Scraping a penalty shoot out win over Cardiff City was hardly a warning to their Premier League rivals.
Istanbul in 2005 showed that Liverpool quite simply do not like to win trophies the easy way.
Yet that was AC Milan, and this was Cardiff City.
Did players like Andy Carroll let themselves down by again failing to produce?
You might have thought Liverpool would steamroller the Welsh side in a similar style to their 6-1 win over Brighton the previous weekend.
It didn’t happen, their players looked nervous and were lacking the spirit which Cardiff showed.
Kenny Dalglish got his team selection wrong, picking the ineffective Jordan Henderson, when he should have made room in the starting line-up for Dirk Kuyt.
The players seemed nervous and all struggled to impose themselves on the game. Why was that? Did they go into the game expecting it to be another easy ride? If they did they were sure mistaken.
But none of it matters now surely? All that matters is the name on the trophy.
Cardiff will go down as plucky losers, with a performance better remembered than Millwall’s limp attempt at giving Manchester United a game in the 2004 FA Cup Final, but they would gladly swap all the plaudits for winner’s medals.
The game was an entertaining one for the neutrals to watch, many of who may scoff at Liverpool making such hard work of it.
But the club did the hard work in the previous rounds; remember the exciting football they played to knock Manchester City out in the semi, and the victory ground out against Chelsea before that.
It should be a day for Liverpool to celebrate, and so they should, don’t forget they have the FA Cup and fourth spot in the league still to play for.
When you have waited six years for a trophy, you don’t get picky about how they arrive. And yes they should be proud, any rival fans denigrating the achievement should look at their own team’s failure to reach the final.
It isn’t every day you win a trophy, whether you are Liverpool or Cardiff, so yes fans should take great pride in the victory.
Supporters will hope the success will spur the club onto those greater achievements and beyond. Liverpool’s rivals will not have been intimidated by the performance, but it will allow the team to play more freely with this achievement in the bag.
The team has secured European football for next season as a by-product of winning the trophy, and eased that burden in the league.
Yes the final was not the demolition job fans may have wanted, but they should feel proud of their team’s accomplishments regardless.
– Should Liverpool supporters be happy with yesterday’s performance?
image: © Ben Sutherland
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