It's been a long time coming, but finally Liverpool managed to deliver the hammering which Houllier and Thompson have been promising for months.
Whether this result says more about Liverpool's improvement, or just how bad hapless Blackburn were is something which we'll find out in May, but the reds have not had an easier afternoon all season.
Houllier restored El Hadji Diouf and John Arne Riise to the side, whilst Michael Owen returned after missing last weekend's dour goalless draw at Leicester, which meant Milan Baros dropping to the bench. Rather surprisingly, Stephane Henchoz retained his place in the 16 despite having a major falling out with Houllier on Friday.
Before the game I felt that we'd win, but that as usual, it would be tight. After looking at Blackburn's line up ahead of kick off, I changed my mind. I haven't been paying too much attention to Rovers this season, but my impression of them was that they were a pretty good side who were just badly underachieving. When I think of Blackburn, I think of a side which should be pushing for a top six spot.
But then I looked at the starting eleven and realised they are far from being what I thought they were. A centre back pairing of Craig Short and Andy Todd, and a front two of Paul Gallagher and John Stead? Nationwide material if ever I saw it.
Blackburn were utterly dreadful, and their defending in the first half was shambolic. Markus Babbel apart, they were totally out of their depth, so much so that even H*skey sensed this was going to be an easy afternoon and for once actually looked up for the game.
He set up the opening goal for Owen with an unselfish pass, and linked up well with Michael throughout. Diouf also looked sharp in the first half, and his trickery on the right resulted in the second goal when Todd diverted the Senegal man's cross past former red Brad Friedel.
With a two goal advantage so early on, and up against a side who posed no attacking threat whatsoever - they were actually worse than Portsmouth the other week - it was always going to be a case of how many we could get. Owen in particular sensed this was a great chance to boost his goals tally for the season, and he seemed to be really enjoying himself for once.
His second goal arrived courtesy of a Diouf through ball, which Owen lashed home on the half volley from the edge of the area. It was an instinctive piece of finishing, and great to see. Hopefully he'll still be here doing the same thing next season.
The third goal completely ended the game as a contest, and clearly the visitors were like lambs to the slaughter. Had we continued to push forward as we did in the opening half hour, who knows how many we could have scored.
But as is so often the case, we took our foot off the gas, only stepping it up again in the final twenty minutes, when time after time we carved Rovers wide open only to waste glorious opportunities.
Gerrard was the main architect, as he imperiously ran the midfield in the way only he can. Steven said recently that he isn't yet in the same league as Keane or Vieira. I disagree, he is every bit as good as either, in fact he's better. They have the edge in terms of experience and the ability to boss big games, few can dispute that.
But both are assisted by the quality of players arond them. It's easy to boss a game when you have Pires, Ljungberg, Henry and Reyes to give the ball to. Steven doesn't have that luxury, and has to do a lot by himself. When do you see Keane or Vieira making the sort of lung bursting length of the field runs with the ball that Stevie has been doing pretty much all season?
I'd take Stevie over either of them, no question. I bet Ferguson and Wenger would do too. Right now there's no better midfield player in the Premiership. I could say in Europe, but I don't see enough European footy to make that claim. But if there's anyone playing better than him, they must be pretty damn special.
As ever, the skipper was Liverpool's best player. It's reaching the point where the star man goes without saying, so rather than just keep giving it to Gerrard, from now on it's going to be Gerrard and someone else. Today that 'someone else' was Carra, who defended as solidly as ever, and got forward to great effect, especially in the final half an hour.
There was something of an end of season feel about today. To me it felt a bit like a final home game of the season, when everyone is relaxed and there's a bit of a party atmosphere. Of course, that isn't the case. Both teams still have something to play for, although Blackburn's gutless display suggests that if this is how they perform when they need a result, then they're in deep trouble.
Compare Rovers with Wolves. The midlanders dug in, battled and it took a stoppage time goal from a set piece to finally kill them off. Blackburn were a soft touch, which is most unlike a Souness team. When he managed us we may have been shit, but generally we had a bit of fight in us (often a bit too much in fact). His Blackburn side were a pushover though, and by the end of this game the Kop were in fine form.
The half time penalty shoot out set the tone. RAOTL's Andy Knott was light heartedly booed by some on the Kop when his name was announced, and he proceded to prove that Michael Owen is no longer the worst penalty taker to have appeared at Anfield this season, by missing all three spot kicks!
The second half was a stroll for the reds, and for the first twenty minutes or so they appeared to be happy to keep what they had. Hardly a surprise, as you can be sure Houllier's teamtalk will have centred around being disciplined and not conceding rather than just telling them to go out and have some fun.
But the longer it went, the more the players decided to express themselves. Gerrard was sublime, and Kewell came into his own after a below par first half. Murphy replaced Diouf, and his link up with Gerrard and Carragher down the right regularly carved open the visitors.
Owen was desperately looking for a hat-trick, so much so that he even shrugged off Gerrard, Hamann, Riise and Kewell to take a free-kick on the edge of the box. It's not often you see that, but given how close he went maybe we should let him have a go more often. He's better from twenty yards than twelve anyway.
Michael was denied a hat-trick when he was subbed by Houllier. I doubt if he was too happy about it, but he's only just come back after a hamstring niggle, so the manager was right to err on the side of caution, particularly with a trip to Highbury on the horizon.
His replacement Baros then set up the fourth for H*skey, when he drew two defenders before squaring the ball unselfishly for the number eight to finish at the Kop end. He deserved that goal for his first half performance.
Anfield has been a miserable place this season, with wit and humour in very short supply. But when the scoreboard began showing nine nil instead of four, the Kop rediscovered its sense of humour. "We want ten" "Nine nil" and "Scoreboard what's the score" all kept us amused.
The scoreboard was not something which was universally welcomed amongst the fans, and it's hardly proved to be a raging success. It's performance on its debut against the mancs wasn't good, and it's only completed a full ninety minutes a handful of times since it was brought in. Rumours that Houllier brought it in from France are unconfirmed however.
The Kop's performance was excellent today. Markus Babbel received a great reception, as did Brad Friedel. And when Stephane Henchoz appeared from the bench to warm up, he too got a great ovation and had his name sung. Doubt if that will have sat well with the boss, but the majority of fans share Henchoz's bewilderment at his exclusion from the side.
Riise, Murphy and Baros all spurned great chances to increase the margin of victory, but the date was 04/04/04 and there was something pre-ordained about this scoreline. A Norwegian guy I spoke to before the game was certainly convinced anyway, and placed a nice little wager on a 4-0 home win prior to kick off. Wish I'd had as much faith.
So fourth place is still very much in our own hands, but with away games at Highbury and Old Trafford coming up, the next few weeks may prove pivotal.
With Arsenal's disappointing performance against the mancs at the weekend, we have every reason to feel quietly optimistic about getting something this Good Friday. We have a decent record at Highbury over recent years, and if Wenger helps us out by resting Henry again then who knows.
The mancs beat Arsenal by playing five across the middle and defending well. Only a fool would bet against Houllier attempting the same tactics in five days time.
