Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd: Raphael Varane's post-match actions caught on footage | OneFootball

In recent years, when Manchester United have gone to Anfield, things generally haven’t gone well, and yesterday’s result was the worst of the lot.

In an embarrassing display, United shipped six second half goals to an imperious Liverpool as the game finished 7-0. This was United’s biggest defeat since Boxing Day 1931.

United have now failed to win at Anfield since as far back as January 17th, 2016, and last night’s performance seemed to be a return to old habits for both clubs. Liverpool looked like the world-class team that has been pushing Manchester City for the title in recent seasons, whereas United looked like the shaky fragile team that Erik ten Hag took over in the summer.

United players didn't want to applaud travelling fans

After the final whistle went yesterday, most of the United players seemed desperate to escape to the changing rooms to lick their wounds. This left Raphael Varane absolutely furious as he screamed at his teammates to go thank the fans for coming to watch.

Quite understandably, most players probably wouldn’t want to go face to face with their disappointed and angry fans after such a defeat, but Varane’s actions certainly speak volumes for his character.

Even despite the score, the fans deserved some sort of appreciation and apology as they had spent significant money to come watch and support their team. The least a footballer can do is show gratitude towards them.

Footage of Varane’s actions can be seen in a clip posted by Sky Sports in which the animated defender can be seen shouting at his teammates at around the 58-second mark. Despite the horrific performances from all involved for United yesterday, this moment did leave Varane with a little bit of credit and fans on Twitter were quick to praise his bravery.

Videos: Raphael Varane fuming with his Manchester United teammates

A second added: "This boils my blood. I rate this so high from Varane. Of course, they are going to get a horrid reaction from the away fans, and they shouldn’t hide from it. Fans spend unreal amounts of money, and you can’t even say thank you to the ones have stayed."

Other fans also praised the Frenchman’s leadership: "One of the only leaders in this team. Disgrace of a performance today, the least you can do is go and say sorry to the fans."

Another went one step further and called for Varane to take the captaincy: "He should be captain over Bruno, especially after today."

Yesterday was a particularly horrible showing from United’s interim captain Bruno Fernandes, who spent more time sulking and flailing his arms around than actually running. He even appeared to ask Ten Hag why he wasn’t subbed off instead of Marcus Rashford in the final minutes of the game, causing Gary Neville to label him as “embarrassing.”

No doubt yesterday was a dark day in the history of Manchester United in what has generally been a positive season that included winning the League Cup last weekend.

No player came out with any real credit from their performance on the pitch yesterday, but after the game, Varane’s actions did help to redeem himself somewhat. He wasn’t afraid to face the wrath of the fans, and he has rightly received some appreciation for it.