Now that it's out of the way, we can talk about Liverpool's 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford. I'd written about it a few times before. My colleague Sean had as well, but United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjr has kept the flimsiest of balances to save his job. There have been a few times in the last three seasons when it felt like United would be over if they lost. And just as the axe was ready to fall, he'd Crisco his way out of the guillotine with a miraculous victory.

This week appeared to be another one in which a decision would be made. United were thrashed 4-2 by Leceister on Saturday, and for the most part appeared disorganised and uninterested. Their defence resembled that of a daycare centre, and the goals they scored were the result of individual genius rather than teamwork. As has been the case throughout Solskjr's presidency. With a crucial Champions League match against Atalanta looming and then a home match against Liverpool, it wasn't a stretch to predict that if they lost both, Ole would call it a day.


 

And that appeared to be the case at halftime on Wednesday. Atalanta had a two-goal lead in Manchester, and United didn't appear to be a threat. But this is Solskjr's United, therefore they'll go for the temporary high regardless of the long-term consequences. They are addicts. They made a three-goal comeback, capped off by Cristiano Ronaldo's injury-time winner. The war dogs would still be kept on a leash. They were on a roll coming into their matchup with their fiercest rival. Even a hard-fought defeat would have ensured Solskjr's safety, demonstrating that United were not so far away.

The truth is that Liverpool were not at their best. United were able to bypass or get past Liverpool's midfield, which was rather open due to the lack of Fabinho to anchor it and Jordan Henderson moonlighting as the defensive holder, with the score still 1-0 or 2-0. There were openings in United's defence once they could send the ball straight to their four attackers. Bruno Fernandes squandered a fantastic opportunity early in the game. When it was only 1-0, Marcus Rashford nearly missed.

United's difficulty was that they only had six defenders, four attackers, and no one in the middle, with no plan to connect them. Between United's attack and their defence, you could have landed an airliner. That meant Liverpool could do whatever they pleased in the park's core. Take a look at how simple this is:

With the ball, no United player goes within a yard of any Liverpool player. There is no mutual assistance. Aaron Wan-Bissaka almost pushed Diogo Jota to the bench, but not quite. Harry Maguire just half-steps up to chase down Roberto Firmino, leaving an acre for Salah to run into and Luke Shawk alone. This is a group of four defenders who are all doing their own thing.

We could go on, and believe me, I really want to, but this was the story the entire game: Mo Salah easily rushes by three United players to be first at the near-post, after Rashford, Fred, and Scott McTominay paw at trying to close down like a kitten: Liverpool found the ball all over the field and knew precisely what they wanted to do with it, flooding Fred and McTominay's places with Firmino dropping into midfield, their fullbacks getting high with no one tracking them, and their two advanced midfielders splitting toward the sideline as well. United's strategy was to pass the ball to their forwards and hope that they would figure something out on their own. Jordan Henderson even had time to strip Paul Pogba clean at the midfield line like he was shucking an oyster, and then curl this Rembrandt to Salah for his hat trick.

Pogba had an eventful afternoon, coming on at halftime, getting undressed for Liverpool's sixth goal, and then being sent off 10 minutes later for a dreadful foul on Naby Keta. And if you think that was a rare instance of United's poise resembling that of a kid, Ronaldo should have been sent off at halftime for simply kicking Curtis Jones and blaming it on the ball.

Nothing better exemplifies United's desire to scrape by on fleeting highs and barely scrape by instead of investing in long-term development than Ronaldo. From up the field, he merely watched as their midfield was viciously vaporised. He can't help United where they need it most, but those headlines when he signed were insane. Those game-saving goals that United shouldn't have to work so hard for in the first place. He generates a lot of buzz and offers a lot of relaxation, but he offers no real solutions. Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho, a $100 million man, is unable to play, despite the fact that he was the player Solskjr needed the most.

If this isn't the end for Solskjr, where does he go from here? Perhaps it's enough for the Glazers to produce just enough moments and headlines to convince just enough people that a dawn is on the way without actually doing the work to create one, or hiring someone to rattle enough cages to generate one. We'll find out in the coming days.