Sir Alex Ferguson was caught shaking his head as he watched Manchester United succumb to a 7-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
A second-half collapse from the visitors handed them their worst defeat in 92 years and their heaviest-ever loss to the Merseyside rivals. United were uncharacteristically forlorn under Erik ten Hag’s gaze having lost just once since November prior to the game.
The away side conceded as many goals as they had done in their last eight matches and Sir Alex was seemingly as appalled as the United faithful in the Anfield Road end. A week earlier, he had joined in the dressing room celebrations at Wembley following the club’s Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle.
READ MORE: Liverpool vs United player ratings
And on Wednesday, ahead of United’s 3-1 FA Cup win over West Ham, he was on the touchline to present David de Gea with an accolade for becoming the club’s all-time clean sheet holder.
But the United icon was left with a very different feeling on Sunday evening, and the Sky Sports cameras picked up on his reaction. As the shot panned to Sir Alex, it caught him briefly shaking his head at what he was witnessing.
Amidst his lengthy glorious tenure, Sir Alex had stomached several poor results of his own, including the 6-1 defeat to Manchester City in 2011 and a 6-3 loss to Southampton in 1996.
Never had his side conceded seven in 90 minutes. United boss Erik ten Hag laid into his players after the game, calling them "unprofessional" during the second half.
He said: "Today, first half, I think we were the better team. So it was a real surprise to me after halftime so quickly gave the game away.
"But how we anticipate, how we concede the [opening] goal is really annoying and then the third was a counter, also so unprofessional about decisions: following in, running in, moving forward, giving the space away in the back end of midfield, not tracking back; especially that one, not tracking back.
"Then it's 3-0, the game is gone, as a team, you have to stick together and that is what we didn't do. It was a surprise for me, I haven't seen this from my team. I don't think it's us, I don't think it's Manchester United. It's really bad and poor."
READ NEXT:
