Well, it appears that Liverpool are back in their biannual rut. Just as the Anfield side have shown themselves to be capable of hitting staggering heights over the past decade or so, they have also battled through several challenging campaigns in recent years.
This is, sadly, a crisis for Arne Slot, whose tactics aren't working after a summer transfer window of sweeping change.
The likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak have been disappointing, and no mistake. However, Liverpool's wider systematic issues have made it difficult for such players to bed in.
Could it be that, against the cascade of arrivals on Merseyside, sporting director Richard Hughes oversaw one too many sales too?
How Luis Diaz has sparkled at Bayern Munich
After 11 Premier League fixtures this season, Liverpool are eighth in the standings. It is not so much Arsenal's eight-point advantage over last year's champions as the difference in fluency and solidity that has made the gulf insurmountable.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot before the match
The upheaval could have been eased, to be sure, had certain measures not been taken this summer. Jarell Quansah, for example, might have felt he could have played a role for the club whose academy he graduated from and established himself in the Premier League.
Liverpool were not to know that his high-quality replacement, Giovanni Leoni, would tear his ACL on his debut, but we have the benefit of looking at it through the prism of hindsight.
Equally, it was probably a mistake to have sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. He has been rampant since moving to Germany, scoring a swashbuckling 11 goals in his first 17 matches.
Luis Diaz vs Liverpool's new signings
Efforts had been expended in trying to tie the Colombian down to a new contract, and the money was good, but Liverpool lost a winger who scored 17 goals and provided eight assists last season, and offered so much pressing impact and tenacity, both on and off the ball.
However, Diaz's departure was an understandable one, given the circumstances, and there's another Redman whose efforts overseas this season have shown that Slot and co made a big error in letting him leave.
Hughes made a bigger mistake than selling Diaz
Liverpool are bound to smooth out the creases in Slot's side at some stage, but there's no escaping the fact that it hasn't been good enough this season.
Out of the Carabao Cup and facing a fight for Champions League qualification, let alone the Premier League title, Liverpool have a whole host of problems, but there's unquestionably been something missing in central midfield, and Tyler Morton might have been able to do something about it, had he not been sold to Lyon in France for around £15m in August.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates scoring their second goal with Tyler Morton and Kostas Tsimikas
Hailed for his "incredible IQ" by journalist Bence Bocsak, the 23-year-old Morton is a creative and enterprising midfielder, industrious in his work ethic and more than happy to cover ground across the engine room, working hard to protect the defence and win back the ball before driving it forward and into the danger area.
He is early into his career with Lyon in Ligue 1, but the Wallasey-born midfielder has demonstrated remarkable confidence and maturity to make headway after a difficult, peripheral year under Slot's wing, commenting since leaving that he didn't "feel the trust" from the Dutch coach, not handed a single minute in the Premier League.
Tyler Morton for Lyon in Ligue 1
Stats (* per game)
Matches (starts)
Goals
Assists
Touches*
Accurate passes*
Chances created*
Dribble (success)*
Recoveries
Tackles + interceptions*
Ground duels won*
Data via Sofascore
His league form so far this season would suggest that a mistake has been made, especially when considering Slot's reluctance to play veteran Wataru Endo.
With Morton so early into his career and without the top experience of many ahead of him, there's so much reason for Lyon to be excited about this talent and where he might take them.
Not Liverpool, though. Morton has been released from the books, and this might just come back to bite Slot, with the homegrown star's sale more puzzling than that of the 28-year-old Diaz, who wanted to leave.