A 1245 kickoff, but a bus at 1300, meant I would miss much of the first half. By the time it ended I wished I had missed both halves, or at least not left United Park the previous evening where the Drogs put up a better fight than the Reds. Liverpool were simply overwhelmed. Not only that, once Van Dijk was marginally off the pace, causing him to give away a clear penalty - not for the first time this season - Liverpool put in yet another troubling underwhelming performance. Much like it has been throughout the second year of Arne Slot's reign.
The scoreline was still 0-0 by the time I arrived home. Liverpool seemed to be playing well but then that penalty, rightly awarded against the Liverpool captain, heralded the start of the rot. Take nothing away from Manchester City. They were dazzling, some of their goals pure brilliance. The gap between them and Liverpool is something we might expect to see between a top Premier League outfit and an opponent from the Championship. That is worrying. Liverpool more resemble Spurs than they do a serious contender for silverware.
At 4-0 behind, I said to my son that it would do no harm to see them beaten by seven goals with nothing offered in return, about more later. Mo Salah at least was determined to ensure that end of the equation, squandering his best opportunity of the match with a penalty kick, easily gathered by the City keeper. Somebody described it as the most predictable penalty miss in years. It was a measure of how the Salah star has fizzled out as one of the all time greats of the Premier League has gone from hero to zero. I have little sympathy for him. His exorbitant wage demands, which the club agreed to in order to extend his contract, should have been reciprocated with top class performances. He took a lot and gave little. Even his performative petulance after being dropped a few months ago because of underperforming, was delivered much like his penalty. A bin man, nurse, accountant or shop assistant carrying out their task as ineptly as Salah, no matter how good they had been in the past, would be shown the door by their employer, with no possibility of winning an unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal hearing. When he goes at the end of the season he should consider donating this season's wages to the homeless shelters and other agencies that serve to help the city's most disadvantaged.
My reason for preferring a wider margin of victory was that it might have served as a wakeup call that tinkering and tweaking with the players is no longer an option. This is a team that despite having high quality individuals simply cannot function as a collective unit. They are simply free floating and not plugged into the mothership. Arne Slot has proven beyond doubt by now that he is not the man to take Liverpool forward. After last year's success for which he deserves immense praise, he is now leading the club with a white stick, the vision of last season having been progressively weakened by the type of cataracts that no amount of rose tinted spectacles can make right. When a Klopp team would go through a lean spell there was a confidence that he could identify the problem, then fix it. With Slot, he knows there is a problem but seems wholly incapable of identifying let alone fixing it, leading to a conclusion that the problem is not on field but can be located in the technical area which he patrols like a cow in a field watching a train go by. The cow has as much impact on the direction or speed of the train as Slot has on the team.
Salah might be the most notable of the absentees from Quality Street but he is not alone. Van Dijk while only marginally slower and still capable of putting in much better performances than Salah is nevertheless the victim of a truism in the sport. At this level a marginal difference in pace makes all the difference. His reading of the game remains fine but lacking the ability to turn the page is proving a huge impediment in a defensive structure that has looked quite unsteady throughout the season.
Beginning tomorrow evening, we can anticipate an exit from the Champions' League at the hands of last year's winners. This season is a write off. Next will be no better if a real shake up does not take place. Salah departing is a plus but Arne Slot should join him. If Virgil Van Dijk opts to see out the remaining year of his contract, it should not be in the captaincy. Dominik Szoboszlai is the player best placed to fill that role although with his talent the lure of quality abroad might tempt him to leave Anfield. When he looks at how Real Madrid dealt with Manchester City and judges it against Liverpool's sham fight on Saturday, Madrid and its sunny skies must seem a much better option than the dark clouds Merseyside.
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