SIR JIM RATCLIFFE was left with his head in his hands as Manchester United crashed to a 3-0 defeat against Liverpool.
Erik ten Hag‘s side were humiliated at Old Trafford by their arch enemies as a midfield horror show was duly punished by clinical Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah – who hinted it may be his final year at the club.
Man Utd star Casemiro was responsible for turning over the ball twice in the first-half with Diaz capitalising both times to net twice in front of the Stretford End.
Kobbie Mainoo was then caught out in the second half before Salah scored away at Man Utd once again.
Casemiro was replaced at the break by 20-year-old Toby Collyer, though fans were wishing new signing Manuel Ugarte was available to play.
The overall performance of the team led to a scathing rant from United legend Roy Keane in the Sky Sports studio.
The result ensured Liverpool boss Arne Slot was the first Reds manager to win his first away league game at United for 88 years.
Ratcliffe, 73, completed his minority takeover of Man Utd in February and brought in new faces behind the scenes in the hopes of transforming the club’s fortunes.
However, despite a transfer window that brought in five new players, results are yet to improve in this new era.
He couldn’t hide his emotions, with the billionaire left with his head in his hands as he watched from the directors box.
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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?
Amadou 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.
Meanwhile, many of the Old Trafford faithful had seen enough with more than 20 minutes of the match left and were seen streaming out of the ground in droves.
Gary Neville highlighted the exodus of fans, saying: “When there’s only 20,000 people left in the stadium at the end, it’s as bad as it can be.”
Some of those who did remain were seen with a “Glazers out” banner, an act which has been a common since view the Americans took over the club in 2005.
When it was announced the bid of Ratcliffe’s Ineos company had been accepted, he wrote to the club’s fan advisory board to tell them it would require “time and patience” to bring true success back to the club.
But three games into the season, that patience is already being tested.
