MANCHESTER UNITED legend Peter Schmeichel felt sorry for his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson during the Red Devils’ mauling by Liverpool.
United were taught a lesson by Liverpool on Sunday as they shipped three goals without any answer in front of a home crowd at Old Trafford.
Their 3-0 defeat wasn’t only done in front of nearly 70,000 frustrated Man Utd fans but also in the presence of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who was watching on from the stands.
And former shot-stopper Schmeichel – who played 338 games and won 13 trophies under Fergie – has claimed that it was “really sad” to watch the misery unfold in front of the legendary manager.
Schmeichel was sat next to his former boss for the torturous 90 minutes and explained how hard it was to be next to him during that performance.
Speaking to Premier League productions, he said: “I was sat with Sir Alex today, it was really sad.
“What he did for this football club. Everything that we enjoyed. The great times. Everything.
“To sit with him and he is watching this. That, for me, is really, really sad that he is watching that.
“He did something really extraordinary with this football club. All of that is not there anymore.”
Man Utd haven’t won the league title since Sir Alex left the dugout at the Theatre of Dreams in 2013.
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MANCHESTER UNITED had a horror show against Liverpool as they lost 3-0.
Casemiro was so bad he was taken off at half-time.
But were there any positive performances at Old Trafford?
Andre Onana – 5
Nothing he could do about any of Liverpool’s goals and made a few saves to prevent the scoreline from getting worse.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5
Came close to scoring in the first half and looked solid enough against Diaz although he did push up too high before Liverpool’s opener.
Matthijs de Ligt – 4
Left Diaz and Domink Szobozslai in acres of space for the opening goal but was left in a tricky spot thanks to Casemiro’s error.
Booked for a shocking late tackle on Diaz.
Lisandro Martinez – 3
Lost Diaz for the second goal which meant the Colombian was able to score unmarked from the penalty spot.
Also guilty of giving away the ball too easily and was not tight enough with his marking.
Diogo Dalot – 4
Was caught out pushing up too quickly for the first goal and did not do enough to stop Mo Salah’s cross in the build-up to Liverpool’s second.
Looked dangerous in attack at times but too infrequently as he had plenty of defensive work to do since Rashford did not track Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Casemiro – 2
A horror show in the first half as he gave the ball away in the lead up to both of Liverpool’s goals.
He was caught on the ball for the second after a shocking misplaced pass left his defence vulnerable for the opening goal. Hooked at half-time.
Kobbie Mainoo – 4
Fell victim to the Casemiro curse as he was shrugged off the ball in a terrible position, allowing Liverpool to add a third with ease.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Was United’s most creative spark but that is not saying much. Tried to get his side going in the first half but looked short of ideas and inspiration after the break.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
Still appears to be a little rusty and is yet to hit the heights he reached last season.
Marcus Rashford – 3
Nothing came off for the out-of-sorts forward who must be running out of chances before he is dropped.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4
Quiet up-front and had little influence on the wing as well, but missed a clear-cut chance with his head and should have turned in Rashford’s cross which he met at the far post.
Subs
Tom Collyer (for Casemiro, HT) – 5
A difficult game for the youngster to make his Premier League debut but he put himself about and won a few tackles.
Harry Maguire (for De Ligt, 69mins) – 5
Shored things up at the back as Liverpool took their foot off the pedal.
Amad (for Garnacho, 69mins) – 5
Provided a spark on the right and looked more lively than Garnacho.
Christian Eriksen (for Zirkzee, 86mins) – N/A
Not on long enough to make an impact.
And that 11-year period has seen a steady decline in standards and performance at the club.
Now current boss Erik ten Hag finds himself under mounting pressure after narrowly avoiding the sack this summer.
The Dutchman has lost two of his first three Premier League games this season, leaving United sat 14th in the league table.
Although, Ten Hag launched a defiant opposition to the criticism of his side’s performance, pointing at his trophy record at Old Trafford since his arrival.
He said: “Listen, we won, the last two years, behind Manchester City, the most trophies in English football, so we performed already the last two seasons.
“And listen to me, that is the reality, they are the facts.”
“And, yes, also this year, we want to win and we want to win trophies. And so I’m quite confident we will build to this. And that is what I did the last 11 years.
“So just be patient, waiting. We will work on the process and we have to improve the process. And we will aim for our next targets and we will go for trophies.”
Not everyone is being patient, however.
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Fans have been voicing their opinions online and in the stadium, while – most importantly – Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears to be running out of patience for improvements too.
The billionaire boss had his head in his hands watching on from the stands on Sunday.
