Was that the worst game in your lifetime?

[Irwin99]

The big ones have already been mentioned but here's a few lesser games that were awful or still irritate:

Burnley, home, 2-0 loss, 2019
The last game before Bruno arrived and I've never seen OT as angry. It's easy to forget what an absolute mess we were in prior to Bruno's arrival that season.

Wigan -away 1-0 loss, 2012
Everton game (4-4) gets mentioned a lot and rightly so but the week earlier we lost 1-0 to Wigan. Horrible complacency against a team we should have beat pretty easily. I remember being really angry about it as it handed City a lifeline. Don't think we even had an attempt of any note and just a half-hearted penalty appeal.

Benfica -1-2 away loss 2006
We were astonishingly bad in Europe that year and finished bottom of our group. Shocking performance, notable for Ronaldo's petulant display and him being subbed and flipping off the crowd Probably getting used to life without Keane in that deeper role as we couldn't string two passes together.

 

[hobbers]

Absolutely no question the worst game I've ever seen from us in my life. 4-0 down before half time. 4vs1 in the 4th minute. Liverpool could have easily scored another 5 after Pogba was sent off but were actually merciful.

I think the first drubbing I saw was the 5-0 vs Chelsea in 99, watched that on tv. Don't really remember it but it was a freak result.
The 4-1 defeat to Middlesborough was really bad but nothing like this.
The 6-1 defeat to City was down to a red card and then suicidal attacking play.
The 6-1 defeat to Spurs was also heavily influenced by an early red card.
The 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and City under Moyes were really hideous games but we all already knew Moyes was toast at that point. And we weren't completely humiliated in either like we were yesterday.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Sitting in the Stretford End for this was harrowing. I mean its only football at the end of the day, but yesterday's experience can only be described as torturous. I sat there till the very end as did almost everyone else around me but I'm not sure I'd have watched it on telly all the way through - I'd definitely have stopped watching after the Pogba red card. I genuinely believe without hyperbole that Liverpool could have gone to any other professional club in England on Sunday and been given more of a challenge than we did yesterday.

This was the worst loss by far. All the losses you've listed were gut-wrenching for different reasons but this was the single most listless and clueless I've ever seen us play. After the third goal went in I honestly felt everyone kind of zoned out - the players and the fans too tbh, if it was a boxing match it would have been called off right then.

I totally agree with you on this part, one of the many reasons it’s been such a punch to the gut.

 

[ToToMarshall]

The big ones have already been mentioned but here's a few lesser games that were awful or still irritate:

Burnley, home, 2-0 loss, 2019
The last game before Bruno arrived and I've never seen OT as angry. It's easy to forget what an absolute mess we were in prior to Bruno's arrival that season.

Wigan -away 1-0 loss, 2012
Everton game (4-4) gets mentioned a lot and rightly so but the week earlier we lost 1-0 to Wigan. Horrible complacency against a team we should have beat pretty easily. I remember being really angry about it as it handed City a lifeline. Don't think we even had an attempt of any note and just a half-hearted penalty appeal.

Benfica -1-2 away loss 2006
We were astonishingly bad in Europe that year and finished bottom of our group. Shocking performance, notable for Ronaldo's petulant display and him being subbed and flipping off the crowd Probably getting used to life without Keane in that deeper role as we couldn't string two passes together.

That Wigan game was one I considered putting in but chose not to simply because had we won the Everton game it wouldn’t have mattered, but you’re right it was awful.

And I’d erased that Burnley game from memory to be honest, bar the back end of that run under Ole and Paris away I barely remember any of our football in 2019.

 

[Yik]

(People who actually say yesterday are either ten years old - or idiots. Or both).

Depends on what you mean by worse though. I mean nothing can really match the disappointment of the 2009 and 2011 CL finals but in my 19 years of watching United this was the most abject performance. Certainly the worst performance I've ever seen in person although I've never previously had a season ticket so it is a small sample size.

Liverpool even in the halcyon days of Andy Carroll, Hadji Diouf and Ryan Babel were never beaten by us at Anfield this way.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Glad to help.

