Jürgen Klopp and Erik Ten Hag react to Liverpool’s historic Premier League thrashing of Manchester United

Liverpool’s 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, who still had slim hopes of challenging for the Premier League title before their Anfield annihilation, has sent shockwaves around the world and sent records tumbling. From Mohammed Salah becoming the Reds’ all-time top Premier League goalscorer to statisticians frantically looking through the record books to find United’s worst defeats of all time. So, how bad was it?

The answer is: almost as bad as could possibly be. The victory is Liverpool’s biggest ever win over bitter rivals United, which won’t come as a surprise when you realise that the defeat is the Red Devils heaviest in the Premier League and the joint worst in their entire history.

Contrasting emotions for Jürgen Klopp and Erik Ten Hag, then, to say the very least. And, surprise, surprise, slightly different reactions to what is a historic result in English – and indeed – world – soccer.

What did Jürgen Klopp say about Liverpool’s destruction of Manchester United?

Speaking to British broadcaster Sky Sports after the game, Klopp was grinning from ear to ear as his side dismantled their bitter rivals and showed that they are ‘back’.

“I have no words. It was spectacular football game. Outstanding. We played top football against the team in form.”

“The second half, the start was pretty good and the end was pretty good. That is football, it can happen.

“It was the push we wanted. It puts us in the right direction. Everyone has to know we are still around. It wasn’t the case for a while but tonight was a proper show of what we can be and what we have to be from now on.

“It was all top performances today. That is very important for us - 13 games to come? There are a lot of points to go for. Tonight, it was perfect.”

He was also asked about the achievement of star man Mohamed Salah, whose two goals have seen him overtake club legend Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s all-time record scorer:

“129 goals, that is insane. What an unbelievable number. He is a special player. We appreciate him now but in the future people will look back and be wow, we witnessed something really special.”

What did Erik Ten Hag say about Manchester United’s record defeat?

Over to Ten Hag for the flip side of the coin, with the Dutchman using some strong words when speaking to Match of the Day to vent his anger at the way his team completely collapsed in the second half.

“I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time. Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. Yes [I am angry]. Definitely.

“I am surprised because I have seen the last weeks and months this team is resilient and has a winning attitude. Second half we didn’t have a winning attitude at all. We didn’t stick to the plan and we didn’t do our jobs.

“We didn’t track back and it was really unprofessional. We have seen in the past we can bounce back. After Brentford, after Manchester City. This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry about it.

“It is a reality check. We have to take this strong.”

What are Manchester United’s other seven-goal defeats?

Curiously enough, the win is not even Liverpool’s biggest this season (they defeated Bouremouth 9-0 at Anfield in August).

20-time league champions United have lost 7-0 on three previous occasions in their history, with all of them coming in a three-year spell between 1926 and 1931, when they played in both the English First Division and Second Division.

On 10 April 1926, they were beaten 7-0 in the English top-flight by Blackburn Rovers away from home. Over four-and-a-half years later, they suffered the same fate in a trip to Aston Villa on 27 December 1930. And the following year, they were also guilty of indulging too much at Christmas as they lost by seven goals away to Wolverhampton Wanderers (26 December 1931).

Fast forward another 91 years (and a bit) and we have the latest dark day in Manchester United’s history.