Fergie blasts players: You're too soft

Sir Alex Ferguson accused his Manchester United players of being too soft and warned them that their futures were on the line after the faltering champions lost to Liverpool for the fourth successive time yesterday.

The 3-1 defeat at Anfield left United in sixth place in the Premiership and Ferguson warned: 'Maybe some players have been at this club too long.'

Even though he is in his final season in charge, Ferguson made it clear he is prepared to wield the axe after seeing two-goal Michael Owen punish a glaring mistake by goalkeeper Fabien Barthez to seal Liverpool's victory.

Ferguson said: 'There is no question that the aspect of our game that concerns me most is that opposing sides are showing a greater desire than us. The trend has been evident for a while now. The Lille game on Wednesday identified it for me.

'They are similar to Liverpool. They play with a hunger. They hunt the ball, just like Liverpool do, and we have been found wanting. Again, today, Liverpool worked much harder than we did. They were the better team and we got what we deserved.

'Individual errors have haunted us all season and continued to do so with Liverpool's third goal. But that does not bother me as much as the way Liverpool worked harder than us. We seem to be taking success for granted and I'm not having that. I don't think the players will have enjoyed a result like that. Will they respond? We will see.

'The third goal was a killer for us because we had just pulled a goal back and were starting to think about our game.

'Liverpool are where we were four years ago and are going to be a big threat to everyone at the top of the table. Their work ethic is a great foundation for success.'