The end result was disappointingly familiar, but this was a very different spanking at Anfield from our usual outings there. We were decently competitive in the first half, and they really turned it on in the second half to ultimately blow us away.
I can take more heart from that than when they race to a 3 or 4 goal lead inside half an hour then ease off and save their energy, like we often allow them to do, and as they did against Man Utd the other week.
We already knew we were a way off their level, and this performance was nowhere near as dire as I feared it could have been. As long as the squad can learn and not have too much confidence sapped, it will hopefully be more a blip than a crashing down to earth.