Gary Neville claimed Manchester United's "heads have gone" during their Liverpool horror show - despite Erik ten Hag's warning about standards.
The Red Devils were humiliated at Anfield on Sunday after braces from Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah. Roberto Firmino also scored late on to complete a 7-0 victory for Liverpool - their biggest ever win against the Old Trafford club.
Ten Hag urged his players not to let their standards drop ahead of the game after a glorious couple of weeks for the club. United won the Carabao Cup final, progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and knocked Barcelona out of Europe during February.
"They [Liverpool] have got Manchester United - their heads have gone," uttered a distressed Neville on commentary after United's Luke Shaw clashed with Nunez. The score was 4-0 to Liverpool at the time - midway through United's sensational collapse.
Ten Hag urged his players maintain their high standards during his press conference on Friday - but his message clearly fell on deaf ears. United were losing 1-0 to West Ham during last Wednesday's FA Cup tie - only to rally in the closing stages of the game to secure a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag was frustrated with United's first-half display against the Hammers. He explained, "What I saw was that we were not playing to our standards. That's what I saw in the first half. Then I will be tough on my team, to my players, because I demand a performance.
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"Every day, I demand a performance. I don't accept when it's lower, then I will criticise them and tell them what to expect. Then, I have to give the team solutions on how to win the game and I think the performance in the second half was much better."
Speaking after Sunday's debacle, Neville was furious with United and singled out stand-in captain Bruno Fernandes for blame. The Red Devils legend told Sky Sports, "I have to say what a shambles. Some of Fernandes' behaviour in the second half has been a disgrace. He is holding his hands up asking why am I not coming off?
"Ten Hag has dealt with setbacks in the past but this is a big one. They have fallen to pieces, lost their heads, their shape and their discipline."
Six of Liverpool's goals came during the second half. Ten Hag told Match of the Day: "I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time. Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn't play as a team.
"It was unprofessional. Yes [I am angry]. Definitely. I am surprised because I have seen the last weeks and months this team is resilient and has a winning attitude. Second half we didn't have a winning attitude at all. We didn't stick to the plan and we didn't do our jobs.
"We didn't track back and it was really unprofessional. We have seen in the past we can bounce back. After Brentford, after Manchester City. This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I'm really disappointed and angry about it. It is a reality check. We have to take this strong."
