How's that for £450m?

For 45 minutes the two Middle Eastern gentlemen sitting in the Anfield directors' box must have wondered if their £450 million would be better spent elsewhere.

But Steven Gerrard's rebound from his own second-half penalty opened the floodgates and the heavens to leave the men from Dubai International Capital with a warm feeling on a chilly, wet afternoon.

Chief executive Sameer al-Anwari and his colleague were then treated to a footballing rarity, a goal from local hero Jamie Carragher, as the rain lashed down.

Further strikes by Luis Garcia and Mark Gonzalez gave the home team their biggest home win of the season and a second consecutive 4-0 Premiership victory following the rout at Wigan a week ago.

For Fulham, the scoreline was almost as bad as last season's 5-1 defeat here, and they never looked like coming back into the game after falling behind.

But if,as we are told, Mr Al-Anwari is a longstanding Liverpool fan, he will know that this was a far from vintage performance and the evidence of the first half was that it will take many more millions — on top of the cost of buying the club, covering the debt and building the new stadium — to put the team in a position to challenge Manchester United and Chelsea for the Premiership title.

In that opening 45 minutes,Liverpool were all mouth and no trousers. For all their dominance of possession,they rarely threatened to score. Their passing and decision-making were poor, signs of a team lacking in confidence after a midweek defeat in Turkey and a disappointing Premiership campaign which saw them start the match 19 points behind leaders — and bitter rivals — United.

The nervous-looking Jan Lastuvka in the Fulham goal had just one shot to save, from Xabi Alonso in the 37th minute, which cancelled out an early strike by Brian McBride which Pepe Reina had pushed behind for a corner.

With Michael Brown and Papa Bouba Diop frightening the life out of Alonso with their harrying and tackling, Liverpool had no real rhythm. And when they did create openings, their shooting or delivery was often desperate.

You could just imagine the exchanges in the directors' box. "Who is that winger who can't seem to cross the ball?" "Jermaine Pennant." "And he cost how much?" "£6 million." "And that guy on the other flank who keeps giving the ball away in both halves?" "Luis Garcia. Same price."

But the most pertinent question would have been what had happened to the talismanic captain, who carries the whole team when they are playing poorly. Gerrard, although in his favoured central midfield role, was a peripheral figure whose failure to lead by example or exhortation was reminiscent of Arsenal's Thierry Henry.

When his moment came to make that decisive impact, he almost fluffed it. Referee Uriah Rennie had rightly turned down first-half claims for a penalty when Dirk Kuyt's shot struck Ian Pearce's hand, but had no choice when the same defender threw himself in front of a fierce effort by the same striker, despite some amateur dramatics from the Fulham man.

Gerrard's penalty lacked conviction but Lastuvka's parry came straight back to him and he buried the rebound. The Liverpool team which had seemed inhibited for almost 54 minutes suddenly looked full of confidence — but even the most optimistic fan would not have predicted the scorer of the second goal, just past the hour.

The last time Carragher had troubled the scorers in the League — his last of any kind had come in a Champions League qualifier against Kaunas of Lithuania in July 2005 — was January 16, 1999, when he claimed the fifth of seven lashes which Liverpool applied to Southampton's backsides.

This time, Daniel Agger flicked on Gerrard's corner and the England defender was at the back post to volley home from close range. The Kop roared its delight and dusted off the old favourite "We all dream of a team of Carraghers",a song rarely heard so far this season because of his indifferent form.

This, the visitors from Dubai must have thought,was more like it.Things soon got even better.Agger swung in a cross from the left and Garcia atoned for his earlier ineptitude with a looping header past a flat-footed Lastuvka.

The goalkeeper kept out a Gerrard shot but was then let down by his wall in stoppage-time when Gonzalez completed the scoring with a deft free-kick.

"Didn't see that coming at half-time," said John Aldridge to Gary Gillespie, two of the host of players from the Anfield glory days, as the current vintage trooped off to great applause.

The final cheer of the afternoon greeted news of Everton's defeat at Portsmouth and the men from Dubai had experienced just about every facet of the English football experience: bitter cold, frustration, moments of delight and surprise, and the extra satisfaction of winning on a day when your local rivals have lost.

All that must be worth £450m of anyone's money.