The five-goal loss was United’s heaviest at home to Liverpool, while it was their first defeat by that scoreline at Old Trafford since being beaten by Manchester City in 1955.
It was a chastening day, as Liverpool were a step short of their absolute best, and eased off in the second half.
United legend Neville believes it was a result that had been bubbling under the surface for a number of weeks.
“I did not think it would ever get as bad as that, that’s as bad as it’s been in this fixture, or the distance there has been between the two teams in 40, 50 years,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
It’s always been a tight game. Today, that was a shocker, an absolute shocker.
Naby Keita of Liverpool is fouled by Paul Pogba of Manchester United leading to a red card being shown following a VAR review during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford
Image credit: Getty Images
“The timing could not have been worse as it’s been building for weeks, against what I would call half-decent teams.
“As soon as they’ve played a proper team, they have been obliterated, pulled to pieces, dismantled.”
Neville feels the performance is a poor reflection on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his coaching staff, as he says they are being found out.
‘I don’t want to be in Solskjaer’s shoes now’ – Klopp after Liverpool thrash Man Utd
“That Manchester United team are one of the lowest-running teams in the league, we see that in the stats,” Neville said.
“And there’s nothing worse than being told you are one of the lowest-running teams and that you are easy to play against. But they are both. That is a poor reflection on the manager, the staff and the players.
“In the first half, they were a mixture of sitting back in their shape and trying to be behind the ball and the next you see a mad little jog, not a sprint by the way, by [Mason] Greenwood towards [Virgil] Van Dijk,” the former England international said.
“Then you see [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka ambling towards [Andy] Robertson. He gets passed behind to [Diogo] Jota and [Victor] Lindelof is trying to get across. And it is all too late.
“It is a pattern, and it is inherent in them. They have no structure to press from, along with the fact they don’t run against the other teams and are easy to play against.”
