Wigan Athletic manger Paul Jewell admitted he was shellshocked by his side's performance in the opening 45 minutes as he felt his defence gave Liverpool early Christmas gifts.
The former Reds striker felt his team contributed to their own downfall and admitted it was a harsh lesson for his team to learn from.
"We were absolutely shellshocked at half-time because you can't defend like we did against a side as good as Liverpool," Jewell admitted.
"To go in 4-0 down at half-time was a surreal situation as Liverpool had about five efforts on goal and scored four goals. Steven Gerrard is one of the best players in the world and the amount of space we gave him was ridiculous.
"We created good chances but we were wasteful. If Lee McCulloch had hit the target it's then 2-1 and we are back in the game but that's the way it goes when you don't take your chances against a good team."