What a result.
Don't get me wrong, in isolation, this performance is magnificent. But what makes it better is the context. We saw Lallana and Lovren - two of our most-maligned players across the last season or so - travel to their former club tonight, and the duo were mercifully hounded and booed from minute one.
Lallana put in a masterful performance. I honestly thought he was superb. It was undoubtedly one of his finest games in a Reds shirt. He was beating players effortlessly, seemed a yard or two quicker than usual, and didn't shrink in the face of adversity. He didn't allow the home fans at St. Mary's to shatter his confidence. He merely lapped up the boos and just ran riot. What a great sight.
It was even more impressive given our opening 20 minutes. I thought we struggled to match Southampton's pace and intensity, with little pressing and urgency. In truth, Randall probably had one of the worst individual performances inside that 20 minutes as I've ever seen. It ran Brad Smith's debut at Chelsea close. Tadic had his number, was beating him inside out, and drew a booking after Randall resorted to shoving him in the face! Can can be blamed for the opener, too, as he was turned inside out far too easily. Saints should have been out of sight a few minutes later, but their header was straight down Bogdan's throat.
From there, we never looked back. We saw the confidence ooze out of us, and we were aided by some dreadful Saints defending. van Dijk - who has been a great signing for Koeman - was poor, and Caulker allowed our front-line far too much respect and the pair consistently sat off and allowed Sturridge, Origi and the attacking midfielders time and room to probe and punish.
Sturridge's two finishes were excellent, but so were the assists. Allen and Can's balls were just perfectly weighted, and found the gaps in style. Sturridge did well with his finishes, and it was great to see him turn his face up at being withdrawn on two goals. He'd have loved a hat-trick, but beggars can't be choosers. He had a great run out and did his job. He's easily our best striking option when fully fit. He just needs to get there consistently.
As for Origi... well, what a transformation. The man looked poor against Carlisle and Bournemouth in the cup earlier this year, but tonight he seems to have taken on a new lease of life with his second goal being absolutely perfect. What a strike. Smith delivered the third on a sixpence for him to tuck away, and I was disappointed Moreno couldn't claim the first because I think he deserves a goal after the month he has had.
In truth, I think Moreno has been our unsung hero of November. He often doesn't deliver enough in each penalty box, with defensive lapses and a penchant for overhit crosses, but a goal tonight would have changed that and added to his numbers. Again, he wasn't alive to Mane's header and it was reminiscent of the Chelsea opener at Stamford Bridge. Moreno seemed asleep.
Just another word on Smith. I thought he would never make the grade after the aforementioned Chelsea game, but he shone tonight and seemed a real find at left-back. He can easily deputise for Moreno if the Spaniard is injured and Gomez is still absent, so there's no need to rely on Jose Enrique thankfully. Randall, too, grew into the game and showed glimpses of promise once he calmed down and Saints stopped targeting him. He'll get used to that. Gerrard was targeted by Ginola on his debut and was played off the park. Tonight will be a learning curve for him.
Aside from matters on the pitch, a few things pleased me tonight: Klopp's giggling at full-time, Henderson's celebration on the touch-line with the manager, and the "Adam Lallana, he's winning 6-1" chant...