It was a game so simple for Liverpool, first half and second, that it was perhaps a little easy to brush off the performance as being more down to West Ham being dismal than anything else.

That, though, would diminish the brilliance of Mohamed Salah and the excellent performances of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. It would also play down the exceptional impact that Arne Slot is having.

Liverpool flew out of the traps and expertly exploited the huge spaces that West Ham was willing to leave to be run into. By half-time, it was so far clear that it could afford to cruise — and was already having missed two or three big chances in the first 45 minutes.

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Crucial to the attacking brilliance was this season's reinvention of Gakpo down the left flank — his favored and quite clearly best role — and Diaz, who was sensational through the center. Getting both the Colombian and the Dutchman in the team at once looked like a tricky ask on paper, but Slot has found a way that works seamlessly.

In midfield, Ryan Gravenberch had one of his more understated games — he frankly didn't need to do much other than avoid a booking that would have seen him pick up a suspension — but Mac Allister and Curtis Jones were superb alongside him. Dominik Szoboszlai, banned here, is in good form generally, and the system seems to suit each of the four.

In the Premier League, Liverpool heads into the new year eight points clear at the top. That it is Nottingham Forest currently sitting second shows that Manchester City and Arsenal have struggled, but few would have expected the Reds to capitalize quite so much.

Meanwhile in the Champions League, Liverpool is as good as qualified with two games to spare. It has navigated the new-look competition with ease and remains the only team with a 100 percent record, having made light work of trips to AC Milan and RB Leipzig, and beaten Real Madrid on home turf.

After Liverpool had long blitzed West Ham with goal after goal and the result was long since finalized, with the rest of the London Stadium completely silent, there was one thing that could be heard loud and clear: "Arne Slot, na, na, na, na."

Sticking to what Jurgen Klopp always wanted — the game to be won before his name was sung if it had to be at all — the song that the German passed on when he left rang out. Salah and Gakpo might take the headlines here and their pictures might be on the back pages, but what Slot is doing is worthy of all the acclaim.

Heading into 2025, Liverpool fans will look back at a calendar year that began with a Klopp bombshell. In a so-far-seamless transition, though, it has panned out as well as anyone could have expected. There are many reasons for that, but Slot is chiefly among them.

The approval rate from the Liverpool away end was already loud and clear. In the coming months, the trophies might be added on top of that to further back it up.