Man United had to receive a tragic loss with an unbelievable score of 0-7 against Liverpool. This defeat shows that Wout Weghorst is still not enough to replace Ronaldo.
0:00/4:22North and South
“Embarrassed” is the word that was hotly discussed after the Liverpool vs MU match and it didn’t seem strong enough. For all the progress made under Erik ten Hag, this was unforgivable under his supervision.
Perhaps even Ten Hag himself did not understand what was happening to his team and showed that he was not prepared to face the hostile atmosphere at Anfield.
“I know these players, my squad, my team, will be ready to go there, fight and go there with confidence,” Ten Hag said before the game.
But then what? They disbanded. This is as bad as anything from last season.
Ten Hag has emphasized many times that the tempo cannot be slowed down. You often think that he was too strict with his team. But no, perhaps he felt failures like this might come.
Sir Alex Ferguson has always emphasized that matches like this are huge given the historically fierce rivalry that is ingrained in English football and English football fans.
Man City fans still sing about the 6-1 win under Roberto Mancini at Old Trafford and always will. Liverpool fans will remind their hated opponents of this forever.
Regardless of what happened before, big games like these are still survival finals and events that go down in the annals.
There has been a lot of praise for Manchester United this season, and rightfully so. Ten Hag turned the Reds into a team again.
A club that has become a mockery has become a scary club once again. There was even talk of an unprecedented quadruple.
But the reality is that MU is not perfect yet. Of course, no one forbids dreaming. Spirit, will and drive will always take the team far.
But that’s not all. It also requires synchronization and reasonable individuals. And there are already signs that this will come. MU did not excel at Wembley when they won the Carabao Cup. In fact, for 20 minutes into the second half, Newcastle took control of the game.
West Ham were the much better team for most of last week’s FA Cup fifth round clash.
Manchester United won 3-1 thanks to the faith Ten Hag instilled in his players. But this is a team that is still missing what is ultimately needed. They have lost to Arsenal, Manchester City and now Liverpool.
For all of Marcus Rashford’s incredible form, they are missing a real number 9 on the pitch.
A club like Manchester United should never be in such a position.
Yes, recruitment went well this summer but it is a division that needs to deal with the obvious problems that are emerging with Cristiano Ronaldo.
United have scored fewer goals than Brighton in the competition this season, 18 fewer than leaders Arsenal and 25 more than neighbors Manchester City.
A player like Wout Weghorst was not the answer when Ronaldo was let go.
It is true that Ronaldo’s presence proved toxic and the team has certainly been better overall since his departure.
But let’s not forget that this was the club’s top scorer last season.
When this club was at its peak, there were four goalscorers worth calling in: Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Ole Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham.
Now only Rashford remains, whose best position is not even in the middle but on the left of the three-man attack. A 9 like Weghorst is not enough. At Anfield, Rashford was locked in and Weghorst did not create any danger.
Ten Hag also knows this but has not found a solution yet.
The game against West Ham last Wednesday showed how the changes to the team have brought standards down. He had to throw Rashford, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez on the field to rescue that situation.
The fact that Ten Hag changed so many games with his substitutions shows that eleven starters is not always enough.
There has been reliance on players like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford on a tight schedule.
At Anfield, Fernandes returned to his worst irritable form, even looking at times as if he wanted to be sent off.
What happened to Luke Shaw? Where is Casemiro, who has dominated the games and is even considered the best signing since Eric Cantona on match morning?
Man United have to try and put this aside. Ten Hag will be very angry. But these 90 minutes should not erase all the good work done under him.
Thursday’s game against Real Betis should be the day they get back on track.
The FA Cup is still the trophy they can win and they are good candidates for the Europa League.
But the stain on their record in this match will never go away, never.
