Murphy mocks Man United's HT actions during their 4-0 humbling by Crystal Palace

Danny Murphy has questioned the logic behind Manchester United players' preparation for the second-half of their crushing defeat by Crystal Palace.

The former Liverpool midfielder watched on as his old rivals were humbled 4-0 at Selhurst Park on Monday night, as goals from Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell inflicted a 13th loss in the league.

Erik ten Hag's side were 2-0 down going into the break and required a herculean effort to turn around their fortunes. However, when speaking on commentary for talkSPORT, Murphy was astounded by what United players did after emerging from the tunnel.

'There's a member of [Erik] ten Hag's staff that's run from the dugout to the corner flag where they come out here at Palace. He's put three yellow cones down and three red about a yard apart.

'As the players come out, he insisted that each one of them did a little short, fast burst of little short steps in between the three cones and then sprint off into the middle of the pitch.

'Like that's going to make any difference, look at them now standing around chatting because they're out early. Those little six cones, I don't know what his role is, maybe he's a cone man rather than a set-play man but the reality is, this is how stupid football's gone.

'That they think those little six cones and those little short steps for a millisecond are going to make a difference to the mindset of those players.

You do your own one, you've got your head right, you come out, you do some sprints, you do your little knees, you do whatever you want to do to get yourself ready. Doing that is... oh my god.'

The Red Devils had come out for the second period earlier than Palace and they could be seen wandering around the pitch waiting for their