Paul Scholes' pause for thought was such a lengthy one that it was unclear if he had in fact heard the question that had just been put to him.
The Manchester United legend was staring out onto the Anfield pitch at nothing in particular in mid-April as he mulled over his response. With his team trailing 2-0 at the home of their most fearsome enemy, Scholes, for a few seconds at least, was lost for words.
Luis Diaz had fizzed with intent, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah had run their opposition ragged and Thiago Alcantara was on an entirely different plane to anyone in the pale blue of the away strip. So just what Liverpool player would Scholes pick to inject some life into the most listless United team of the modern era? After much deliberation, as the second half of Jurgen Klopp's side's eventual 4-0 win approached, the answer finally came.
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"Can I only have one?" he asked. "The problem is, I'd want at least f****** nine of them!"
Scholes would eventually settle on Virgil van Dijk as the one Liverpool player of his choice, but like the former England midfielder stated, the options are plentiful for a United side who would end the season on their knees.
Liverpool and United remain the two biggest football clubs in England, without question, and they are quite feasibly two of the top five on the planet, but right now, they are worlds apart on the pitch. And as the two prepare to meet some 6,000 miles away from the North West of England on Tuesday, the different junctures the two find themselves at has rarely been greater; particularly in Liverpool's favour.
The glamourous, all-singing, all-dancing friendly fixture at the Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand on July 12 is something both clubs have been keen to pencil into the pre-season diaries for sometime. Last year, there were briefly plans to play two summer exhibitions at Old Trafford and Anfield once fans were given the green light to return to football stadia across the country.
Having been unable to earn anything significant in terms of match-day revenue since the early months of 2020, it was hoped - by both sets of club officials - that a double-header would be something of a money-spinner. However, those plans were forcibly shelved thanks to the protests from United's fans before the Premier League meeting in April of last year when the fixture had to be postponed as a result of supporters angrily storming Old Trafford over the Glazer family's ownership.
So the meeting at the Rajamangala is one that has, in effect, been years in the making. One that both clubs hope will be the highwater mark of a lucrative few days out in the Far East.
Liverpool flew out on Saturday for their first long-haul pre-season tour since before the pandemic when they visited the United States as the recently-crowned champions of Europe. The last two summers have seen the Reds prepare closer to home, with friendlies on UK soil and training camps in the idyllic surroundings of quiet and secluded parts of Austria and France, playing behind-closed-doors matches.
Those kinds of low-key preparations, away from the spotlight, will no doubt have been something that manager Klopp enjoyed ahead of a gruelling season fighting for silverware both home and abroad. There will be an element of that still in the mix this summer with trips to Germany and Austria again, but the return of the long-haul tour is a boon for the hierarchy at Anfield after two summers without.
It's no secret that Klopp favours the European leg of pre-season tours at the club. It's one he views as 'his week' when the efforts to whip his players into shape goes up several notches as the season approaches.
There is an acceptance from the backroom team that a club the size of Liverpool FC simply has to embark on trips that take them thousands of miles away from Merseyside, however. The commercial benefits can be huge even if the real plans for the campaign take shape closer to home.
Long distance journeys have been something of a staple of elite Premier League clubs since United visited Asia regularly in the late 1990s and into the 2000s under Alex Ferguson. Giving teams more visibility and a physical presence in emerging markets with huge scope for revenue growth is something that enhances the brand of a football club and its marketability. Whether it is the retail boom, appearance fees for friendly matches or the ability to connect with new commercial partners in different territories, it has been a welcome revenue stream pre-campaign for some years now.
For Liverpool it has been no different. The Reds don't put specific figures on the money that is derived from pre-season activities, although a look at United, who do itemise the figures, and their 2019/20 accounts, showed they brought in £12.9m in revenues from their exhibition tour to Australia in the summer of 2019.
Liverpool's bottom line is likely just shy of that total, but having not been able to connect physically with their supporter base overseas since the pandemic, the trip to Southeast Asia is vital for ensuring that their legions of fans in the region remain engaged with the club, something that is enormously valuable in the short and long term.
