5 things Solskjaer got wrong as Man Utd are thumped by 5-0 Liverpool

Manchester United fell to a humbling 5-0 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, as Mohamed Salah notched a stunning hat-trick to leave United miles off the pace at the top of the Premier League.

United were sliced open as Salah teed up Naby Keita to cooly slot Liverpool into a fifth-minute lead.

A defensive mix-up between Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw allowed Diogo Jota to double that lead minutes later.

Salah got in the act by netting in a tenth straight game after 38 minutes before notching again just before break to condemn Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side to a humbling defeat.

Salah dinked home to complete his treble minutes after the break, with United's misery compounded after Paul Pogba was dismissed just 15 minutes after coming on for a wild challenge.

Daily Star Sport takes a look at five things Solskjaer got wrong on a sobering afternoon for Manchester United.

Pressing nightmare

Manchester United went in at the break 4-0 down for the first time in their history after a horror start at Old Trafford.

But it was a scoreline you could see coming a mile off after the game's opening minutes.

United's decision to press wildly without any cohesion played right into Liverpool's hands, as Jurgen Klopp's side gleefully carved through their hapless adversaries time and time again.

Salah's ball to Keita for the opener was far too easy before an embarrassing gaffe from Maguire and Shaw gifted Liverpool the opportunity to double their lead shortly after.

United were up against arguably the best player in the world, but Salah made his treble look almost embarrassingly easy.

It's now just one clean sheet in the last 21 games for United as their torrid run continues.

10 years to the day that United were humbled in a derby by Manchester City, they were humbled by perhaps the only team they despite more on a nightmare afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams.

Not taking the game to Liverpool

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Just like United, The Reds' defence has looked shaky at times this season.

Just a few weeks ago they shipped three goals against newly-promoted Brentford in a thrilling 3-3 draw and have kept just one clean sheet in their last five games in all competitions.

Summer signing Ibrahima Konate, who is still easing into life in the Premier League, was given the nod alongside Virgil van Dijk despite looking far from convincing in his appearances so far.

But Solskjaer's side failed to test the Frenchman.

In fact, even though United looked to exploit Liverpool's suspect defensive record with a fast start, they did nowhere near to ask questions of Liverpool's rearguard.

Instead, the visitors tore through United's defence at will as they blitzed their hosts into submission with a four-goal frenzy in the first half.

No Paul Pogba

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Pogba transformed the game against Atalanta in United's thrilling fightback, but the midfielder remained on the bench for the crunch clash with Liverpool.

In hindsight, that was a call Solskjaer got sorely wrong.

Without the Frenchman, United lacked any tempo to their play – something they desperately needed after being put up against it with Liverpool's early goal.

It's hard to imagine Pogba halting Liverpool's incisive attacking play had he started the match, but he certainly could have played his part

Solskjaer introduced the £89million man at the interval but it was too little too late, with the game already long gone.

And after coming on with a point to prove, Pogba barely lasted 15 minutes before he was sent off for a wild lunge on Keita.

Back to McFred

With Pogba again on the bench, Solskjaer elected to go with his preferred midfield pairing of Scott McTominay and Fred – and once again it backfired on the Norwegian.

The pairing has been panned by fans and pundits alike during Solskjaer's reign, but the United chief seemingly remains undeterred.

United icon Gary Neville was the latest pundit to claim that Solskjaer couldn't go back to the pairing after Pogba's performance on Wednesday night.

But Solskjaer defied those calls, and United ended up paying the ultimate price as they ended up on the wrong end of a thrashing.

The supposed steel that McTominay and Fred are supposed to give the hosts was utterly non-existent as Liverpool ran riot in United's own backyard on their watch.

Wrong players for the plan

By continuing with Cristiano Ronaldo, United's ability to press effectively was always likely to be hampered.

But Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford failed to cover themselves in glory as United wore torn to shreds by Liverpool.

United icon Gary Neville was particularly scathing of United's plan for the big game, insisting that Solskjaer had got his selection wrong if he wanted to press effectively against Klopp's side.

"Rashford, Ronaldo, Greenwood. You're not gonna win the ball with those three, you're not gonna press. If you wanna press, put Jesse Lingard in," Neville said on commentary for Sky Sports.

Along with his decision to go with Fred and McTominay, Solskjaer got key personnel decisions wrong against the Reds.

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