The former Manchester United fullback Dennis Irwin believes that United's hammering 7-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday was merely a bump in the road for Erik ten Hag's side.
United started brightly and were in the game until Liverpool's Cody Gakpo scored just before halftime.
The Dutch forward scored again after halftime and from there the floodgates opened up.
Mohammed Salah and Darwin Nunez would go onto to score two each themselves, while Roberto Firminho got the final goal in what was a miserable evening for United.
United were slammed by former players and pundits after the game. Roy Keane labelled the defeat as 'embarrassing'
Keane's former teammate and Cork man Irwin also had his say on the game and said that United's heavy defeat was a 'one-off'.
"I see this a one-off," Irwin told MUTV. "We’ve shown great resilience this year. We had two big defeats but bounced back from them. It’s one of those and we’re hugely disappointed. It’s a drubbing and it’s not the best place to get a drubbing as well, to your biggest rivals.
"It’s hard to take. You could say all the things but it’s one of those where the manager will obviously be fuming and it’s one you have to forget as quickly as possible, to get up and running again. On Thursday, it’s Real Betis and then at home to Southampton on Sunday.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 5, 2023
"You have to accept it sometimes and have to hold your hands up. It just didn’t happen in the second half. The two goals just after half-time killed us. We never looked like getting back into it, it was just a case of the sooner the game finished, the better for us.
Manchester United will look to bounce back against Real Betis on Thursday in the Europa League and will then play Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
United have already won one trophy and will be looking to progress in the deep stages of both these competitions.
Irwin added that there must be context around United's season despite the heavy defeat to Liverpool.
" I’d just say: listen, you’ve done brilliant and been on a hell of a run, we won the cup last Sunday, here we are a week later, getting a 7-0 beating. That’s football. We just have to accept it wasn’t our day.
"If you looked at the start of the season, you’d hope for a trophy and a top-four finish. The results below us went for us on Saturday, Spurs and Newcastle lost, and we must still focus on the top four and pick ourselves up. Southampton is the next league game, at home, and it’s a big game for us next Sunday."
United's game against Betis starts at 8pm this coming Thursday.