The Reds' ability to bring in major sums from their commercial activity is based on several factors: their history, current success on the field and the strength of the brand globally. Liverpool have a number of commercial partners based in Asia that are extremely lucrative and, being able to get out and tour the regions those sponsors are based in, means the club is likely to see its busiest pre-season schedule away from the field as it looks to try and make up for lost time and deliver to sponsors, and also appeal to potential new commercial partners.
It's understood there is a determination to further the growth in these markets this summer as Liverpool seek to capitalise on their period of success under Klopp. It's perhaps one of the key reasons CEO Billy Hogan is flying out with the contingent.
It's just the second time since Klopp signed on nearly seven years ago that Liverpool have visited this region of the world and they return as a totally different prospect to the one that saw them fly in with a wantaway Philippe Coutinho as the headline issue five years ago. Back then, they were fresh off Klopp guiding the team to a top-four finish and Salah had just joined. In 2022, the Reds arrive in a much stronger position on the pitch, which in turn will allow them to boost their commercial operations significantly.
Fans, sponsors and the media want a piece of Liverpool when they head to Southeast Asia and it will be something of a whistle-stop tour as the club try and cram in two games, player appearances, fan events and commercial activities in a short space of time.
Making such long journeys may seem unnecessarily arduous to undertake ahead of a punishing Premier League and Champions League campaign, but for clubs the size of the Reds, they are vital to not only consolidate their global brands but to increase them, which in turn leads to greater revenues arriving into the club. Further on down the line that turns into money for player wages and transfer fees.
This year is even more important, however. It is no secret that a major motivating factor for these trips is to help generate more money and increase the strength of the brand, which increases the strength of revenues from the region.
Liverpool have a hectic time awaiting them in the Far East. Current partners who have not been able to get the full benefits of their deals due to Covid will want quality time, as will potential commercial partners. The FA Cup and League Cup holders also have to meet obligations for their adoring fans with personal appearances. A number of club legends are heading out on the tour to help with some of those obligations. It is a relentless period of activity for those behind the scenes in terms of maintaining partnerships and building new ones, and any ideas of having the time for sightseeing are very much off the agenda.
A key part of dispatching a contingent of former stars out on these tours now is to relieve the responsibility on first-team members where the commercial exercises are concerned. Klopp's players will only have to concern themselves with getting fit for the new campaign and the bulk of the off-the-field work will be handled by the likes of Jose Enrique, Luis Garcia, Sami Hyypia and Vladimir Smicer.
While the value of their tours may not have been at Manchester United levels in previous years, the continued progression of Liverpool on the field and the Red Devils' steady regression means that there has never been a better time to present themselves to such a massive audience as now as they seek to take some of their rivals' share of the audience in commercially valuable territories.
After all, the two giants of English football head across the other side of the world in wildly contrasting states. United are fresh off their worst-ever Premier League finish and have hit the reset button once more with the appointment of Erik ten Hag. That Klopp will come up against his fifth different United boss since he joined in October 2015 is highly indicative of the differences in fortunes at either end of the M62 in recent years.
United so far have been unable to land a telling blow in the transfer market under new CEO Richard Arnold. Tyrell Malacia has arrived from Feyenoord in a relatively modest £13m deal but they find themselves once again mired in another summer transfer saga; this time for Frenkie De Jong, with Barcelona unwilling to allow the Netherlands midfielder to leave without a fight.
There is also the unwanted problem of Cristiano Ronaldo to resolve for Ten Hag and Arnold this summer. The Red Devils' most marketable player and biggest global star is desperate to move and the fact that he won't be part of the tour will be a huge blow for the club's commercial aspirations in Thailand, even if there is a credible football argument to be made over the long-term benefits of offloading the 37-year-old.
For their part, Liverpool have no such problems and head out on the tour with £64m Darwin Nunez ready to take his first tentative steps as a Reds player. He will be one of the biggest storylines out in Thailand and Singapore as Liverpool fans look to get a fleeting glimpse of a player who could yet become the most expensive of all time at Anfield. Klopp, it is understood, has made no real decision over how much involvement his new striker will have, however, as they look to create a new style of play with a target man leading the line.
The return of pre-season tours is another box ticked on the way back to normality for football, and for Liverpool it will be something that is reflected when they produced their accounts for the 2022/23 period.
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