• Manchester United – Liverpool, at 21.00 Monday

MANCHESTER (Dagbladet): Manchester United started with two defeats in the Premier League and are bottom of the table. Liverpool will visit on Monday.

Liverpool who lost four points early in the series was not a worse time for Erik ten Hag et al. Now England are shaking before a colossal fight in the dark at Old Trafford in two days.

But how did Manchester United end up here – bottom of the Premier League? It came after 1-2 for Brighton and 0-4 for Brentford.

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness – pundit for Sky Sports and columnist at the Daily Mail – carried out his analysis here in England on Saturday:

– I saw on my Sky Sports that my team-mates Gary Neville and Jamie Redknapp disagreed about who was to blame for the mess (at United). But both are right. Gary focuses on the Glazer family. Jamie blamed the players and the manager, Souness said.

– Naturally, the Glazer family is the main culprit. They allowed Ed Woodward (former United director) to take care of the big talk about recruiting and the football business. It’s been a decade of very bad decisions. They have bought the wrong players and kept the bad ones at the club. The Glazers would step up and say, “Ed, stick to the ads. We know you’re good at it.”

And:

– He was a disaster on the soccer field. That’s why United are where they are today.

– Do it before I die

Woodward was the one who brought Solskjær to United in 2018 and then made sure he got a permanent job.

Considering what has happened since Solskjær was sacked last fall, it is safe to conclude that the Norwegian is doing a great job. But United had to win the title – there’s a list – and that’s why he was sacrificed.

Woodward was central when the Glazer family took over at United in 2005. He finished at the club last spring.

At a press conference on Friday, the new manager, Erik ten Hag, said he did not see a warrior mentality in the 4-0 loss to Brentford last weekend.

– I made myself clear, I am not satisfied. You can talk about plans and philosophies. But in football you have to start with the basics, the right attitude and a warrior mentality. I didn’t see any of this in the first place, said ten Hag.

– You saw how the match went. And obviously that’s wrong. But we don’t need to talk about anything when the attitude is out of place. This should be in every game, and especially on Mondays.

Souness points out that Manchester United is a different bowl than Ajax, the club the ten Hags came from. He believes the Dutchman made a mistake against Brentford and should not blame others.

– If you lose two games with Ajax, you will receive criticism. But now he is in the big leagues. Ten Hag is under pressure like he’s never been before, and something he probably thought was impossible after two bad results, Souness said.

Got surprising questions from the ladies

Yesterday it became clear that defensive midfielder Casemiro was coming from Real Madrid. He will not be ready against Liverpool.

Several British media wrote on Saturday that centre-back Harry Maguire was dissatisfied with the situation and might disappear to Chelsea.