(Football news) Erik ten Hag could not have asked for a better start to his Manchester United career after his team emphatically defeated Liverpool 4-0 at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Thailand. Goals from Jadon Sancho, Fred, Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri were enough to secure the win for the Red Devils. Liverpool started the match with five teenagers compared to Manchester United who had a full strength starting XI right from kick off. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Darwin Nunez were not introduced until the 61st minute but the damage had already been done by then. 

While the victory can be attributed to Jurgen Klopp’s team selection, Manchester United can take plenty of positives from the fixture ahead of the new season. The Red Devils looked sharper, better in transition, confident on the ball and their victory was a team performance rather than moments of individual brilliance. Despite Ten Hag downplaying his team’s performance by saying that there were plenty of mistakes and it will take a long time for his team to fully adapt to his methods, it was clear that Manchester United showed signs of improvement already. 

The Red Devils found the breakthrough in the 13th minute with Jadon Sancho pouncing on Isaac Mabaya's mis-control, slotting the ball in the bottom right corner. Liverpool had plenty of opportunities to score with Luke Chambers coming close twice before Luis Diaz hit the woodwork. However, it was Manchester United who doubled their advantage when Fred nonchalantly chipped the ball over his Brazilian compatriot Alisson from the edge of the box from his weaker right foot. To make matters worse, Anthony Martial, who had an unsuccessful loan spell at Sevilla displayed a moment of individual brilliance, streaking into the Liverpool box and chipping the ball over Alisson to score Manchester United’s third.

With the game quickly turning into a cricket score, Jurgen Klopp made 10 changes to the starting XI in the 61st minute but it failed to pay dividends. The Reds’ new signing Darwin Nunez tested Tom Heaton with a meek effort in the 70th minute but the attempt was saved comfortably by the 36 year old. Mohamed Salah hit the post and Nunez missed a sitter in the follow through, summing up Liverpool’s evening on the whole. Manchester United then went on to score their fourth goal when centre back Eric Bailly made a powerful run through midfield and Amad Diallo gave the assist to Pellistri who found the back of the net. 

For Manchester United, there were plenty of positives to take from the match. Jadon Sancho proved to be very effective on the right and could be the answer to the club’s longstanding problems on the right wing. Anthony Martial could be a solution to Manchester United’s attacking prowess if he improves his consistency and the Frenchman showed hunger and desire in the pre-season match. Youngsters Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal showed a lot of promise and would either benefit from a loan spell or find a place in the Manchester United squad for the cup competitions, Ten Hag has a good reputation for nurturing young talent and they could really benefit from the Dutchman’s coaching to eventually find a way into the first team.

Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “I know we have good players, now we have to construct a team. I'm happy with the first game. It will take lots of time [to get this team playing my way]. I have seen a lot of mistakes today. Let's be honest, Liverpool plays in three teams, they were not at their strongest. We must not overestimate this result, but still I have seen some really good things. We have a lot of creativity and speed up front. Like I said, we have potential. I think that was a team with a great spirit and we know we are just starting. The press, we made some mistakes, but we also created some chances with pressing."

Speaking to liverpoolfc.com, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said “Obviously the game came a little bit too early for us, for some of our boys, so I think we agree that we saw a lot of good things in this game, but in the decisive moments we were not clear enough with finishing our situations off. We gave massive chances away, pretty much. Pretty much no-brainers, but United did well in these moments, they finished the situations off. We admit that, but that's it pretty much. The most important thing now after the game, even when I hate losing, everybody has 30 minutes in their legs now, for some on the third day of training [that's] really harsh but that's the life of a professional football player. So now we can work with that and will work with that." 

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