Steven Gerrard revealed he could only think of one word to describe how Stoke City turned his Liverpool swansong into a nightmare: Wow.
Tickets were changing hands for hundreds of pounds as the midfielder prepared for his 710th and final Liverpool appearance on this day in 2015 at the Britannia Stadium. Gerrard scored but in no other way did the match go as he planned, with the Potters running riot to seal an emphatic 6-1 win.
Marko Arnautovic ran rings around makeshift right-back Emre Can, Mame Diouf scored twice and Jon Walters and Charlie Adam added strikes of their own on a thrilling day for the club.
Steven Nzonzi netted a goal-of-the-season contender and then Peter Crouch capped the occasion by breaking the Premier League record for the most headed goals.
Gerrard had to relive the rout for his autobiography.
He said: "An hour after the match a friend texted me to ask what I'd made of a surreal afternoon. I answered him with one word: Wow.
"I might have had a slightly tight hamstring the night before, but it was fine during the match. We had no excuses. It was just a disaster. A catastrophe.
"Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We were 5-0 down at half-time. Yes - wow.
"Emre Can tried to put his hand up during the break and take responsibility. I stopped him after a few words.
"I think he's going to be a great player ... but he is a midfielder and he was playing out of position.
"A few others chipped in to make sure Emre didn't take sole blame. We were all at fault. It was the worst performance of my Liverpool career."
Gerrard went on to play for LA Galaxy before coming back to coach in Liverpool's youth set up and become manager of Glasgow Rangers. He moved back to England to take charge of Aston Villa, leaving in October last year.
He received a standing ovation from all the home and away supporters for his final goal in English football .even if it did come when his side was already five down.
"I scored in the 70th minute. I didn't give up. The whole ground rose when my shot flew into the net for my last Liverpool goal," he wrote.
"It was similar to the ovation I had received from the Chelsea and Crystal Palace fans. It was touching and respectful.
"There was such an outpouring of goodwill and kindness (during my last four games). Someone said to me, considering all my goodbyes, 'If Carlsberg did farewells...'
"Yeah? Well they wouldn't have me kiss goodbye to my Liverpool career by being hammered 6-1 away to Stoke."
READ NEXT
How John and Denise Coates predicted gambling revolution to make £9 billion
All 90 Stoke City players since relegation ranked by minutes used
Alex Neil has targets lined up for key roles in major Stoke City transfer makeover
Alex Neil season review on leaving Sunderland, transfers and huge Stoke project
All the latest Stoke City news and transfer gossip