'United weren't just beaten here. They were outsmarted, outmuscled, outpaced, subjected to the kind of rout they routinely inflict on the rest of the Premier League,' declares The Telegraph on Sunday's Jim White. 'When Andrea Dossena chipped Edwin van der Sar to score the visitor's fourth in injury time, United's fortress echoed to the clack of emptying seats, a noise that almost drowned out the delirious cackle emanating from the Liverpool followers of "we want five".'
'So who says the title, and a clean sweep of all the honours, is a shoo-in for Manchester United now?' asks The Sunday Times' Joe Lovejoy. 'After humiliating Real Madrid in midweek, Liverpool scored four again at Old Trafford yesterday and, to borrow Sir Alex Ferguson's memorable phrase, it really is "squeaky bum time" for United now.'
'It may take even more than this to stop the Manchester United juggernaut, but Rafa Benitez's Merseyside scallies yesterday inflicted a nasty enough dent to require remedial work by Sir Alex Ferguson. His team are still four points clear of Liverpool, with an away game at Wigan in hand, and should the champions go on, as must still be expected, to retain their title, United's manager may look back on this as a useful corrective to the sort of complacency he has never tolerated,' argues The Independent on Sunday's Steven Tongue.
Paul Hayward, writing in The Observer, claims to have seen the seeds of United's slump on Wednesday night:
'Against Internazionale in midweek, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs took a managerial rocket for their profligacy with the ball. Surrendering possession is a felony here and United were guilty of it often enough against Italy's champions to suggest that a rampant run of victories was drawing to a close.'
Of Saturday's game, he concludes: 'To the neutral it felt as if a remorseless machine had been halted, if only for a few days, and that Liverpool have recovered their poise after a couple of months of creeping neurosis. The title race became a test of character again instead of a procession.'
Colleague Andy Hunter, meanwhile, muses on what might have been for Liverpool: 'Fernando Torres's suspect hamstrings are not an excuse for Liverpool squandering the initiative in the title race. They are, as Rafael BenÃtez is so fond of stating, a fact. And Anfield would harbour more than an outside chance of becoming home to the Premier League title had they remained intact this season.'
It's a point repeated by Jonathan Northcroft in The Sunday Times.
'Liverpool's problem has been not getting their fearsome twosome on the field together often enough. Injuries have blighted Torres' campaign in particular and yesterday was only the ninth time in this season's Premier League that the pair have started a game together. Their side's record in those matches reads won six, drawn three, lost none and the two have scored 12 goals - Torres eight, Gerrard four.
'Benitez might be in charge of a team leading the league rather than - for all yesterday's efforts - one chasing a familiar foe had he been able to use the tandem more often.'
'Fact: Fernando Torres is the finest striker in world football on current form,' announces The Independent on Sunday's Ian Herbert. 'Torres is an individual whose display will live long in the memory here, with United's own failed pursuit of the player before Benitez picked up the telephone and drew on his nationality to hire him in the summer of 2007 just another reason for despair'.
'So who says the title, and a clean sweep of all the honours, is a shoo-in for Manchester United now?' asks The Sunday Times' Joe Lovejoy. 'After humiliating Real Madrid in midweek, Liverpool scored four again at Old Trafford yesterday and, to borrow Sir Alex Ferguson's memorable phrase, it really is "squeaky bum time" for United now.'
'It may take even more than this to stop the Manchester United juggernaut, but Rafa Benitez's Merseyside scallies yesterday inflicted a nasty enough dent to require remedial work by Sir Alex Ferguson. His team are still four points clear of Liverpool, with an away game at Wigan in hand, and should the champions go on, as must still be expected, to retain their title, United's manager may look back on this as a useful corrective to the sort of complacency he has never tolerated,' argues The Independent on Sunday's Steven Tongue.
Paul Hayward, writing in The Observer, claims to have seen the seeds of United's slump on Wednesday night:
'Against Internazionale in midweek, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs took a managerial rocket for their profligacy with the ball. Surrendering possession is a felony here and United were guilty of it often enough against Italy's champions to suggest that a rampant run of victories was drawing to a close.'
Of Saturday's game, he concludes: 'To the neutral it felt as if a remorseless machine had been halted, if only for a few days, and that Liverpool have recovered their poise after a couple of months of creeping neurosis. The title race became a test of character again instead of a procession.'
Colleague Andy Hunter, meanwhile, muses on what might have been for Liverpool: 'Fernando Torres's suspect hamstrings are not an excuse for Liverpool squandering the initiative in the title race. They are, as Rafael BenÃtez is so fond of stating, a fact. And Anfield would harbour more than an outside chance of becoming home to the Premier League title had they remained intact this season.'
It's a point repeated by Jonathan Northcroft in The Sunday Times.
'Liverpool's problem has been not getting their fearsome twosome on the field together often enough. Injuries have blighted Torres' campaign in particular and yesterday was only the ninth time in this season's Premier League that the pair have started a game together. Their side's record in those matches reads won six, drawn three, lost none and the two have scored 12 goals - Torres eight, Gerrard four.
'Benitez might be in charge of a team leading the league rather than - for all yesterday's efforts - one chasing a familiar foe had he been able to use the tandem more often.'
'Fact: Fernando Torres is the finest striker in world football on current form,' announces The Independent on Sunday's Ian Herbert. 'Torres is an individual whose display will live long in the memory here, with United's own failed pursuit of the player before Benitez picked up the telephone and drew on his nationality to hire him in the summer of 2007 just another reason for despair'.