But seriously - if yesterday was the worst United match in your lifetime, you can't be very old.

You offered absolutely no help whatsoever.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

I know it isn't the worst game in history but the 4-4 draw with Everton the year of aguero was probably my biggest nightmare.

Agree. Makes my blood boil even to this day. Was made even worse when I went straight to the airport after the final whistle just to see Pogba laughing around with his mates like he couldn't be arsed that his team had just lost the upper hand in the race for the championship. In hindsight he probably had already signed with Juve by then.

But yesterday tops the lot. Nothing is worse than getting humiliated by your biggest rivals at home. Only a cup final defeat can get worse.

 

[2cents]

Dunno about the worst, mainly because we could see it coming and I was mentally prepared. Still, it was a defeat like no other I can recall.

Few others off the top of my head to add to the OP:

Losing 5-0 to Newcastle and 6-3 to Southampton in consecutive games in 96/97.

Arsenal winning the league at OT in May 2002.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Depends on what you mean by worse though. I mean nothing can really match the disappointment of the 2009 and 2011 CL finals but in my 19 years of watching United this was the most abject performance. Certainly the worst performance I've ever seen in person although I've never previously had a season ticket so it is a small sample size.

Liverpool even in the halcyon days of Andy Carroll, Hadji Diouf and Ryan Babel were never beaten by us at Anfield this way.

I suppose it’s the way I’ve felt in the hours and days after the game.

In hindsight I can take being bitterly disappointed when we’re in the final of the biggest competition in club football being beaten by one of the best club sides ever assembled, when the alternative is whatever it is I’m feeling now after the horror show yesterday was.

 

[Ixion]

Glad to help.

But seriously - if yesterday was the worst United match in your lifetime, you can't be very old.

Name any other match at OT where the game was over before half time and the opposition decide its not even worth the energy to keep going for the second half?

 

[ToToMarshall]

Arsenal winning the league at OT in May 2002.

This is one I can remember but I suppose maybe didn’t quite capture the importance of at the time. Probably a fair inclusion though.

 

[lex talionis]

For me, the worst games are the ones we should have won, not the expected calamities like yesterday. In our heart of hearts, we all knew Liverpool were going to hammer us.

The 1-1 draw to Porto which saw us crash out of the CL in 2003 is the one that hurts most. That was an opponent we should have beaten and it was a year where the CL trophy was well within our reach.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Honestly, the sad thing is I somewhat expected it. I was numb and pretty emotionless watching goal after goal go in on Sunday. So not sure I could dignify it as the worst game in my life.

Same. The groupchat was flowing with ‘banter’ & I was like, ‘I told you all this was coming. . .’

People have spent the past few years justifying bad result after bad result, we got off lightly yesterday.

 

[Yik]

I suppose it’s the way I’ve felt in the hours and days after the game.

In hindsight I can take being bitterly disappointed when we’re in the final of the biggest competition in club football being beaten by one of the best club sides ever assembled, when the alternative is whatever it is I’m feeling now after the horror show yesterday was.

Yeah, one's just pain at having lost out at the final step but 10-12 years down the line you acknowledge we were beaten by an ATG team and we ourselves were an ATG team just not quite as good. This is just humiliation really, I know which one I'd rather face tbh. FFS we still sing about Forlan making the scousers cry 19 years down the line. Just looked the result up - it was 2-1 that day not like a drubbing or anything. Imagine how many decades worth of fodder this is for Liverpool fans.

 

[Superden]

The Newcastle 0-5 game in 96. It was when ABUism was at its peak. We still won most things before and after, but it was a low blow.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I say yesterday and I've been a fan since the 80s

Come on.

What were your expectations before the match?

(No - I don't mean that you should've expected a humiliation - I'm talking about how you actually assess this team, under this manager, in general, compared to Klopp's Liverpool).

(If yesterday was your worst - then I can only assume that you actually thought we were considerably better than we are at the moment).

 

[Judas]

Not sure if it was the worst, but it felt like a genuine nightmare. A surreal watch.

 

[Relevated]

Apart from the obvious ones I'll tell you a game which hurt the worst.

Kompany with his header against us. 1-0 i believe

 

[ToToMarshall]

Yeah, one's just pain at having lost out at the final step but 10-12 years down the line you acknowledge we were beaten by an ATG team and we ourselves were an ATG team just not quite as good. This is just humiliation really, I know which one I'd rather face tbh. FFS we still sing about Forlan making the scousers cry 19 years down the line. Just looked the result up - it was 2-1 that day not like a drubbing or anything. Imagine how many decades worth of fodder this is for Liverpool fans.

City fans sing about the 6-1 still and that was 10 years ago ffs. I suppose Liverpool fans are a little less small-time than that but I wouldn’t put it last them to be like that about it too.

 

[Ixion]

Come on.

What were your expectations before the match?

(No - I don't mean that you should've expected a humiliation - I'm talking about how you actually assess this team, under this manager, in general, compared to Klopp's Liverpool).

(If yesterday was your worst - then I can only assume that you actually thought we were considerably better than we are at the moment).

I expected us to lose, I voted 1-3 on the cafe match predictor.

It was far far worse than I expected. If Liverpool hadn't stopped playing it could have been 7 or 8. From Liverpool, at OT. I have tried to think of another game that was unequivocally over before half time at OT and I genuinely struggle to think of one. There's always some misguided belief maybe if we nick one we can comeback, there was nothing like that yesterday.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Before yesterday, Sevilla for me.

Yesterday makes me yearn for another Sevilla performance. it really was a tipping point, I have felt we've been outclassed at OT before but we've usually hung in there, grabbed a goal or just generally fought to avoid capitulation when it's been tough. Liverpool weren't even that good but that was the first time I have ever watched us at OT and felt we were powerless, like a kite in a hurricane just getting rag-dolled for 90mins.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Apart from the obvious ones I'll tell you a game which hurt the worst.

Kompany with his header against us. 1-0 i believe

Yes that one stung, we didn’t have a shot on target all game. Fergie went in to it keen to get out of there with a draw and maybe pinch something on the break and it totally blew up in his face.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

You offered absolutely no help whatsoever.

That's a shame. But thanks for pointing it out. Rest assured, I will take this into consideration when trying to help someone in a similar predicament the next time.

 

[Lay]

Maybe the 4-1 against Liverpool but honestly any loss to Arsenal bothers me more than a loss to Liverpool. Always has done since the 90s. That FA cup final rankles with me to this day

I genuinely think not being on social media and having a friendship group (basically work mates) who aren’t football mad helps me digest results better. I don’t see much ‘banter’ so it’s easy to just ignore bad results.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Come on.

What were your expectations before the match?

(No - I don't mean that you should've expected a humiliation - I'm talking about how you actually assess this team, under this manager, in general, compared to Klopp's Liverpool).

(If yesterday was your worst - then I can only assume that you actually thought we were considerably better than we are at the moment).

I went in to the game with my expectations at rock bottom and was still disappointed. 5-0 wasn’t that surprising but it was the manner of the defeat, the fact we could have lost by 8+ had Liverpool wanted it, that the players didn’t look like they believed anything other than a drubbing was on the cards, and the fact I have no idea how we come back from it without totally gutting everything and starting again... how can you not see how that might be one of the worst evenings in a fan’s memory?

 

[slored1]

Might be a bit random but I lost my shit after the Sevilla game under Mourinho. Felt like we finally had a proper team and that game just destroyed any bit of faith I had in Mourinho and the title hopes.

 

[Jev]

The worst game in my life as a United fan happened on May 13th 2012 and didn't actually involve United. Was this the worst game by United I can remember? Yeah. Was it the worst I've felt after a United game? Nah, the Champions League losses to Bayern/Real stung more as I was probably more invested at that point and there was more at stake.

 

[Chipper]

The worst big game drubbing, absolutely. The worst feeling about losing to a rival too.

The absolute worst performance? I'd say this:

Huge rumours that half the team were on the piss the night before, was a New Years Day game and we were dreadful.

 

[Ace]

1. City beating QPR in stoppage time to nick the title
2. City beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford
3. Yesterday

 

[VanDeBank]

Yes. 0-5 at half time at home, with us looking clueless and them playing average. Context is everything, even if there were worse end scores in the past.

 

[Yik]

Before yesterday, Sevilla for me.

Yesterday makes me yearn for another Sevilla performance. it really was a tipping point, I have felt we've been outclassed at OT before but we've usually hung in there, grabbed a goal or just generally fought to avoid capitulation when it's been tough. Liverpool weren't even that good but that was the first time I have ever watched us at OT and felt we were powerless, like a kite in a hurricane just getting rag-dolled for 90mins.

I haven't watched many matches at OT but I know things are bad when the resident oldies and passionate supporters just sort of stop being animated or shouting at players because its now 4-0 at half time and theres literally no point in even being pissed off any more. People who support lower tier teams like Norwich probably have seen this kind of things loads of times but to have that happen at OT is just mind boggling. Its just football at the end of the day, we'll have our revenge on Liverpool someday down the line, but until we do the sight of the away stand rocking for nigh on 80 minutes is gonna haunt me!

 

[hasanejaz88]

Thank feck Pakistan beat India yesterday that I wasn't able to fully feel the match v Liverpool. Was watching it on the side but was still more happy because the cricket match was amazing.

I would actually say the lose that hurt most was the 2-0 (I think) to City on the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. We had the classic kit out, a really somber day as well so more sad that we lost to our much worse rivals that day.

 

[Skills]

Come on.

What were your expectations before the match?

(No - I don't mean that you should've expected a humiliation - I'm talking about how you actually assess this team, under this manager, in general, compared to Klopp's Liverpool).

(If yesterday was your worst - then I can only assume that you actually thought we were considerably better than we are at the moment).

The quality of the teams is irrelevant. We were miles better than Liverpool for donkies and never once managed to humiliate them in this fashion at Anfield. I'm pretty sure we'll never go and do the same at Anfield in my lifetime.

You just expect your team to at least put up some fight in a derby like that - irrespective of the difference in quality. This was us walking into a massacre and didn't even bother trying to defend ourselves.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Depends on what you mean by worse though.

Sure - yes. That's where context comes in.

To me, this wasn't nearly as bad as several other performances/results over the years.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

We were miles better than Liverpool for donkies and never oncemanaged to humiliate them in this fashion at Anfield.

If the question had been whether this was the worst Liverpool game in your lifetime, then the responses of some people in this thread would've made more sense. But that wasn't the question, was it?

 

[The Brown Bull]

I expected it but it was still the worst I have seen.
Way worse that losing the 2 CL final in 09 & 11.At least we got to those finals and were champions then.
At home to Liverpool of all teams?
Stop .
Even when they were great back in the 70s & 80s we could and did beat them.
When they were shit in the 90s & noughties they could beat us .
It was never as one sided as yesterday.
Never.

 

[Skills]

If the question had been whether this was the worst Liverpool game in your lifetime, then the responses of some people in this thread would've made more sense. But that wasn't the question, was it?

You do realise they are by far our fiercest rivals?

 

[madzo2007]

Performance wise yesterday i would rank as the worst for me, there was just nothing that made us look like we were going to win.

Regarding the 6-1 it was 3-1 going into injury time down to 10 men and we were chasing the game and kept chasing. Result-wise it was horrific but the performance wasn't as bad as yesterday. Other ones like the 4-1 against Liverpool & 5-0 v Newcastle they were just bad days in good seasons.

Honourable mentions to some performances in the mid 2000's which were shocking, like the 4-1 away to Middlesbrough, 2-0 away to Norwich and losing in Benfica to finish bottom of our CL group

 

[Bondi77]

Yes. 0-5 at half time at home, with us looking clueless and them playing average. Context is everything, even if there were worse end scores in the past.

Are you sure you watched the game?

 

[wolvored]

The City 6-1 (the sick swan meme was everywhere) was the worst result. We were still a top side then and if at 90 mins we had just seen out the game at 1-3 we would have still won the league by 1 goal.
Yesterday was always going to happen. In fact Liverpool must have felt sorry for us after the 5th as they virtually stopped attacking.