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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Samuel Luckhurst

Manchester United players report early for meeting with Erik ten Hag after Liverpool humiliation

All of the Manchester United players reported for training by 9am after their humiliating 7-0 thrashing by Liverpool.

The United manager Erik ten Hag had already been on site for nearly two hours by the time the players had arrived.

United sources say the players were always scheduled to report for 9am for recovery sessions and a morning training session.

Also read: Ten Hag confident humiliation was a one-off

Former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer allowed the players to have a day off the day after their 5-0 evisceration by Liverpool at Old Trafford last term.

United lost 7-0 for the first time since Boxing Day in 1931 at Anfield, where they have now gone eight games without a win. United have only won three times away at Liverpool since December 2007.

When Ten Hag was asked if the players had attempted to explain their capitulation at his post-match press conference, he replied: "No, I didn't give them the chance until now.

"We have to talk about that, I have only given my opinion about it and we will talk about that tomorrow. I know this team will reset and we have to bounce back and we have shown in the past we can.

"I analyse the performance of my team: how's their approach, how is their character, how's their mentality, how do they cooperate together, how do they deal with the setbacks? Look at the body language, how they communicate with each other.

"They didn't cooperate together anymore and they didn't fulfil their jobs. There are many things that makes me angry but to concede so easily the goals is definitely one of them."

De Gea turns up (Eamonn and James Clarke)

"The result is quite obvious," Ten Hag added. "It's unprofessional. But I think it's a huge difference. In Brentford, we were 4-0 down at half-time, we started the game very bad.

"Today, first half, I think we were the better team. First half, we created the better chances and we had two one-on-ones with the goalie and they hadn't. Before half time, we made one mistake, organisation, concede a goal. And so I think we were in the game.

"So it was a real surprise to me after half time so quickly gave the game away. First two goals two defensive transition moments, first was a turnover, second was a counter. Bad decisions. Decisions on the ball, that was on the first one, obviously.

Dalot drives into Carrington (Eamonn and James Clarke)

"But how we anticipate, how we concede the goal is really annoying and then the third was a counter, also so unprofessional about decisions: following in, running in, moving forward, giving the space away in the back end of midfield, not tracking back; especially that one, not tracking back.

"Then it's 3-0, the game is gone, as a team, you have to stick together and that is what we didn't do. It was a surprise for me, I haven't seen this from my team I don't think it's us, I don't think it's Manchester United. It's really bad and poor."

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