United’s Worst five post-Fergie performances

Is Luke Shaw going to be our left-back until 2040?  You know, all the questions that have plagued United post-Fergie.  In keeping with this theme of United-based existential crisis, I thought I would take a stroll through their recent history and select my personal picks for five worst post-Fergie performances. 

5. September 2026- United lose 1-0 at home to Manchester City (Prem League)

I might be accused of recency bias with this selection (United lost to a 10-man Everton side just last season).  But I don’t think people understand just how damaging Sunday’s result was to Michael Carrick’s new regime.  The pre-game hype would have you believe that these were two titans meeting at the height of their powers.  What we got served up was a damning indictment of the entire United institution.  City going down to ten men essentially negated United’s only game in town (running into space on quick transitions).  This United side has virtually no understanding of how to break down deep-lying defensive lines.  There was no attempt to move the ball quicker and Carrick wasn’t proactive enough.  Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez dominated the midfield while Dorgo and Dalot gave frankly amateurish fullback performances (they threw in crosses when Sesko wasn’t on the field but stopped crossing when he came on).  A blueprint for how not to play against a team that’s down to ten men. 

4. August 2014- United lose 4-0 away to MK Dons (League Cup)

This is an early, oft-forgotten embarrassment that set the template for post-Fergie humiliation rituals.  Arch-disciplinarian Louis Van Gaal was never the right fit for Man United.  The successful Dutchman felt like an overzealous schoolmaster during his United tenure, replacing United’s typical high-octane brand of football with ponderous possession-based fare.  He endured a dreadful start to life in the Prem, losing his first home game to Swansea while drawing at both Burnley and Sunderland.  But his real nadir came sandwiched between those two draws, where a heavily rotated United side was embarrassed by League One’s MK Dons 4-0 in the League Cup.  United- playing their first League Cup 2^nd round tie in 19 years- never managed a shot on target until the 72^nd minute of this match!  How do you lose 4-0 to a side that cost less than half a million to assemble? 

3.August 2022- United lose 4-0 at Brentford (Premier League)

This early Ten Hag disasterclass was a sign of things to come.  Ten Hag was once one of the hottest managerial prospects in European football, delighting the footballing hipsters with the ‘total football’ he played at Ajax.  He thrived in his first campaign with United, finishing 3^rd in the league while winning the Carabao Cup.  But this showing- just his 2^nd Premier League match in charge of the club- was an ominous sign of things to come.  Defensive errors abounded, with De Gea and Eriksson gifting Brentford early goals in the sweltering West London heat.  Brentford were 4-0 up in the 35^th minute (future Red Devil Mbeumo added the 4^th).  Could have been an all-timer if Brentford didn’t take their foot off the gas in the 2^nd stanza.  Ten Hag managed to stabilize the squad in his first campaign, but the cracks were there.  And look at their starting back-four from that day: Shaw, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot.  Wow, so much has changed. 

2.August 2025- United drew 2-2 away to Grimsby (lost 12-11 on penalties) (FA Cup)

The writing was on the wall for Ruben Amorim following the previous season’s tepid Europa League final defeat to Spurs.  But this result took things to catastrophic (even absurd) new levels.  Amorim endured a disastrous start to the 2025/2026 campaign, failing to win either of his first two Premier League matches.  This was supposed to an olive-branch fixture that would give the Red Devils some confidence.  Andre Onana cemented his Bozo Gene status with two first-half howlers, allowing Grimsby to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead.  United did show a bit of character in the 2^nd half, with Mbeumo pulling one back before Harry Maguire snuck in with the late equalizer.  Amorim hid in the dugout like a naughty schoolboy during the penalty shootout, seemingly too afraid to face his impending doom (which is a sack-worthy offence in and of itself).  Grimsby won the shootout 12-11, consigning United to their first ever defeat against League Two opposition.  Amorim’s slavish devotion to his 3-4-3 fetish was always going to be his downfall. 

1.March 2023- United lose 7-0 away to Liverpool (Premier League)

As infuriating as Amorim’s reign was; Ten Hag’s just hit a little different.  With Amorim, you can point to the 3-4-3 obsession as the hill on which he died on.  Ten Hag’s shortcomings, while less specific, led to a catalogue of traumatic defeats.  And no United defeat in recent memory was more traumatic than this 7-0 massacre at the hands of mortal enemies Liverpool.  The crazy thing is that United were in the ascendancy in the first half of this game.  Cody Gakpo scored a wonder-goal against the run of play to give Liverpool a surprise first-half lead.  United just fell to pieces in the 2^nd half, with Luke Shaw and Rafael Varane the chief culprits in some of the most calamitous defending you can hope to see.  Liverpool destroyed United in the worst half of football in the club’s history, resigning the Red Devils to their worst defeat in Premier League history.  This defeat was a mammoth psychological blow for a United side who had supposedly stabilized under Ten Hag.  The Dutchman’s aura never recovered.