COMMENT: Was this the moment? Was this the time, with the final whistle blown, that Liverpool and Manchester United passed eachother on football's escalator? One on the way up, the other going down?
Still alive in Europe, Liverpool march on. A place in next season's Champions League still to play for. That would be twice in three seasons the Reds will have made the game's elite competition. In contrast, United are staring down a second season in three of missing out. Were United fans a witness to their future on Thursday night?
In any case, this was Liverpool's night. A club with direction. A team with purpose. And led by a manager who 'gets it', as Ian Ayre, the club's managing director, said of Jurgen Klopp this week.
From before kickoff, Klopp never left the touchline. He knew the importance of a United v Liverpool game. He knew what his presence on the touchline meant not just for the Liverpool players, but also the away support. They could see him. He could see them. And when Philippe Coutinho dinked his wonder goal over David de Gea, the German's first actions were to turn to the Liverpool fans and celebrate together. Yeah, he gets it...
Liverpool, with Klopp, is everything United are not. The manager is someone whom players the world over want to play for. A first signing for next season - Joel Matip - is already in the can. The Schalke defender was being mentioned with Bayern Munich and Manchester City. But the chance to work with Klopp - at Liverpool - clinched his signature to a pre-contract.
That talk of Coutinho being tempted away by Barcelona has faded. Roberto Firmino is now surpassing the form he showed at Hoffenheim. At Anfield it was Firmino who made the difference. On Thursday at Old Trafford it was Coutinho. The Brazilian pair, under Klopp, are playing the best football of their careers. They'd be coveted by every major club in Europe. But the idea of either of them leaving a Klopp-led dressing room, just doesn't come into reckoning.
Klopp's playing style of 'heavy metal football', the gegenpressing, leaves no-one second guessing about where he's trying to take his team. It honours the ideals of English football. It is made for the Premier League and is embraced across the country and around the world. There's a purpose to their play. And even if it doesn't work at times, the Reds support can still see - and accept - what Klopp's trying to do.
There's a stability at Liverpool. A clear direction. Driven by the manager - supported and embraced by the players. And most importantly, a clear strategy fans can understand and rally behind.
There will be hurdles Klopp must overcome. Not the least with the Liverpool board and their obsession over the Moneyball theory. The German needs to be allowed to sign his preferred players. Klopp's reign will live or die on Liverpool's work in the transfer market. He can't give up control to the faceless laptop wizards.
The addition of James Milner does suggest some softening on Liverpool's reliance of stats and analysis when it comes to new additions. But Milner was a Bosman deal and if Klopp feels an Ashley Williams-type is needed, he must be backed by the board. You just wonder where Liverpool - and Brendan Rodgers - would be if the Swansea City captain was on the books. Klopp can't allow himself to go the same way as his predecessor.
On Thursday at Old Trafford, Klopp gave Liverpool fans the chance to dream again. The lifelong Reds fan has the Kop again believing.
The Champions League push is still on. And at the expense of their most bitter rivals. You don't have to explain the importance to this manager... he gets it.
INJURY TIME
Liverpool shouldn't go like-for-like when it comes to replacing Ian Ayre. The club's managing director announced this week he was stepping down after nine years at Anfield.
A success in the commercial sector of the club, where he's increased revenue by 85 per cent, Ayre has fallen short as the club's de facto football director. Alexis Sanchez, Willian and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were among the high profile transfer failures during his time in charge.
With the Premier League now in such a state of flux, being capable of getting such deals over the line has never been so important. An experienced, hard-nosed football director is what's needed. Scrap the transfer committee and have Jurgen Klopp work in partnership with a transfer expert, a genuine football man.
And it could open the door to Klopp's eventual successor.
The opportunity is there for Liverpool to follow Manchester City or Real Madrid's example. At City, Patrick Vieira learned the ins-and-outs of the transfer market working alongside Brian Marwood. At Real, Zinedine Zidane stuck close to Jose Angel Sanchez as he familiarised himself with the market's inner workings.
At Liverpool, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler or even Steven Gerrard can get on that first rung of the managerial ladder by working as an assistant to an experienced football director. Major clubs across Europe are now going down this path. Even Carles Puyol, ahead of becoming an agent, had six months at Barcelona alongside Andoni Zubizarreta before his dismissal.
But none of this is achievable with Liverpool relying on a transfer committee.
