HOW MUCH OLE TAKE?
Salah’s hat-trick is the exclamation point on an utter shambles for United to leave Solskjaer in utter despair
WHEN the crowd turns, it is all over.
And this felt like a game changer for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because it was a humiliation, a capitulation and downright embarrassing.
The United fans were in mutiny at half-time as they booed their team off. By full-time the stadium was half empty as they had long since given up and walked out.
Liverpool were magnificent, Mo Salah scored a sensational hattrick in their biggest ever win over Manchester United at Old
Trafford. It was an “I was there” moment.
But United were so poor, an utter shambles in defence and they completely lost their way as Paul Pogba was sent off.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also very lucky not to see red.
Boss Solskjaer (below) will be thankful the fans did not call for his head but that is probably out of blind and
admirable loyalty towards an all-time legend. But the reality is that any manager will struggle to keep his job after that sort of battering.
The club have stuck with him through thick and thin, but losing 5-0 to your greatest rival is simply unacceptable.
If United have any ambition to get back to being one of the best clubs in Europe then they have to give up on the fairytale of a returning hero and get real with a proper, experienced world-class coach.
This has been coming for a while. It was not a freak result as they have been increasingly bad in recent weeks, taking just one point from their last four Premier League games.
Liverpool were on a completely different level from the very start, and it was the first time United have been 4-0 down at half-time in the
Premier League era – and it could have been even worse.
United played the last half an hour with 10 men. Liverpool toyed with them but ultimately did not go for the kill as an even bigger scoreline would surely have done for Solskjaer.
As the goals flooded in, the TV cameras panned to the directors’ box and there was Sir Alex Ferguson shaking his head in disbelief, Sir Kenny Dalglish
laughing his head off and the history of these two clubs leaves Solskjaer drowning under the expectations of the past.
The floodgates opened after just five minutes. Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino combined, Luke Shaw played Salah onside and he set Naby Keita racing through to open the scoring.
The second goal came six minutes later after even worse defending. Harry Maguire and
Shaw collided into each other, Keita spread the ball wide to Trent Alexander-Arnold and his low cross was turned in by Jota.
Liverpool’s third came after a wonderful passing move, Salah saw his shot charged down and then Keita’s low centre was swept home by Salah.
Ronaldo was lucky not to see red in first-half injury time for a nasty, snarling challenge on Liverpool sub Curtis Jones. But the let-off was short-lived. Firmino, Robertson and Jota combined to set up Salah in the third minute of injury time.
The fifth came five minutes after the restart. Jordan Henderson’s pass was sublime, to release Salah who actually took a heavy first touch. But he recovered with his second to lift the ball over David De Gea.
Ronaldo had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside. Then halftime substitute Pogba was sent off after VAR upgraded a yellow card to red for his appalling challenge on Keita, which led to the latter having to be taken off.
De Gea made a sensational save to thwart AlexanderArnold late on to spare any further damage.
But five was bad enough – and Solskjaer will need all the help he can get to survive this.