Opening day defeats don't have to be all bad. Not that some of the overreaction and negativity from Liverpool supporters would take in such perspective.
Unbelievably the phrase 'Sack Rodgers' was trending on Twitter in Liverpool on Saturday night, such was the displeasure at their opening 3-0 loss at West Brom.
More realistic fans will sit down and chew over the defeat, realising that it is an opportunity and a bit of a wake-up-call. Obviously defeat is bad, but the timing of it could be worse.
Brendan Rodgers has been able to see the problems first hand, and can now get to work on rectifying them, in both the transfer market and on the training ground.
This feature we ran on Saturday morning outlined five examples of opening day defeats which 'meant nothing' - Where clubs bounced back so successfully.
One of which was QPR last season, who were trounced 4-0 by Bolton, and they got to work quickly on strengthening their squad.
Now the circumstances are very different, but the resulting message of defeat is still the same, Liverpool need work.
One of the big question marks is up front, Luis Suarez was wasteful, while Andy Carroll does not appear to be part of Brendan Rodgers' plans.
Surely it is better to have a setback such as they suffered now, rather than midway through September when it is too late to do anything about it. If there were doubts any maybe's over what needs doing, the scale of the task is evident now.
Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi was added on Friday, and surely he won't be the last. Liverpool are doing their utmost to secure the loan signing of Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid, but face stiff competition from Arsenal.
Clint Dempsey is thought to remain a target, if the Reds can agree a fee with Fulham. That will be a saga which has the potential to drag on until deadline day.
Next week Liverpool play Premier League champions Manchester City at Anfield. What will a win there do to the mindset of supporters?
Don't rule it out either, because if one thing is certain when it comes to the Liverpool soap opera, it is the club's unpredictability.
What improvements need to be made to the current Liverpool squad?
image: © banoootah_qtr
Dan Coombs
@hitcdancoombsGoogle+more stories from Dan Coombs
Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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