Erik ten Hag: 'No explanation for unprofessional Manchester United performance'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has told his players that they were "unprofessional" in Sunday's 7-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool.

The Red Devils suffered a demoralising defeat at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp's side cruised to a historic result.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring in the 43rd minute, before Liverpool upped the ante in the second period, racking up six more goals without reply.

Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all finished the dominant display with braces, while there was also a goal for Roberto Firmino, who is set to leave the Merseyside club at the end of the season.

The result represented Liverpool's biggest-ever win over the Red Devils and it was also Man United's joint-largest defeat in the club's history.

© Reuters

Following Sunday's game, Ten Hag was unable to offer an "explanation" for the defeat, but he labelled his team's performance as "unprofessional".

Ten Hag told Sky Sports: "I don't have an explanation. I have to find out, it's only going on what I've seen. The first half was quite in control.

"Maybe we had the better chances, we made one mistake. In defensive transition, there was no team any more, we didn't stick to the plan, there were 11 individuals. I don't know, it was really bad.

"I've given my opinion [to the players]. It's unprofessional, you have to stick together as a team, fight with each other, and we didn't do that. We were really indisciplined in our jobs.

"You can have setbacks, but what can't happen is that you don't stick together. You have to do your job. It's not possible that we made the wrong decisions in the transition and then we didn't run and match the runs.

© Reuters

"We didn't track back. For me, that's unprofessional. I'm really disappointed and angry, especially for our fans. We let them down, but also as a squad, as a team, you can't allow this.

"You have to stick together, you have to fight with each other and support each other, and you have to defend. That's what we didn't do.

"It's one game, but a big defeat, unacceptable, especially for our fans, especially against Liverpool, but we will bounce back. This team is strong enough, we will reset ourselves, and we will bounce back."

Despite enduring a difficult evening, Man United remain in third place in the Premier League table - seven points clear of Liverpool, who reside in fifth position.

Man United will attempt to bounce back on Thursday when they face Real Betis at Old Trafford in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.