Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha says Sunday's 7-0 thrashing at Liverpool shows management were wrong to force out Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was released by United in November ahead of joining Al Nassr in January.

"Ronaldo's departure marked a new beginning for United and gave (Erik) Ten Hag a blank page to draw on which allowed him to establish a winning mentality at the club. Now that the club's mentality has improved I think they would be even better off if they had Cristiano up front. Of course, it's hard to be sure, but when I see United losing to Liverpool, 7-0, I can only think that Cristiano could have helped," Saha told Compare.bet.

"With all due respect to Cristiano's legacy and his United record, which speaks for itself, we cannot ignore the drastic change in form at United since Ronaldo left. But at the same time, it was a very difficult situation for Erik ten Hag dealt when he arrived at Manchester United, and it didn't go well. But I don't think it's because of Cristiano, but because of the mentality of the other players.

"With the right communication, the right level of respect, perhaps a compromise could have been found, but he (Ten Hag) still contributed to the resurrection of Manchester United through the effect he had on the players around him. He built confidence and gave the players the freedom to express themselves, which has been a huge factor in United's improvement this season."