Sometimes a gesture says more than a thousand words. Arne Slot's six-finger salute to the United faithful after Sunday's 3-2 defeat has gone viral for all the right reasons, even if the result itself left much to be desired.

As boos rained down from the Old Trafford crowd, our manager kept his head high and his response simple. Six fingers held aloft, a clear reference to Liverpool's six Champions League titles compared to United's three. No words needed when history does the talking.

The moment perfectly captured the frustration of another below-par performance from the Reds. Trailing 2-0 at half-time after goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko inside the opening 14 minutes, Liverpool looked like they were sleepwalking through another crucial fixture.

But credit where it's due, the response in the second half showed the character that's been missing too often this season. Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo struck within nine minutes of each other to level things up, proving there's still fight in this squad when they decide to show it.

Unfortunately, Kobbie Mainoo's 74th-minute winner ensured United got the three points they needed to secure Champions League qualification. For Liverpool, it confirmed another setback in what's becoming an increasingly frustrating campaign.

The truth is, this result won't derail our European ambitions. Four points from the remaining three fixtures will secure our place in next season's Champions League. But that's hardly the point when performances like this are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Ibrahima Konate's post-match comments revealed exactly what went wrong in that first half, and more importantly, what was said behind closed doors at the interval. The France international didn't mince his words about the team's mentality.

"It was just about the mentality. In the first half we lost many challenges on the pitch. When it was 50-50, most of them Manchester won them on the pitch," Konate explained. "But in the second half we just had to change it and change the mentality. This is what we have done and that's why we scored two good goals with our pressing, with our aggressiveness. But we needed a little bit more."

Those frank discussions at half-time clearly had an impact. The intensity Liverpool showed after the break was night and day compared to the passive display we witnessed in the opening 45 minutes. It raises the obvious question: why does it take going two goals down for this team to remember how to compete?

Konate's admission about losing duels and lacking mental resilience cuts to the heart of Liverpool's problems this season. When the going gets tough, too often we've wilted under pressure instead of rising to meet it.

Slot wasn't the only one making statements after the final whistle. Szoboszlai pointed to the gold Premier League badge on his shirt sleeve as he left the pitch, a reminder of what this Liverpool side achieved not so long ago. It felt defiant, perhaps even slightly desperate, given how far we've fallen from those championship heights.

With the summer bringing farewells to club legends Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, these final few matches feel increasingly like the end of an era. The question is whether moments like Slot's viral gesture represent fighting spirit or mere posturing.

The manager's response to the United crowd showed he understands what this club represents, even in defeat. But gestures won't win matches, and right now Liverpool need to find that killer instinct on the pitch rather than after the final whistle.

Three fixtures remain to secure Champions League football and salvage something from this season. The fight shown in the second half at Old Trafford proves it's still there when needed most.