Ferdinand hammers Man Utd, Van Gaal post Liverpool rout

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has criticised the club in the wake of its humiliating defeat at the hands of Liverpool, saying that the Emirates Stadium club is showing no signs of improvement under manager Louis van Gaal.

Liverpool produced a dominating performance as they outclassed disjointed United to take a deserving 2-0 first leg lead in the last-16 of the Europa League at Anfield.

Admitting that United deserved to be booed by fans, the 37-year-old said that the reaction of the spectators was obvious after such a dismal show by the team.

"Did half of these players realize what game this is? Do they realise they are playing at Anfield, with the intensity, the history. Is it filtering through to them to say: 'Where are you, what are you doing? The frightening thing for me, I don't see any signs of improvement or where they are going," Ferdinand was quoted as saying by goal.com.

Lavishing praise at Liverpool, Ferdinand said that Jurgen Klopp's side were on the

front foot during the match, insisting that they played like a United team, intensity-wise, as they used to be earlier.

He added that it was disappointed to see that Liverpool overpowered his former club throughout match.

Earlier, Forward Daniel Sturridge scored a superb penalty to put Liverpool in lead before midfielder Roberto Firmino doubled the score in the 73rd minute.

In contrast, Van Gaal's side failed to create a single chance and it was goalkeeper David de Gea's brilliance which had made magnificent saves.

It now seems to be a difficult task for United to score three goals in order to advance to the quarterfinals.

The two sides will now lock horns in the second leg of the last-16 on March 18.