TERRACE TALK: Liverpool - A performance to make us dream that anything is possible

Well, perspective didn’t last long did it?

Defeat against Palace brought us down to earth with a thump and the hideous events in Paris made it feel for a while that nothing else really mattered.

No not even football — if you can believe such a thing.

I went to hundreds of gigs when I was a lad but never with the fear that I might get shot.

That’s a modern phenom you can keep right there. There was one night watching Dire Straits when I wish someone had, mind.

Too soon? You’re right, but humour often insulates people from the horrors of life.

That’s infinitely preferable to those who insulate themselves from the notion that these actually are horrific events.

“Grief junkies”. Lovely phrase that isn’t it, often directed at Scousers and nearly always of Mancunian or Cockney origin.

It basically reduces decency to an obsession with emoting for the hell of it.

It’s almost become a national term over here now, redefining the English stiff upper lip as proof of emotional torpor, evidence of a life lived permanently in moral twilight.

So then, when the rest of the country digs out its tricolours and stands for La Marseillaise — forgetting all previous cracks about ‘surrender monkeys’ for a few precious seconds — it gets a bit much for people from my part of the world to take the hypocrisy.

Best not to think of it really, pay your respects and move on.

Things will be back to normal soon enough. Not that City 1 Liverpool 4 can in any way be described as normality.

This was a brilliant performance; easily the best since Arsenal got battered at Anfield and made us dream for a while that anything was possible.

Were City appalling? It felt more like rampant ego and complacency, which given where they’ve come from is quite staggering. Too much dithering in possession, waiting for the referee to blow when even Coutinho muscled them off the ball.

Arms were always going up for offside decisions that never came. Since Sterling was on their side this time that was ironic.

It must have been damned annoying too, given the disgraceful decision from two years back (elephants and Liverpool fans never forget).

Regretfully I spent the game shouting “you little ****ing rat” at the little ****ing rat — even after the goals. I am not a forgiving person.

No doubt this was only a blip in City and Sterling’s journey to further triumph but for one night it felt good to recall times when Liverpool did this every year in Manchester. Well, at City anyway... if they actually were top-flight…

This is getting rather bitter. I told you perspective never lasts long. Focusing on us, Rodgers must have seethed when no forwards/three attacking midfielders worked well at Chelsea. He’ll have been apoplectic after this.

We all knew it wouldn’t be as simple as the first 40 minutes made it seem. Aguero’s goal set alarm bells ringing a bit, especially as it was so typically avoidable.

It began to feel as if Gegenpress was German for “run yourselves into the ground after one half”. Fortunately City, and especially Aguero, didn’t have the energy to exploit it and if anything the Reds should have run up a cricket score.

Funny with the massive German/Brazil influence on show, because that first half felt like the World Cup semi-final — 5-0 at half time would not have flattered us, either.

Firmino could blame Hart for not getting a hat-trick in the end but let’s not pretend his finishing doesn’t need work. He had a storming game apart from that, so did Lallana and Coutinho. Emre Can was magnificent. No, he was, really.

We get bored praising Lucas now and fair play to Milner for digging out a colossal performance and not hiding which might have been understandable given his years at the Etihad.

Had that horrendous back pass resulted in a second goal for Aguero, we might have been singing a different tune.

But it didn’t, and Skrtel’s thunderbolt triggered an extremely loud name check for Steven Gerrard. City’s constant harping on about that slip does carry a hint of small-time about it, like they really still can’t believe what’s happened to them over recent years.

Without putting a dampener on what was obviously a brilliant day, remember Kenny won at Chelsea. Three times!

He also won at Stoke and Arsenal and Everton. Oh, and City.

Fat lot of good it did him.

Liverpool have put that horrendous away start to the season behind them now.

It’s accumulating the points they ought to win which has been the problem so far.

So Jurgen, thrashing City is all very lovely. How about three points at Anfield now and again, if you really can work miracles?