‘Disgraceful, embarrassing and unprofessional’

KEANE AND NEVILLE RIP INTO SHAMBOLIC UNITED

ROY KEANE tore into Manchester United’s senior players after their humiliating defeat at Anfield and said he would have ‘gone into hiding for months’ had he suffered a similar defeat as a player.

After United’s heaviest defeat for 92 years, and their worst result at Anfield in their 145-year history, former captain Keane pulled no punches in assessing Erik ten Hag’s sorry side. ‘That was a very, very bad day… shocking really,’ Keane told Sky Sports. ‘United’s senior players were embarrassing, they didn’t show any leadership skills. When the going got tough, they went missing. They didn’t show any pride or fighting spirit. The big players are the ones who really let the club down.’

He added: ‘Thank God I was never part of a team that got beat that bad. If you’d got beat by six or seven like this, you’d have gone into hiding. Never mind going missing for a few days, I think I’d go missing for a few months… I’m in shock.’ During the match, which saw United concede an astonishing six goals in the second half, Gary Neville singled out a number of Ten Hag’s star men for criticism. Bruno Fernandes, United’s captain on the day, appeared to down tools as the Liverpool goals flew in and former United defender Neville fumed: ‘What a shambles. Some of Fernandes’ behaviour in the second half has been a disgrace.’

He later added: ‘That group of players were eaten alive in the second half — they were unprofessional.

‘I’ll start with the captain. I’ve had enough of Bruno Fernandes throwing his arms around at his team-mates, I’ve had enough of him not running back. He whinges at everything. He has to put a captain’s performance in at Anfield, and that was not a captain’s performance.’ Keane echoed Neville’s criticism, saying: ‘Fernandes’ body language was disgraceful — you wouldn’t be happy with him in the dressing room.

‘I see one or two players coming out at half-time. They are having a laugh and a joke at 1-0 down. I don’t like that. That circus can creep back into the club. You are here to work, it’s a serious business. None of this laughing and joking.’

England left back Luke Shaw, who later apologised for the team’s performance, which he described as an ‘embarrassment’, also came under scrutiny.

Neville generously described Shaw’s display as ‘one to forget’, while Keane was more forthright.

‘Shaw had a really poor game,’ Keane said. ‘You can forgive players having a bad day but this was something else.’