After watching his Manchester United team suffer a humbling 7-0 loss against fierce rivals Liverpool, on Sunday, Erik ten Hag blasted them for their "unprofessional" and "unacceptable" performance.
The shocking setback for United was the heaviest in club history and their worst defeat against Liverpool.
Just before halftime, Ten Hag's squad lost after falling behind to Cody Gakpo's goal in the opening frame.
Gakpo scored again for Liverpool in the second half. They added six more goals with goals from Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, and Roberto Firmino to complete one of the most incredible Premier League performances ever.
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When the score grew, United manager Ten Hag became distraught on the sidelines and acknowledged his players had failed miserably.
"We played well in the first half. We should have done better in the organizing right before the break. Simply put, we weren't us in the second half. It didn't fit our requirements. We didn't work together as a team. It was not an expert. Yes (I am angry) (I am angry). Indeed," Ten Hag remarked.
"I am shocked because this team has shown resiliency and a winning spirit over the past few weeks and months. We had zero winning attitude in the second half. We failed to follow the strategy and failed to perform our duties".
"We failed to follow up, and it was quite disrespectful".
Just seven days earlier, Ten Hag's team had defeated Newcastle 2-0 in the League Cup final at Wembley to break United's six-year trophy drought.
"Disappointed And Furious"
That victory was the beginning of a daring new era for the United. Ten Hag received applauds for overhauling a squad that had placed sixth in the Premier League the year before his close-season transfer from Ajax.
But, United's poor performance in such a crucial game demonstrated how much work Ten Hag still needs to do to turn around a team that has yet to win the championship since 2013.
United, currently third in the Premier League, had already suffered a humiliating 6-3 loss at Manchester City this season and a 4-0 loss last week forfeit at Brentford.
Although this was a new low, Ten Hag implored his team to embrace it as inspiration for the remainder of the season, beginning with Thursday's home first-leg of the Europa League's last 16 matches against Real Betis.
"We have previously shown that we are resilient. Manchester City comes after Brentford. It is terrible and a significant setback. I'm troubled and dissatisfied about it," he declared.
"It serves as a wake-up call. We must handle this strongly".
Midfielder for the United team Bruno Fernandes repeated Ten Hag's desire for a resounding reaction to the utter capitulation on Merseyside.
"It's incredibly disheartening and frustrating. It's a really poor outcome, which makes it sad. Before the game, we arrived here with a different attitude", Fernandes said
"We attempted to advance and score goals but slightly lost our composure. Compared to this type of team, we gave away far too much room".
"We've experienced disappointments in the past, so we must immediately bounce back. Manchester United stands for this. We can fall, but we must rise again".
