There is no shame in losing football matches. Even the very best teams do. But the manner of how defeat occurs can be important.

Getting beaten 3-0 by Liverpool at Anfield is, in itself, nothing to be ashamed of. They have such a rich array of attacking talent that most teams will lose there this season.

If you are going to get beat though, at least go down with a bit of a fight.

Saints lost with barely a whimper, and that is very worrying.

They started alright, but once they were 2-0 down the players seemed completely resigned to their fate.

Alright, few people in the stands would have had much optimism that a team who has scored just nine times in 12 league games this season would find at least two second half goals at Anfield to get back into it.

But at least you push for one and see what happens. You cannot simply accept the situation.

It’s that attitude that was far more concerning than the loss itself.

It also put into sharp contrast the difference between Saints last season and this.

Liverpool were a better team this year thanks to the addition of Mo Salah, as well as Sadio Mane being fit.

However, last season Saints were unbeaten in four matches against Liverpool. Their football against the top teams wasn’t always exciting, but you could always rely on them to be dogged and disciplined.

That was not the case here, and those beginning to think this team is worse than it was under Claude Puel have more fuel to throw on the fire.

There is one positive, though, to come out of a depressing afternoon.

This was surely a wakeup call. If anybody at the club, including most importantly the players, thought they could just turn up and go through the motions and they would have enough points to be midtable, they must now realise that is not the case.

The mood, the atmosphere, around the squad after the game was so solemn. They realised.

They knew what had happened and that a few of them didn’t give the required level of either performance level or mental intensity for the duration of the game that is required, and they were beaten at an absolute canter.

They didn’t muster a shot on target in 90 minutes, and were thoroughly humbled by a Liverpool team they were so competitive against so often so recently.

Mauricio Pellegrino cannot now be blind to the fact that he needs his team to give a reaction, and he needs to do whatever he can to help, both in terms of mental preparation and tactically on the pitch. He needs it for his sake too.

Saints have to play Everton at St Mary’s next, and they really do need three points. Anything less would make life incredibly difficult.

With this tough run of fixtures having got off to the worse possible start, and Saints now in a run of form of one win in seven, they will be under massive pressure.

There will also be an expectant crowd at St Mary’s, who have already been on the verge of turning.

This is a big pressure match, and Saints need to deliver.

If they don’t then they will soon depart midtable, lose their small points cushion and find themselves on the verge of the bottom three.

Given the way their fixtures are between now and the turn of the year, they could find themselves committed to a relegation scrap if they are not careful.

Despite Saints surprisingly opting to press Liverpool higher up the pitch than you might have expected, the Reds were the more dangerous team and when they took the lead on 31 minutes it was a case of the pressure eventually telling.

That said, Saints had a hand in their goal, Dusan Tadic picking up a second ball and then meandering across the face of his own box, only to get robbed by Roberto Firmino.

A couple of quick passes later it was at the feet of Salah, who curled a wonderful finish from the edge of the area into the far corner.

Salah was on hand to produce a cool finish from closer range ten minutes later to double Liverpool’s advantage, having darted behind Wesley Hoedt and into space vacated by Virgil van Dijk to collect Philippe Countiho’s perfectly weighted pass.

Saints never looked like they would get back into the game, and really struggled to put any pressure on Liverpool whatsoever.

Indeed, the second half felt more of a case of whether Liverpool really wanted to put their foot on the gas and notch up more goals.

They did eventually get one to kill off any lingering doubts they may have had on 68 minutes.

Coutinho slid the ball into the unguarded net after Mane had found Firmino with a cut back pass and the striker’s shot had cannoned off of Fraser Forster straight to the creative midfielder.

The way Saints slumped off the pitch and the reaction afterwards told its own story.

These players don’t need telling what happened.

But they do, absolutely, need to show they have the character to react to it, and to provide not only a positive result against Everton but a positive performance to stop this season sliding out of control.