Manchester United give Erik ten Hag the greatest gift of all with mesmerising Liverpool win - The Warm-Up

TUESDAY'S BIG STORIES Big Calls Ad Over the summer, Erik ten Hag made some big calls. He announced that Harry Maguire would retain the captaincy. He announced that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to be central to his attack.

And then, come the third game of the season, there they were on the bench: captain and legend; dressing-room leaders; dropped. Premier LeagueKlopp 'concerned' but says Liverpool should have beaten Man Utd10 HOURS AGO Good managers aren't afraid to make big calls. But very good managers aren't afraid to look at their own big calls, then hurl them straight into the bin and make some others.

Ten Hag didn't just drop Maguire and Ronaldo. He also dropped the Ten Hag of a couple of months ago. What was that fool even thinking? That said, you couldn't call either decision strange.

Maguire hasn't looked right for a good long while, as captain or as defender, while Ronaldo is actively trying to leave the club. But even so, it made something of a change to see Manchester United operating not according to the principles of reputation or celebrity or status, but by clear-headed, cold-hearted footballing logic. The most shocking thing about United's defeat to Brentford wasn't the short passing out from the back, or the marking, or the sight of Lisandro Martínez getting thrown around like Randall Curtis in the Simpsons.

It was the collective mental collapse that came when David De Gea shovelled in the first goal and United lost all capacity to think. As a problem, it looked chronic; it looked like it would take months if not years to unpick. Ten Hag declares Man Utd can 'f***ing play good football' after Liverpool win Klopp 'concerned' but says Liverpool should have beaten Man Utd Glazer family divided over potential