perceived as one to be ingrained in Premier League history. The reality is that Liverpool scored with the vast majority of their chances while United failed to convert theirs at crucial times.
The errors that led to the goals are worrying due to their abundance, but at least United weren't necessarily outclassed as much as mistakes led to their downfall. Errors are much easier to eradicate than an extreme performance deficit.
United were competitive and arguably the better side before their seeming crisis of belief in the second half too.
Losing to Liverpool can be excused, especially considering the record United have on visits to Anfield. The extent, however, is what is most deplorable. "You can lose a game, but not in this way," Ten Hag affirmed.
Credit: Matthew Peters via Getty Images
United remain seven points clear of Liverpool and are securely inside the top four - having won a trophy only the week prior too, and remaining in their other two knockout competitions.
Losing 7-0 at Anfield seems disastrous on the face of things, and it is embarrassing to a large degree. But, so long as they respond promptly, there is a high chance it will become nothing but a freak result amid a strong season for United.
Nonetheless, it does outline in stark fashion that improvement still needs to be undergone. This isn't yet a great United side, and maybe Sunday's result will positively serve as a welcome reminder that imperfections remain and work is still to be done.
The fact is that United remain in a rebuild. Who could viably suggest it was all going to go as swimmingly as it has done for the majority of this season?
This is a particularly big bump in the road, but even the great United sides over the years had days that they would rather nothing more than the ground swallowing them up. Ten Hag's team have to learn from this and use it as motivation to push on.
Comments