Former captain Roy Keane despaired at Manchester United’s heavy defeat against Liverpool at Anfield in an English Premier League match on Tuesday.

The visitors were outclassed, with a Mohamed Salah double and goals from Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz racking up a 4-0 win which, coupled with Liverpool’s destruction of United at Old Trafford in October, takes the aggregate score for the season between the sides to 9-0.

Those two fixtures have illustrated the huge gulf in quality between the two rivals and Keane — who won seven Premier League titles and a Champions League during his time there — was left overwhelmingly disappointed with the demise of his former club.

“It’s not anger anymore. It’s sadness,” Keane said on Sky Sports.

“You look at the team today (Tuesday), there wasn’t any heart, no soul, no leaders, they lack real quality. They are so far off and you look at the United fans … There’s no surprise with the scoreline, but Liverpool could score any time they went forward.

“There is disarray at the club from the top. The fans have no time for the owners. They need a new manager, they need players in, they need players out…

Keane was heavily critical of the attitude shown by the players. “What United have always had in my experience of the club is brilliant characters and brilliant men,” he said.

Scouts quit

Chief scout, Jim Lawlor, and Marcel Bout, their head of global scouting, have both left the club, United confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

Lawlor was promoted to United’s chief scout in 2014 having initially been an analyst since 2005, while Bout was part of Louis van Gaal’s set-up at the club from 2014 and stayed on following the Dutch manager’s departure.

“Jim played a key role in the development of multiple trophy-winning Manchester United teams and was an important source of guidance to Alex Ferguson and each of the managers who have followed him,” a United spokesperson said.