COMMENT: 'Don't dwell'. 'Get back up'. All the old motivational clichés are being trotted out. But this won't be forgotten. This utter, utter humiliation of Manchester United will remain forever. And these players should not be allowed to simply 'move on'.

No matter the performance of Liverpool, seven goals at Anfield is a humiliation for Manchester United and their supporters. Jurgen Klopp over his seven-odd years at Anfield has inflicted some real damage on their great rivals, but nothing like this. This was embarrassing. Even mortifying. The performance of the away team, including those in the dugout, something completely unexpected.

And we say look to the bench, because the approach of Erik ten Hag contributed to this meltdown. The time-wasting. The go-slow tactics. It was baffling. Throughout the first-half, at every free-kick and set-piece, whether it was David de Gea's goal-kicks, or corners won at the Kop End, delays would be used. The Anfield crowd would erupt. The home players would gesticulate in frustration. But it did little to aid United on the day.

United were the form team. They went into this game with all momentum. Liverpool weren't on the rack, but they were wobbling. Yet Ten Hag's approach was, from the very first minute, to delay, to frustrate - yet in the end, all it did was surrender the initiative to the hosts.

This should've been the moment for United. To go to Anfield with confidence. With belief. Chest out. Shoulders back. Yet their approach stated the complete opposite. Delay. Frustrate. And maybe nick a goal at the end. If this had been Jose Mourinho, you would never hear the last of it. In their traditional white away shirts, United virtually waved the flag of surrender right from kickoff.

Indeed, all it did was embolden those in Red. It just had to be a lift, mentally, seeing United's approach. They expected their great rivals to come at them. To attack. To be aggressive. Liverpool's players - and Klopp - spoke about it in the lead-up. Instead, United withdrew and played, at least tried to, off the break. And to little effect.

That's not to let the players off the hook. It was pathetic. Pitiful. The discipline. The desperation. The intensity. It all disappeared. Some of Liverpool's goals (so many to count) were ridiculous. Comical. No wonder Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were laughing at the end. They'd never had it so easy.

United thought they'd cracked it. They really did. But all the old habits. All the old ways. They returned with avengeance on Sunday. Jogging. Walking. Half-hearted challenges. It was the teams of Mourinho, Ole and Rangnick at their worst. Individuals. Mercenaries. Old habits die hard.

And epitomising it all was the actions of Raphael Varane at the final whistle. It was the Frenchman, barely 18 months a United player, who screamed at his teammates to acknowledge the away fans as so many of them retreated down the Anfield tunnel. Credit Scott McTominay and Tyrell Malacia for heeding Varane's demands and returning to the pitch to thank those they'd just embarrassed.

But it took Varane to remind United's players of their obligations. Not Bruno Fernandes. Not Harry Maguire. Nor David de Gea or Luke Shaw. Instead it was the Frenchman. Again, that rot. That attitude. It's still there.

In the aftermath, those clichés we mentioned, were rolled out. Shaw wanted to "apologise" to United's fans. Fernandes declared himself "sad" and "disappointed". It was limp, insipid stuff. And nothing we hadn't heard from this lot before. Again it was Varane, not these two, who demanded they show their face to their suffering fans in the aftermath.

The next move from the manager will be telling. As critical as this column is of his approach on Sunday, Ten Hag was betrayed by his players. Just as they betrayed the United shirt and those travelling fans behind the goal. You can be outplayed by a Liverpool team at Anfield. But not outfought. And certainly not outrun.

After Brentford, Ten Hag famously took his players on a half-marathon. He then followed that up by dumping Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire. So what's next? Because something has to happen. The last time this club suffered such a humiliation they were known as Newton Heath. The idea pedaled by Fernandes that it's simply a case of "getting back up" just isn't going to fly.

Players come and go. But this utter, utter humiliation of Manchester United will remain forever. Ten Hag's next move will tell us a lot about whether he's one who truly understands this.