Before kick-off last night, I spoke to a friend just outside the press box who has been a season-ticket holder at Old Trafford for more than 50 years. There was one pressing question.

"When was it truly last this bad?"

Without hesitation, he said the season Manchester United were relegated. He recalled a 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham in March 1974, decided by Ralph Coates. United were so harmless that pigeons were pottering about in Pat Jennings' penalty area.

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It would be cruel to suggest Joshua Zirkzee operates at a slower pace than the feathered species. The reaction to his 33rd-minute withdrawal certainly was cruel.

Anthony Gordon offered Zirkzee a humane pat. Emotions can get the better of matchgoers in the heat of the moment. There were two braying fans in front of the press box. One of them donned a Jose Mourinho scarf while Louis van Gaal was still in charge.

The stick Zirkzee got was deplorable. "I’m disgusted with our supporters who cheered when Zirkzee came off," a friend in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand messaged at half-time. "Absolutely fuming."

Only Harry Maguire has had it worse and that was during friendlies in Melbourne, Las Vegas and Dublin, games that attract casual fans unaccustomed to loyal matchday etiquette. Maguire has recovered from those public barrackings but Zirkzee's race is run.

It is not Zirkzee's fault the United brains trust signed him. They only did as he had a release clause and was Dutch. Dan Ashworth disputed the relevance of his nationality when this correspondent raised it with him.

No, Erik ten Hag had no connection with Zirkzee. He didn't with Wout Weghorst, either. Or Tyrell Malacia. United signed as many Dutchmen under Ten Hag in two years as they did in the previous decade.

The inner circle of at least one United player has started referring to Ruben Amorim as 'Ruben Interim'. This is not a mess of his own making. United's severe malaise is on regimes past and present, Ten Hag and the overpromoted and overpriced players that Amorim is saddled with.

Plenty of United fans have to shoulder the blame. If they were not so blindingly supportive of Ten Hag in the immediate aftermath of the FA Cup final then the managerial change would have taken place in June, rather than October.

Amorim is talking a good game while United play bad ones. They have a confident and concise orator in the manager's chair who is chiming with the supporters. "I think our club needs a shock," Amorim opined on Monday evening as he fielded more questions on the 'r' word - relegation.

He said he is embarrassed and that United are "lost". But that it is also his fault. "I’m responsible, I don’t like to arrive here and make excuses. I think people are tired of excuses in this club and I think sometimes I talk about relegation because of that.

"I think our club needs a shock, you know? It needs a shock and we have to understand that. It’s a very difficult moment and we have to fight for the next game and implement the idea to win games."

They may get another shock at Liverpool on Sunday. Since United last won at Anfield in January 2016, they have played there nine times, won none, drawn four, lost five, scored one and conceded 18. Jesse Lingard's tap-in at the Kop six years ago was from a goalkeeping error.

The 3,052 United fans who will be in the Anfield Road End will wonder how many they will lose by. They were filled with similar dread going to Anfield in January 2020 and April 2022. On the one occasion where United played decently for 45 minutes, Liverpool obliterated them 7-0. They did emerge with a goalless draw last season when a thumping was widely predicted.

Amorim is refusing to compromise on the 3-4-3 formation the players jar with. Nor should he. Louis van Gaal abandoned a back three after three games and Erik ten Hag ended the Ajax model after two matches. Both settled on a means to an end for the remainder of their first seasons but then spiralled in the second.

But United are already a contradiction of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's vision. Back in February, this correspondent asked him who would dictate United's style of play.

"We’ll decide," he clarified. "That team of people, it’ll be us, plus the CEO, sporting director, probably the recruitment guys what that style of football is and that will be the Manchester United style of football. And the coach will have to play that style of football."

The pigeons may soon be returning to the opponent's penalty area.