Has anybody counted if Tottenham are actually playing games with 11 players or not? They leave that much space across the pitch that it would be genuinely believable if you were told that they were a man down each week.
Such is the way that Ange Postecoglou sets his team to bomb forward at the first sign of possession, leaving huge gaps to attract opposition bodies before trying to carve through them, Tottenham manage to chuck players up front but remain totally exposed without offering much threat. Despite spreading around the field, there is never anybody close to the ball.
When the talent differential is so close in the Premier League and individual skill alone cannot carry a team through games, giving away this much room is a recipe for disaster. Tottenham simultaneously appear entirely disconnected and separate to themselves. In a sense it is the club as a whole.
Postecoglou is fighting (and also creating) fires in the public, calling out systematic failures and attacking the very fabric of English football (for right or wrong) whilst supporters hit out at the board and, specifically, Daniel Levy. The figures taking to the grass are barely extensions of this confusion.
At Anfield, as has been the case all season, Guglielmo Vicario threw his arms up, James Maddison ghosted around, Dominic Solanke tried to wrestle defenders on his own, and teenagers were left to try and glue it all together. Take injuries out of this for a second, Tottenham just look horrendously set up.
Who is this system benefiting? The backline is left with acres to cover, often one-on-one (at best, it's often an attacking overload) whilst the midfield sprints back - sometimes - after being sliced open. Liverpool, with more control and patience than under Jurgen Klopp, now have the perfect balance to exploit this.
They play through you and around you. They will, can, and do bulldoze when necessary. That wasn't needed here because Tottenham surrendered. Much like in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg earlier this season, Spurs simply folded.
Sure, they run hard (at times) and will at least try to attack relentlessly. Sometimes this causes carnage enough to get a goal. Maybe it shocks you but after 18 months of Postecoglou, this is not enough to remedy the issues it has created elsewhere. Not for long enough to win games.
When the principles of play and the system - the methods - are everything, there is nothing to build around or go off if confidence goes and quality leaves. Nobody expected Tottenham to do anything here and in a brutal way, scoring first and then capitulating was more on brand than merely rolling over.
The gutsy elements of the performance from Frankfurt would be needed tenfold at Anfield when the order of the day was title celebrations. In this charged atmosphere, there was a narrative to overwrite and then the rest.
Tottenham were never likely to actually make a difference. The day was not about them and bigger things are on the horizon. There is still a way to salvage this horrible season but only just. The Europa League will not excuse what has happened to any extent.
Postecoglou's personal stock has plummeted. There are Leeds United supporters saying he would be a downgrade on Daniel Farke (and a lot of them are not enamoured with him despite securing promotion this season), after links to taking over at Elland Road this summer.
When his team puts out a display like this it isn't hard to see why. The midfield, not only left to deal with Liverpool's own much more energetic, experienced, and dynamic trio, were hung out to try.
Archie Gray came in having played as a defender (either at right-back or in the middle) for most of the season. He is good in the tackle and composed on the ball but placing him at the base was a mistake.
Lucas Bergvall is the most comfortable when progressing from deep. He can take the ball with his back to goal and turn forward, passing through the lines or slinking between opponents himself if needed. The decision to have these two in different roles did not help Tottenham as they went up against Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ryan Gravenberch.
They cost £35million, £60million, and £35million again respectively. They played like a £130million midfield as well; they have done all season.
This is squad building and elite coaching at its most obvious. James Maddison, meanwhile, spent more time trying to help Destiny Udogie on the left side than linking with Mathys Tel.
In fact, Tel himself was back doing the dirty work but without much success. He and Maddison both played a part in Mac Allister's goal to complete a quick first-half turnaround. Maddison dribbled and turned around in his own third, by the touchline, Tel couldn't get it under control properly and fluffed his own clearance. Gray was out-muscled and then Bergvall was too slow to close down the shot.
It was a collection of errors and losses that summed up Tottenham on the day and in the season. Postecoglou was not too harsh afterwards. There are more important battles ahead.
"Look, we knew the challenge today was going to be a big one," he said. "We had a really young midfield with Lucas and Archie and you're asking a massive task of them. Change three of the back four, all of these kind of things logically tell you it's going to be a tough day, but when you're facing the best team, and on such a massive occasion, it was always going to be a huge ask for us and it proved too much."
Rodrigo Bentancur was left out of the squad ahead of the home semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday. That is what the season has come down to. Pape Matar Sarr came on at the break, as did Dejan Kulusevski. Maddison and Gray were the ones hooked.
The nice way to describe this would be resting and protecting them for Thursday. Maybe that is what it was anyway. The reality is that in Gray and Bergvall, Tottenham have two exceptional young players who are being asked to step up in an environment which does not support them.
It empowers them, but also makes them look monumentally silly at points. That is not the way to help them develop. They show personality and character but are also vulnerable to the system and their own teammates. It is damning that so much has been laid at their feet this season.
The lack of depth in midfield and defence means that a squad constructed by Daniel Levy and Johan Lange has turned to kids to try and mop up. They have done their best but these sorts of matches are wounding. They are harmful and too much, as this season has been, can be detrimental.
Tottenham have to hope this is not the case and that two extremely blessed footballers come out the other side stronger. Postecoglou has let them down. Tottenham have too. Levy is at the head of it. Lange is culpable as well. The whole thing is a mess and Liverpool hardly had to sweat in making a laughing stock out of it all.