Eras end and eras begin, but rarely at the same away ground and rarely in such short succession.
Liverpool are in the unusual position of playing back-to-back league games at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium, but separated by three months, a summer break, a considerable change in personnel and, they will hope, a drastic shift in fortunes.
Admittedly, only one of their starting 11 from their last visit has left but he is Steven Gerrard, the colossus whose 27-year association with Liverpool concluded with the ignominy of their heaviest league defeat for 52 years.
They were 5-0 down at half-time and lost 6-1. An ashen-faced Brendan Rodgers admitted it was up to Liverpool’s owners if they wanted to bring his three-year reign to an end by firing him.
Instead, Liverpool’s backroom staff and first-team squad has been subjected to an overhaul. They have a very different look both in the dugout and on the pitch. The arrivals of three new coaches and eight additional players constitute another Anfield revolution.
Their see-sawing times under Rodgers, going from seventh in his first season to second in his sophomore campaign but then plummeting back down to sixth with 22 points and 49 goals fewer, are summed up by their experiences in Stoke.
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The Britannia Stadium has a reputation as one of the most intimidating places to visit but Liverpool scored five times there in January 2014. Stoke still have an aggregate lead of 9-6 from their last two action-packed encounters.
And now, by a quirk of the fixture list, they are paired again. Rodgers, with trademark optimism, pronounced it the “perfect” opener. That will only prove to be the case if ghosts are exorcised or arrivals excel.
Liverpool could start with four signings, two of them offering particularly high-profile proof of their costly makeover.
Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino are respectively the second- and third-most expensive players in Liverpool’s history.
The Belgian, who scored a spectacular volley in his friendly debut at Swindon Town last week, answers a more pressing need.
Liverpool’s specialist strikers mustered a mere eight league goals between them last season. Despite missing the start of the campaign and playing for an embarrassingly impotent Aston Villa side, Benteke managed 13 himself. “He’s going to be a huge player for us,” Rodgers said.
The Brazilian Firmino, at £29 million (Dh165m), came for another huge fee and it is a safe assumption that two of Liverpool’s newcomers will cost more than the entire Stoke side.
Yet Liverpool are proof that expenditure is no guarantee of excellence, especially when players are misused.
Emre Can offered encouragement in his first campaign at Anfield but the midfielder seemed more exposed with every outing at rightback, culminating in his nightmare at the Britannia, when he was replaced after a 45-minute ordeal.
Rodgers ignored a professional rightback then, in Glen Johnson, who has now signed for Stoke and could make his bow against his old colleagues.
He has recruited his successor in the England side, in Nathaniel Clyne, and the former Southampton defender ought to offer more solidity than the makeshift choice, Can.
Clyne, Firmino and Benteke cost Liverpool a combined £74m. James Milner came on a free transfer, albeit accompanied by sizeable wages, but his is the biggest burden in many respects.
He is the direct replacement for the departed Gerrard. It renders comparisons inevitable, even if the veteran’s many responsibilities will be shared around the side.
The captaincy has gone to Jordan Henderson, with the debutant Milner his deputy. The role of the midfield anchorman could, if selected, be returned to Lucas Leiva. The status as the flagship player could be bequeathed to Benteke, Firmino, Philippe Coutinho or, when fit again, Daniel Sturridge.
Liverpool’s top scorer was Gerrard, too, and he was their last player to find the net at the Britannia.
It leaves another vacancy for someone to fill, even if Liverpool’s planning should never include searching for someone to slot in a consolation goal when they are already five behind.
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