Liverpool destroyed Manchester United with a score of 7-0 in Week 26 of the Premier League, Sunday (5/3/2023). Erik ten Hag’s squad , who came to Anfield with high confidence after winning the Carabao Cup earlier, came home embarrassed.

Following the humiliating defeat, BBC pundit Micah Richards said that United “played with 10 men” against Liverpool. Richards highlighted the game of United’s young star, Antony, who was considered lazy because he was reluctant to go down to help the Red Devils’ defense. The former Manchester City player has been particularly surprised by the lack of communication between Diogo Dalot and the Brazilian winger.

“There was no communication between Diogo Dalot and Antony,” Richards said on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2 programme. “They are like playing with 10 men because Antony is not doing his part at all on that side (right wing),” he continued.

The player with the jersey number 21 actually created a golden opportunity early in the first half. With his trademark style of cutting inside the opponent’s line of defense and directing the ball to the far post using his inside left foot, Antony had troubled his compatriot, Alisson, who kept in goal for the Reds.

However, his best performance in the hot match only got stuck there. His game often hinders MU’s ball flow when attacking. Not only that, his reluctance to defend and poor communication with Dalot made Manchester United concede goals from the right several times.

Andy Robertson. In the first two matches, the 27-year-old Liverpool left-back was not used because he was still in the recovery stage and was replaced by Kostas Tsimikas. With conditions that are fit, Andy Robertson is likely to become a starter.
The fragility of Manchester United’s right side was successfully exploited by Liverpool’s left-back, Andy Robertson, who seemed to be enjoying the visit of Bruno Fernandes and his friends to Anfield. The reason is, his ability to run non-stop to help attacks is not matched by Antony who should be guarding Robertson.

Micah Richards also expressed his astonishment at Antony, who easily provided a gap for Robertson to exploit.

“I don’t understand whether Antony’s positioning was a tactical decision or not. But we all know how great Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are in attack,” said the 34-year-old.

“I really wonder if Antony is being lazy for his team or his coach really asked him to play to stay at the front and be prepared for counter-attack schemes,” he continued

Manchester United striker Jadon Sancho applauds fans after the match against Nottingham Forest in the second leg of the English League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, Thursday (2/2/2023). Manchester United fans gave Jadon Sancho a special welcome when he returned to the pitch. The Red Devils fans shouted Sancho’s name, which was then returned with a wave of hands as soon as the match was over.
Meanwhile, MU winger Jadon Sancho was nowhere to be seen on the pitch in the match against Liverpool last night. Erik ten Hag’s decision not to include Sancho in the second half is quite questionable. The reason is, the England international player was the figure who opened MU’s advantage when they defeated the Reds last August at Old Trafford.

With that said, Sancho is expected to return to the squad ahead of Thursday’s Europa League match against Real Betis.

United manager Erik Ten Hag
Following his side’s humiliating defeat at Liverpool, Erik ten Hag has labeled his team’s display unprofessional.

“The second half they were very unprofessional. That shouldn’t be happening and we’ll talk about it. Even though I think we played well in the first half but the second half was not like us. Not our standards. We don’t play as a team,” said Ten Hag in the interview session after the game.

Manchester United itself was actually still able to keep pace with Manchester United itself was actually still able to keep pace with Liverpool’s game in the first half. In fact, The Red Devils were able to stem the attacks of Jurgen Klopp’s men so they were unable to create a shot on target for 40 minutes of running time. The deadlock was only broken when Cody Gakpo, who escaped from custody, was able to score the ball into David de Gea’s goal easily.

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