Ten Hag slams 'unprofessional' Man United players after historic defeat to Liverpool

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag slammed his "unprofessional" players following the historic 7-0 defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

United entered the match in excellent form, winning eight of their previous nine Premier League matches while also eliminating Barcelona from the Europa League and winning the League Cup last weekend. It ignited talk of a late title challenge, but after the shambles at Anfield and the manner of the capitulation, Ten Hag will hope it does not derail the overall progress made under his leadership.

After an even first half, which United perhaps even shaded, goals either side of the interval from Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez saw Liverpool take control and United completely collapse. Gakpo and Nunez helped themselves to another goal each, while Mohamed Salah also scored a brace to become Liverpool's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer.

Substitute Roberto Firmino, whom Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed will leave the club at the end of the season, then added the seventh to complete the rout late on.

"You can lose a game but not in the way we lose in the second half," Ten Hag said. "In the first half, we played very decent. We created the better chances and then made an organisational mistake.

"The second half was unprofessional. It can’t happen and we have to talk about it. I do think we played decent in the first half but the second half was not us. Not our standards. We didn't play as a team."

Asked if he was angry, Ten Hag replied: "Yes, definitely, and surprised. I have seen, the last weeks and months, a team that is really in a winning attitude. In the second half, we did not have a winning attitude at all."

Ten Hag refused to blame tiredness or fatigue for United's