Manchester United's greatest strength became a horrible weakness in Liverpool humiliation

Let the post-mortem begin!

Manchester United fans might have grown unfamiliar with that dreaded feeling on Monday morning. Was it a nightmare? Yes. But was it a dream? Absolutely not. Erik ten Hag has been taking the club in the right direction and it's been some months now since a defeat was so horrific that supporters may have been tempted to take a sick day to avoid the laughter and jokes of colleagues.

7-0. (SEVEN). To bloody Liverpool. A Liverpool who have been far off their high standards this season and are still seven points behind United. It still doesn't quite seem real even now. Where did that come from? It seemed as though the difficult trip to Anfield was being managed perfectly but then a decisive 60 seconds changed it all.

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Casemiro scored but once again saw a header ruled out for off-side. Moments later Cody Gakpo sent Raphael Varane packing back to Madrid and bent the ball into the far corner. A sucker punch for sure, but far from a knockout blow given how both sides were playing.

But two minutes after the restart, when United should have been getting their way back into the game, they were sent flying back to the floor. They lost it. Both on the pitch and in their heads. A second goal after two minutes. A third after five. Goodnight Vienna.

It was clear the game was over from that point. It's hard enough winning at Anfield, especially for United, at the best of times but when you're three down? Well, it's almost certainly game over. Sometimes, you just have to accept that.

But United didn't. They haven't all season. It's been their biggest strength. One that has harkened back to the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson