Was that the worst game in your lifetime?

[norm87cro]

This one came close but there are a few that come into mind: 2001 Chelsea 5 0 jimmy floyd ripping us apart, 2002 Bayer 2 2 instead of a euro classic we let it slip in the worst fashion, CL 2013 Real robbery with the Nani red, CL 1997 Borussia twice a 0 1, CL 2010 Ivica Olic scoring for 1 3 and putting Bayern (nick of HT) back into the game when we played better and Rafael getting sent of, the Moyes Fulham expirience (his celebration when we made it 2 1 made it worse), 1996 the Newcastle 0 5 trashing.

 

[Bristol_Red_87]

It was for me. Just slightly worse than the 6-1 vs City. Don't mind United losing, hate to see them humiliated.

No matter how poor Liverpool were in the 90's, they never allowed themselves to be humiliated at Anfield against us.

This is the most hurtful thing for me...the sides we had in the 90/00's and we never got an easy ride at Anfield.

Absolutely unforgiveable.

 

[Red the Bear]

I don't like being reactionary even though its the nature of us as human beings and even more so as football fans

But upon some deliberation in the past few days yes I do believe the answer to be a vehement yes

There has been many games to make me feel terrible but nothing to this degree

As op has pointed out there were many bad results in the past but under Fergie and before him even but there is caveat

Under Fergie even with the worst results it never felt like a collapse of mentality he'll even the 6_1 pointed out here was rather a case of sticking to our guns while a man down as we chased the game till injury time where it was a mere 3_1

Our loses during the early 2000s in ucl with never failed to make me distraught (as in my belief we had the best team in Europe circa 98_2003) where more related to either our naivety (or directness of our play if you want to call it that) terrible goalkeepers and slight refereeing mishaps never did i once feeler couldn't beat the other team with a more adjusted set up

Our losses during the mid 2000s were much more related to squad being in transition

You get the gist as even during our hardest times there was no lack of trying but more an unfortunate underlying symptom that was promptly responded to by Fergie

This game however was much different as after the first goal never did i ever feel we were in it even though i went to the game with much misguided positively

Our team simply gave up in front of a full crowd in our own home turf in front of our blood rivals while being some of highest paid individuals in the world paid to at the very least not embarrass the club

Aside from Ronaldo who had a proper goal disallowed none of players even had the mentality or the courage to even try and our manager showed sheer ineptitude and cowardice to not even make the adjustments to at least make it competitive

Liverpool showed us mercy as the scoreline could have been much worse if the wished to and I don't weather being shown mercy is more humiliating or not

The game exemplified everything that has went wrong with our club in the past 10 years from top to bottom and honestly I wanted to throw up after

 

[The Brown Bull]

Sunday was a terrible result, embarrassing but it has been clear for a while that something like this was going to happen. Is it the worst result we ever had? Nowhere close. For me the 4-4 draw against Everton is up there, quite a few games during our transition in the early 2000s, the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea about 15 years ago and the defeat to Villareal in the summer gone all are at the top. The worst is hard to define, football is a emotional sport.

0-5 ? At home, to Liverpool? Somehow that is not as bad as a 4-4 draw?
Very odd way of thinking.

 

[Ted1985]

This game is for sure number 1 for me, loosing like that to LFC at home is just unforgiveable. Otherwise from the games that I have seen the europa league final against Villarreal is second, I am still thinking about it.

 

[The Brown Bull]

I don't like being reactionary even though its the nature of us as human beings and even more so as football fans

But upon some deliberation in the past few days yes I do believe the answer to be a vehement yes

There has been many games to make me feel terrible but nothing to this degree

As op has pointed out there were many bad results in the past but under Fergie and before him even but there is caveat

Under Fergie even with the worst results it never felt like a collapse of mentality he'll even the 6_1 pointed out here was rather a case of sticking to our guns while a man down as we chased the game till injury time where it was a mere 3_1

Our loses during the early 2000s in ucl with never failed to make me distraught (as in my belief we had the best team in Europe circa 98_2003) where more related to either our naivety (or directness of our play if you want to call it that) terrible goalkeepers and slight refereeing mishaps never did i once feeler couldn't beat the other team with a more adjusted set up

Our losses during the mid 2000s were much more related to squad being in transition

You get the gist as even during our hardest times there was no lack of trying but more an unfortunate underlying symptom that was promptly responded to by Fergie

This game however was much different as after the first goal never did i ever feel we were in it even though i went to the game with much misguided positively

Our team simply gave up in front of a full crowd in our own home turf in front of our blood rivals while being some of highest paid individuals in the world paid to at the very least not embarrass the club

Aside from Ronaldo who had a proper goal disallowed none of players even had the mentality or the courage to even try and our manager showed sheer ineptitude and cowardice to not even make the adjustments to at least make it competitive

Liverpool showed us mercy as the scoreline could have been much worse if the wished to and I don't weather being shown mercy is more humiliating or not

The game exemplified everything that has went wrong with our club in the past 10 years from top to bottom and honestly I wanted to throw up after

Agreed.When even your fiercest rivals show mercy to you it’s about as bad as it gets.Utter humiliation .

 

[ToToMarshall]

Agreed.When even your fiercest rivals show mercy to you it’s about as bad as it gets.Utter humiliation .

This is the kicker for me. Liverpool were 5-0 up and didn’t feel the need to put us to the sword any further. They threw the towel in for us. Not something I’ve felt before and I hope I never do again.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Maybe the not the worst example ever, but our 1-2 loss at home to Chelsea in the 09/10 season effectively lost us a 4th PL title in a row. I remember being really pissed off after that game. Partly because Drogba was miles offside for their winning goal.

 

[Salus Populi Suprema Lex]

1-5 Maine Road 1989. Difficult to take as a kid
1-6 City. It was never a 1-6 game, but we fell apart at the end.
1-6 Spurs. A shambles

But Sunday was the worst for me. It wasn't just the 0-5 against our fiercest rivals, but the humiliation of it. To be five down after fifty minutes and then have Liverpool laugh at us for the rest of the match, just keeping the ball and taunting us. It just doesn't get any worse. I've never seen a United team outclassed to that extent. It was truly dire.

 

[Sandikan]

Unlike the 6-1s v City and Tottenham, there was no huge alibi.
No really early sending off / mad attacking late on leaving the score racking up to unrealistic numbers.

Even the 4-1 to Liverpool was a freak that time. Well on top at half time, and then really rare Vidic and Evra mistakes.

But this 5-0 was so inevitable, just outplayed and we looked a non league shambles.

The Moyes 3-0 Liverpool and City home defeats were possibly as bad, but we knew he was well on the way out by then.

 

[Stobzilla]

Barcelona 2 - 0 Manchester United (2009) & Barcelona 3 - 1 Manchester United (2011)

Now that I’m older, wiser, and can appreciate that period of time’s Barcelona teams for how good they were and that cushions the blow for these two defeats. That said, they were both bitterly disappointing, 2009 especially, I thought we had a great chance of winning and we just never really got close. That first final was also obviously Ronaldo’s last game (or so I thought) which was just an added bitter taste. 2011 also has an added bitter taste because that’s the last Champions League final we played in, and it was over a decade ago now. That’s a horrible thought.

I was half expecting us to get pumped on Sunday so it didn't hit me as hard as what these two did. For much the same reasons. But also it was apparent that the bar had just been moved up beyond where we were at after that first game and then we started the next year worse than what we ended the previous one with the departure of Tevez and Ronaldo.

It also was two games where I felt like Sir Alex got it wrong tactically and in his team selection. The 2011 final especially, we had a case for being the second best side in Europe even if our status in the final should have already suggested that, but we were so far behind Barcelona. Couple that with the near miss of Bayern in 2010 where we almost certainly would have beaten Mourinho's Inter. It just was the bookend on a really disappointing 2 year run at the very top end of the football tree.

 

[Lentwood]

Most of the obvious ones have been mentioned. Hardly absolute shockers, but I'll throw the two Leverkusen games in 2002 into the mix and the Porto game at OT when they won the tie in the last minute. Only because both seemed like massive opportunities missed.

 

[NiceGuyEddie]

I knew Sunday would be tough but honestly thought we'd have more fight than we did. I finally gave up on Ole as manager after the Atalanta game - the 0-5 merely sealed it for me. But it hurt more than the 1-6 against City, because it highlighted just how far we have fallen. I also feel bad that one of our legends' legacy is being tarnished in such a humiliating way - we are the laughing stock of the football world, and have been for quite some time to varying extents.

I really hope this game turns out to be a blessing in disguise, in the form of a superior manager.

 

[#07]

Losing to Liverpool at home 5-0 is possibly unequallable in terms of shame. Potentially could only have been worse if it was a 6 pointer for the title or a Champions League final.

They came to our house, p'd on the floor, s-t in the kitchen, stuffed the toilet with paper and flooded the bathroom, vomited on the beds, blew up the oven and grafiti'd the walls.

And they'll be singing about it for 100 years. There's nothing like this.

 

[JosDeVos]

I'm quite a neutral fan of PL football in general, not much of a fan of any given team nor much 'hatred' towards any either. I can appreciate watching both United and Liverpool when they play good football, yet am generally rather opposed to the big club mentality that's often around either club.
This was the first time where I actually pittied United in a loss. It started off amusing enough, but that 2nd half was something else. Truly painful to watch.

 

[Rooney24]

Im surprised that some as so dismissive of Sundays result. I am 45 and have followed United since I was 6 years old, the first clear United memories being the 83 FA Cup final and replay.

Nothing in between has ever felt as bad as sundays result.

 

[Big Andy]

The 50th Anniversary Munich game against City. Of all the games to lose, it had to be that one, to them.

The retro kits, the occasion, the atmosphere was all set up to be a classic Manchester Derby. Then we got pumped by a Darius Vassell and fecking Benjani.

 

[Motorman]

Manchester United 4 - 4 Everton (2012)

Sunderland 0 - 1 Manchester United (2012

Everton followed by Sunderland for me.

Angriest I've ever been following Sunderland game but that was because of Everton. So that is top for me.

To throw away the game like we did, was unbelievable. Fact I was in stadium at the time just made the journey back from Manchester unbearable.

 

[Marwood]

Glad to help.

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

It can't be that far off no matter your age. Worst result in our Premier League history for a start. Even if it's not number one it must be right up there.

 

[NiceGuyEddie]

The 50th Anniversary Munich game against City. Of all the games to lose, it had to be that one, to them.

The retro kits, the occasion, the atmosphere was all set up to be a classic Manchester Derby. Then we got pumped by a Darius Vassell and fecking Benjani.

Like Fergie said at the time, the occasion got to them. They smashed Newcastle 5-1 next game and won 6 league games on the trot. Doesn't really compare to being put to the sword at home by Liverpool.

 

[Ixion]

Im surprised that some as so dismissive of Sundays result. I am 45 and have followed United since I was 6 years old, the first clear United memories being the 83 FA Cup final and replay.

Nothing in between has ever felt as bad as sundays result.

I think the fact Liverpool stopped playing after 50 minutes and left it at 5 is blinding people to how bad it was. They could have scored 7 or 8, at OT. They probably wont have an easier game all season.

 

[MadMike]

I witched it off at 0-4, so no.

Had I been in the stadium, then probably yes. The 1-6 to Man City being the other contender.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

3rd Round v 3rd Division Bournemouth we were FA Cup holder and lost 1984

 

[The Brown Bull]

The 50th Anniversary Munich game against City. Of all the games to lose, it had to be that one, to them.

The retro kits, the occasion, the atmosphere was all set up to be a classic Manchester Derby. Then we got pumped by a Darius Vassell and fecking Benjani.

Ah in the name of Jeebus would ya wake up !
It was a mere blip in an otherwise glorious season where we won the title and the European Cup.The occasion was huge, City fans present behaved.
Granted our team didn’t perform to par but they had a ton of credit in the bank. Maybe the occasion got to them.Whatever, it happens.
Last Sunday was entirely different.How you can even compare the two is beyond me.

 

[NiceGuyEddie]

I think the fact Liverpool stopped playing after 50 minutes and left it at 5 is blinding people to how bad it was. They could have scored 7 or 8, at OT. They probably wont have an easier game all season.

Precisely this - they could have gone for the record, but mercifully spared us because they have bigger fish to fry. If the tables were turned, I don't think we would have been so magnanimous.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Ah in the name of Jeebus would ya wake up !
It was a mere blip in an otherwise glorious season where we won the title and the European Cup.The occasion was huge, City fans present behaved.
Granted our team didn’t perform to par but they had a ton of credit in the bank. Maybe the occasion got to them.Whatever, it happens.
Last Sunday was entirely different.How you can even compare the two is beyond me.

The only reason I included that game in my list of worst games was for very personal reasons. I know the game in isolation wasn’t all that bad and in the context of the season it was barely a smudge on an amazing year.

Manchester United 1 - 2 Manchester City (2008)

I hadn’t experienced many Manchester Derby defeats by 2008, but that’s not the reason this one sticks with me so much. I watched this game with my late grandfather who remembered the Munich Air Disaster, and I can’t think about this game (I don’t really remember much about it, I don’t think we performed that badly, just one of those games) without just remembering how upset he was before kick-off and throughout the game. It’s one of my clearest memories of him, he passed away in 2010, and it’s the only time I ever saw him cry.

 

[cabbs1989]

Portsmouth In the fa cup I’m hindsight we could of had another treble.

But yesterday takes the biscuit I stopped watching at 1-0, I was informed my girlfriend when every goal went in, yesterday has completely trumped any of those other horrible results, as someone who had depression and am going though a particularly bad bout as I lost my dog about a month ago, this one really hurts.

 

[Siezard]

My worst game was an actual match. I was the leftback but the centreback went to cover the right side so I was forced to cover both left side and centre. (Something like the 1st , 2nd, 4th and 5th goal conceded)

A high cross came in to the far left and the attacker scored. We lost the game.

 

[ToToMarshall]

My worst game was an actual match. I was the leftback but the centreback went to cover the right side so I was forced to cover both left side and centre. (Something like the 1st or 2nd goal conceded)

A high cross came in to the far left and the attacker scored. We lost the game.

Is your name Luke Shaw

 

[Big Andy]

Ah in the name of Jeebus would ya wake up !
It was a mere blip in an otherwise glorious season where we won the title and the European Cup.The occasion was huge, City fans present behaved.
Granted our team didn’t perform to par but they had a ton of credit in the bank. Maybe the occasion got to them.Whatever, it happens.
Last Sunday was entirely different.How you can even compare the two is beyond me.

I was there for that game, I wasn't on Sunday. In terms of the occasion and everything else, we were expected to win. It had been built up for weeks. Personally, for me, that defeat was worse than the Liverpool game. Not in terms of performance, or the manner of defeat, but in terms of the occasion, it still sticks out in my mind. I've seen United lose badly a lot of times, I've seen us get fecked for 5 or 6 a few times.

 

[tenpoless]

6-1 loss against City really. Thats when they started becoming a powerhouse after the oil money as well.

 

[Spoony]

5-1 to City at Maine Road was bad but we were away and I took solace in Sparky's volley. I'd say the Liverpool loss is our most humiliating defeat ever.

 

[telstar96]

Anyone remember the 3-1 loss at Anfield in 2018, right before Jose got sacked? 36 shots for them against our 6. That was definitely a humbling result for us, especially when you consider that we had finished above Liverpool the season prior.

 

[ToToMarshall]

Anyone remember the 3-1 loss at Anfield in 2018, right before Jose got sacked? 36 shots for them against our 6. That was definitely a humbling result for us, especially when you consider that we had finished above Liverpool the season prior.

Yeah that was a bad one, but I at least came away from that knowing it was the end of José so had some hope of things changing soon after. I don’t have those feelings now about Sunday.

 

[Sarni]

I don't think there has been a similar game in European club football in the last 3 decades, at least not one that I can recall, except for maybe Feyenoord being beaten 10-0 by PSV several years back. Sunday could have easily ended up similar. Even Barcelona's 5-0 against Real was at Camp Nou and felt like a win they actually had to fight for. Liverpool just effortlessly won an away game, being 5-0 up just after break and did not break a sweat. This just doesn't happen in the highest division in Europe, let alone when two supposedly top teams meet.

As I said yesterday, Norwich or Derby would be embarrassed with that result and performance.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Is your name Luke Shaw

 

[Blood Mage]

Sunday's catastrophe comes a close second but I think I'll have to go with the 2009 CL final because of how brilliant we were all tournament only for Fergie to completely get his tactics wrong in the final and let Barca school us. They were incredible that year but beatable with the right tactics.

 

[glazed]

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.

It was totally predictable and predicted, not least by Paul Scholes in precise detail.

I think it was probably a huge shock for people who thought we were going to challenge this season.

 

[Skills]

They came to our house, p'd on the floor, s-t in the kitchen, stuffed the toilet with paper and flooded the bathroom, vomited on the beds, blew up the oven and grafiti'd the walls.

And they'll be singing about it for 100 years. There's nothing like this.

This. It was the definition of being put in your place.

We'll never have anything like this in return

 

[ToToMarshall]

This. It was the definition of being put in your place.

We'll never have anything like this in return

Our version of putting clubs in their place is flexing our muscles and signing players our rivals want without any kind of plan of how to use them.