Manchester United's dressing room has faced constant accusations about their mentality. This group thrived in behind-closed-doors matches during the pandemic, they have struggled in raucous atmospheres and have a tendency to capitulate.
Erik ten Hag wanted to sign 'personalities' following his arrival in Manchester and he's done exactly that, but for all the progress that has been made at Old Trafford, the same tendency to spectacularly fold in adverse circumstances was seen on Sunday.
United were humiliated in a 7-0 shellacking at Anfield and the result was unexplainable. Liverpool stunned the away support with six goals in the second half and it was hard to blame those who headed for an early exit down the M62. A large portion of the away contingent stayed to applaud the players after the game and that was simply due to the goodwill they have earned.
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It was thought heavy, embarrassing defeats were behind this team, but Liverpool delivered a sobering reality check and the United fans who decided to watch the full 90 minutes needed something stronger than a Carabao energy drink on Sunday night.
United have conceded 17 goals in three games against Brentford, Man City and Liverpool this season and the mentality flaw in the club's dressing room has clearly not yet been eradicated, which was a surprise after months of progress.
The culture has changed at Carrington and for the better - it couldn't have got much worse. Ten Hag has been instrumental in raising standards and instilling discipline but he was helpless on the touchline for large periods of the second half.
Although Ten Hag has been tactically exceptional this season and he's ascending to become widely regarded as a bona fide world-class manager, his approach at Anfield was questionable and yet it was still the players who let him down.
Bruno Fernandes on the left wing, Marcus Rashford through the middle and Wout Weghorst in attacking midfield did not work in a game of such magnitude, but it was the team failing to stand up and be counted that was most concerning.
United had leaders on the pitch and they were nowhere to be seen. Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Fernandes did not deliver on the biggest stage and the supporting cast around those 'leaders' followed that example.
The result was not beyond saving at 2-0 down but the players lost control and their heads. The defending was brutal at times and it seemed Shaw and Diogo Dalot reverted to the players they were throughout the trainwreck that was last season.
The blood rushed to Shaw's head in the 70th minute when he leaned into Darwin Nunez in an off-the-ball incident and Fernandes drew criticism just 10 minutes later for appearing to ask to be substituted when the sixth goal hit the net.
A furious Gary Neville said on commentary: "Bruno Fernandes is stood in the centre circle with his arms raised asking: ‘Why is it me not coming off?'. Honestly, I have to say some of his behaviour in the second half has been a disgrace."
After the third goal was scored, the players looked desperate to leave the pitch when they should have taken responsibility by limiting the damage instead. They appeared to want the ground to swallow them and Liverpool were ruthless.
It's been confirmed that United players ran 99.01km between them against Liverpool, which is their lowest since their 4-0 thrashing against Brentford in August, which led Ten Hag to infamously punish them in training with a gruelling run.
Multiple players have openly discussed that awful start to the season and it was claimed lessons had been learned. Any team can be defeated heavily on any given day, but this side has not learned how to fight when the chips are down.
A 3-0 defeat would have hurt, but allowing the floodgates to open is not acceptable when you play for Manchester United. Ten Hag said essentially exactly that in his post-match interview and he branded the performance 'unprofessional'.
He wouldn't have been so polite when speaking privately in the dressing room and it's hard to imagine such defeats will happen later in his tenure. Ten Hag won't accept mental fragility and he's bound to root out the problem.
There is plenty of football to be played and time for this dressing room to respond to fresh accusations about their mentality.
This season has been an outstanding success so far and setbacks, even of this proportion, won't derail the process.
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