‘He needs to leave my Club with immediate effect I don’t want to See him in Old Trafford Sir Jim Ratcliffe has Sack Erik Ten Hag this morning after a shocking defeat to Liverpool.

Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford, putting more heat on Erik ten Hag after a bad start to the season.

United has lost two of its first three Premier League games before the September international break. Ten Hag is already under fire again after barely keeping his job this summer.

Liverpool was in charge after Luis Diaz scored twice in the first half, and Mohamed Salah scored a third goal after the break to seal an easy win over a very poor United team.

Casemiro set up both of Diaz’s goals, and he was taken off at halftime and replaced by Toby Collyer. Since Manuel Ugarte was signed, Casemiro’s role in the team has been called into even more question.

Ratcliffe’s defense

In the third game of Ten Hag’s first season, United beat Liverpool. That night, Casemiro was introduced on the field before the game. After a little more than two years, the Brazilian had to wait in the locker room while his substitute got the same process.

The introduction of Manuel Ugarte got Old Trafford in the mood, and they would have hated seeing their new Uruguayan player on a day when they wanted to make the Liverpool fans cry, as the Stretford’s End tribute to Diego Forlan used to say. Casemiro’s time as a top-level football player was coming to an end, so any tears shed would have been sad. Monday is the last day to sign players for the Saudi Pro League, but the Brazilian did not really make himself look like a good deal at £300,000 a week.

He made it through the first two Premier League games, but against Brighton, someone picked his pocket. The first half of the game against Liverpool left him open to a lot of attacks. Casemiro has lost 49 yards too often. He has won the Champions League five times, but his game is getting worse at a frightening rate.

Diaz scored the first goal after he lost the ball, and Diaz scored the second goal after he stole it again. His passing was bad, he could not cover enough ground to make up for the midfielders who were again not playing, and he looked like he was ready to give up at this point. His replacement by a 20-year-old who had only played 30 minutes of adult football was telling.

United will now hope that Ugarte plays some games with Uruguay over the break so that he is ready to play against Southampton. It is not possible to start Casemiro again in a holding center role right now.

A great first season made the £60m deal to sign him from Real Madrid look great, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe was already wondering if that much money was worth spending on a player in his 30s as he looked over the books before the investment. Coming out on top would not have felt worth it from where he was sitting in the directors’ box on Sunday afternoon.

The effect of Zirkzee

Joshua Zirkzee got his United career off to a great start when he scored off the bench against Fulham. But when he moved up to the starting lineup against Liverpool, it showed that he is still a very good player.

Zirkzee made a few saves against Alisson in the second half, and his work rate boosted Old Trafford. But there were times when he lost the ball, usually by choosing the wrong play as an attack grew. He will get better for afternoons like this, but United’s attack could use some more edge. A big part of this game came down to how tough United was in the penalty area, where they were sadly missing.

Rasmus Hojlund and Zirkzee have different styles of play, but they are both in the same job stage. He had about the same stats at Bologna as Hojlund did at Atalanta. He is a talented player who is still getting experience at the highest level. When he was healthy, Hojlund probably came on for his first season in Manchester. United hopes that Zirkzee learns as quickly as they did.

The effect of Mount

Ten Hag gave an easy answer when asked before the game who would press instead of Mason Mount. The clear answer was “Bruno and Josh,” since Zirkzee had to replace Mount because of the rule change.

But the pushing was not nearly as strong and aggressive as it had been against Fulham and Brighton, so it is likely not a trick. Zirkzee and Bruno Fernandes would stay out of the way, making it harder to pass, which gave the defense time with the ball. That is a bad idea when Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are two of the best players in your back four.