As wake-up calls go, this was as brutal, shameful and humiliating as it gets.
Before the game, Erik ten Hag said he was confident his Manchester United players would thrive in the hostile environment that awaited them at Anfield. Having based his recruitment last summer on players with character and personality, Ten Hag was adamant United could handle the occasion at the home of their fiercest rivals.
“You find the type who are humble and cooperative in the dressing room, but when they are on the pitch, they take responsibility,” said Ten Hag. “I can sit on the bench composed because I know the players will do the job and deal with the situation.”
For much of this season, United's players have endorsed those words, with statement wins over Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Barcelona, albeit all of them at Old Trafford. But there is no hiding place in the biggest fixture in English football, and it was United who were found wanting when it mattered, leaving Ten Hag unable to sit composed on the bench as he watched his side get ripped apart.
On such big-game occasions, managers looked to their most experienced players for leadership, to step up when it matters and deliver for their team when the pressure is at its most intense. Yet United's big players went AWOL – David De Gea, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, even the tenaciously reliable Lisandro Martinez - all of them wilted in the Anfield cauldron.
This was a return to the dark days at the start of Ten Hag's reign, when United lost their opening two Premier League games of the season - to Brighton and Brentford - to sit bottom of the table. Ironically, it was United's next game, at home to Liverpool, that proved the catalyst for their spectacular revival under Ten Hag - a 2-1 win at Old Trafford the turning point in a season of formidable progress, until now.
What went wrong for Manchester United at Anfield? Have your say in the comments!
But this return fixture against their old foes was a stark reminder that United remain a work in progress and that all the talk of a title tilt was aways premature. Ten Hag may have turned them back into top-four contenders and ended their six-year trophy wait with the Carabao Cup, but there are still vulnerabilities that can be ruthlessly exposed, as Liverpool did to the delight of their jubilant fans.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been here before himself and will be able to offer Ten Hag some wise counsel in the coming days. Back in November 2001, when United were humbled 3-1 at Anfield, Ferguson threatened to let the visiting fans into the away dressing room to vent their fury at their woeful team.
Ten Hag must have felt like doing something similar, as he watched a side that had lost just once in their previous 22 games in all competitions capitulate so meekly. High up in the stands, Ferguson, who faced Liverpool 63 times in his glittering United reign, shook his head in disbelief at the horror show that unfolded and the ease with which his former side were so easily dismantled.
The next few days will be painful for United, with the inquest into such a seismic loss. Ten Hag made some big calls and showed his mettle by turning United around after losing his first two games. Now he must do so again.
