Well, then: what have you got? It was the only question that needed to be answered by the team that once looked capable of conquering Europe but now cracks as easily as a soft, autumn conker.
Turns out Liverpool had nothing. Zero. All they could offer was 90 minutes of nothingness as an attacking force and 90 minutes of calamity in defence, the kind of toxic combination that pushes men in Arne Slot’s position towards the point of no return.
‘This is a shock for everyone,’ he said, solemnly, after PSV Eindhoven inflicted the joint-heaviest defeat Liverpool have suffered in 50 years of European combat; it was 4-1 at the end and there was nothing flattering about the margin of victory.
But is it a shock? It shouldn’t be. Results of this nature seem to be happening every week and this was the third consecutive game they have lost by three or more goals, equalling a feat they last suffered in December 1953.
They were relegated in that campaign and while it’s dramatic to say they will be fighting to keep their heads above water next May, it is hard to shake the feeling Slot is up against it. He looked paralysed as PSV scored their fourth goal went in, a man stood on train tracks with lights hurtling towards him.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, PSV’s exultant supporters sang but this run of form is abysmal, a flashback to the final throes of Brendan Rodgers’s final full campaign in 2014-15, when Liverpool were often carved and diced.
Arne Slot was looking at the turf as if hoping it would swallow him up on another dismal night
Hapless Liverpool lost at home by three goals against PSV in the Champions League
Ibou Konate and Co suffered the latest low of an awful season and are now in crisis mode
Such dreadful form affects the atmosphere. It wasn’t expected that Anfield would crackle for a night such as this but, even still, you could feel an unusual level of tension and apprehension, creeping around the stands before eventually slithering on to the pitch and clinging to the players.
The first five minutes left everyone wide-eyed in disbelief and set the tone. There were only 76 seconds on the clock when Giorgi Mamardashvili stood on the edge of his area, looking for movement from Red statues, but heard a growl rise behind from the impatient mass on The Kop.
Possession was squandered with a long ball forward, PSV came forward and won a corner. Szoboszlai galloped back and barked at Mamardashvili, while others pointed fingers at each other. It wasn’t the look of a settled team and, accordingly, it wasn’t a surprise when they slipped up.
Virgil van Dijk hectored referee Alejandro Hernandez to say he had been fouled while handling the next corner but he was a guilty as child being found with his hand in the biscuit tin: Ivan Perisic, the Croatian warhorse still going strong at the age of 36, swept home a nerveless penalty.
Some of the locals shrieked with dismay, others got on their feet to encourage. Ibou Konate waved his arms frantically, asking Anfield not to turn its back, which took some doing given this was the tenth – yes, that’s right, tenth – time Liverpool had conceded the first goal since September 27.
A better team than PSV would have clamped its jaws on Liverpool’s throat at this point. Everything about the hosts was fragile and in the ninth minute, when Mamardashvili stood with the ball at his feet again and saw statues in the same place, the decibel increase for the growls was stark.
That’s the thing that seems to have been forgotten. During a decade of wonderful football and outstanding achievements, it has slipped everyone’s mind that when results are bad and performances are wretched, it is a huge challenge for a Liverpool player to get on the ball.
Cody Gakpo looks exasperated after missing a simple header in the second half
Hugo Ekitike’s injury was another blow on a nightmare evening for the Reds
There were wild scenes of celebration for the Dutch side who deserved their victory
‘Anfield tells the story,’ said Steven Gerrard, up in the punditry box. ‘The seats were empty with 10 minutes to go, as soon as the third goal went in.’
Briefly there was a response. In one of the few passages of play when passes stuck, Alexis Mac Allister invited Cody Gakpo to scuttle forward, his shot was palmed away by Matej Kovar but Szoboszlai was perfectly placed to pop the rebound into an empty net.
Alles es gut, Slot will ask in his native tongue but, right now, everything is not fine. The impetus that Liverpool should have taken from equalising wasn’t there.
Van Dijk headed against the bar, Ekitike forced a save from Kovar and then had a shot (turned down) for a penalty but that was it.
You are so accustomed to whirlwinds here on a European night, inferior teams demolished in frenzies of fast football, but the thing that is so apparent about Liverpool now is the predictability and the slovenly pace. Why don’t they hunt or defend in packs any longer?
Liverpool’s stars looked as though they had nothing left to give on a chastening night
Couhaib Driouech celebrates scoring the third goal of the game for PSV in their rout
Where Mo Salah, Slot and Liverpool go from here is hard to know but this was the nadir
For a team that has been so expensively assembled, they look bang average and there could not be a more damning indictment of this situation.
This has been the equivalent of buying a Grade II listed building and painting the walls garish pink while paving over the landscape garden.
Fittingly, PSV took a steamroller to them. The second goal, the killer, was provided by Guus Til in the 56th minute who had all the time in the world to run through and hold off Milos Kerkez after Konate made a hash of a clearance. He was substituted shortly after.
The third by Couhaib Driouech, who couldn’t believe the time he had to turn a shot in and PSV’s substitute completed the rout in injury time. By that point, the stadium was practically empty and Slot was a man on his own. It’s a long way back from here.
