Chief football reporter Old Trafford

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag claims he’s “not Harry Potter”, and insists his team stand a chance to win an award this season, despite their disappointing 3-1 home loss to Liverpool.

The team had already had a goal blocked out prior to Luis Diaz struck twice in seven minutes of the first half in the first-half at Old Trafford.

Mohamed Salah added a third after nine minutes of the restart. United were lucky to get away without repeating their 5-1 defeat in the same match at the end of 2021.

It was not a good morning for the Ten Hag as his starting squad included six of his own signings. His most recent signing, PS50.5m Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte was presented to the fans prior to kick-off, having been signed after the Friday 12:01 BST deadline to participate in the match.

United are currently 14th in their position in Premier League table, with only three points from their first three matches.

However, Ten Hag was not willing to take the negative interpretation of the outcome, saying that he doesn’t expect anyone to create magical results.

“It is not like I am Harry Potter,” he stated. “You must acknowledge that.

“For three players, it was their first game of the season.

“Manuel Ugarte did not play one minute – he needs to build his fitness. Then we have to build him into the team. I am sure he will contribute to our team. It will take a couple of weeks, maybe even a month. That is the same for a lot of players.”

Ten Hag included striker Joshua Zirkzee as well as striker Joshua Zirkzee. The Netherlands forward played unorthodox game, mixing numerous stray passes and grabbing United’s best chances. One of them was missed, another one that was brilliantly kept from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Matthijs de Ligt did not appear to be completely at ease in the middle of the field with Lisandro Martinez. England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo was snubbed to too many times to Ryan Gravenberch, who excelled in central positions for the visitors.

Ten Hag got involved in a dispute with a reporter during his post-match press conference.

Former Ajax coach admitted to having an “different vision” to the one that was outlined by his team, which has made the same mistakes over two seasons, “otherwise we wouldn’t win trophies and beat bigger opponents”.

“I don’t want to talk about positives today,” the coach declared. “This loss is a blow to us and our supporters.

“It it is our third match of the year. I’ve been asked to explain this often. We need to create the team of the future. We’ll be fine, but it’s obvious that we must make improvements.

“At the end of the season I am quite confident we will have a big chance to lift another trophy.”

Casemiro’s bad day

The veteran Brazil midfielder Casemiro was responsible for the two initial Liverpool goals.

The ball was sent right to Gravenberch deep inside United’s half in the first but was pushed off by Diaz too easily in the second time.

Ten Hag took the bold choice of replacing his previous Real Madrid man with 20-year-old Toby Collyer at half-time.

A video was posted on social media that believed to reveal Casemiro departing Old Trafford early – which Ten Hag rejected.

“He didn’t leave the stadium at half-time,” the manager claimed. “I was with him in the dressing room following the match.

“I removed him because we were 2-0 down to an opponent that was similar to Liverpool. We needed to be cautious in order to come back and we needed midfielders that could be able to cover the ground.

“He won everything in his career. I am sure he will keep contributing to our team.”