It’s hard to pick out the moment that Manchester United’s humiliation at Anfield reached its peak, but it may well have been at a time when second half hadn’t even kicked off.
As Martin Atkinson waited to get his technical issues fixed, the two sets of players asked for a ball to be kicked on to keep warm.
Mohamed Salah was the first to make the demand and as Liverpool’s players zipped the ball around, United’s beaten team stood motionless with the ball still in the centre of the pitch for five or six seconds before deciding they should do the same.
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But as those United players exchanged passes the Kop belted out ‘ole’ every time one found its intended target. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that United had barely had a decent look at the match ball in the first half.
Towards the end of those first 45 minutes, the Liverpool fans sang of how “they played the s***e on a Tuesday night and they hardly touched the ball”. Now they had their own to play with. What a treat.
It didn’t last long. Once Atkinson’s communications were back online United were back to chasing shadows.
The verdicts from Anfield will either focus on Liverpool’s brilliance or how abysmal this United side are and both judgements are accurate.
Liverpool didn’t so much demolish United as just toy with them. It was like a team of pussycats forever chasing a ball that would remain tantalisingly out of reach and generally it was the masterful Thiago Alcantara pulling the strings.
The 31-year-old controlled the midfield at Anfield, finding passes that rarely looked on and threading the ball between the statuesque figures of Nemanja Matic and Bruno Fernandes.
How United could do with a midfielder who has a mastery of the ball like Thiago does. It could even have been Thiago, of course.
United wanted to sign him in 2013 but David Moyes didn’t and not for the first time the club bowed to the demands of a manager who would be gone within the year. A reminder that this humbling season has been nine years in the making.
United lacked the hunger and the commitment to really trouble Liverpool at Anfield, but this defeat wasn’t a shock. Liverpool simply have better footballers, a better manager and a better structure. They are a considerably better football club right now.
This was a group of players in complete unison, signed to play for a manager who has a clear and unrelenting philosophy.
They were playing a ragtag bunch signed on the whims of a series of unsuccessful managers and by an executive vice-chairman in thrall to superstars. This football club has been a shambles for too long, overseen by absentee landlords who couldn’t care less if they’re successful or not as long as they’re profitable.
To think that 15 months ago United came to Anfield top of the Premier League. That was in a season played behind closed doors, offering an unrealistic view of where teams stood and while Liverpool - champions at the time - were suffering a desperate injury crisis.
At that time there was some wishful thinking that the guard had changed. On Tuesday night United were further from the coattails of their great rivals than they may ever have been.
Across two games against Jurgen Klopp’s side this season they have lost 9-0 and been completely, utterly humiliated.
But this isn’t just about this season. It’s about nine years of allowing amateurs and egomaniacs to run Manchester United Football Club. Until that changes, nothing else will.
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