Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville led the criticism as his old team suffered a first-half “annihilation” against Brentford.
Erik ten Hag’s side trailed 4-0 at the break following goals from Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo, and Neville, working as co-commentator for Sky Sports, was all but lost for words.
Speaking after the fourth goal, he said: “What a first half of football we’re seeing here, the annihilation of Manchester United.”
When United boss Ten Hag appeared on screen, Neville added: “He’s got nothing to say, he’s got nowhere to go.
“What do you do at half-time if you’re Erik ten Hag? What can you possibly say to those 11 players who have been out there in the first half? What can you say?
“I think you’ve just got to send them out again, that would be it. I’m not quite sure what else he can do.”
Speaking earlier, Neville had been critical of Ten Hag’s selection.
He said: “If you’d said to be before the game – I’m not a gambling man but – Brentford might score from a free-kick, I would have said, ‘yeah’.
“Ten Hag has picked the smallest team he could hoping they would outplay Brentford. You have to deal with the physical side of the Premier League. It’s like a men’s team against under-nines.”
In the second half, though, he added: : “Manchester United have known for eight to 10 months they needed to rebuild the squad for the summer. (Former manager) Ralf Rangnick said it was open-heart surgery, he described it as.
“To not get the players in early, the quality of the players, the number of players that Erik ten Hag needed to be able to start the season, is baffling and difficult to forgive.”