After the traditional summer optimism Liverpool were brought back down to Earth with a bump in a 3-0 reverse against West Brom.
Liverpool's striking problems precede Fernando's departure
To be fair Liverpool started brightly enough in the game, Joe Allen's debut in particular giving the supporters something to look back upon positively. And there was little Reina could do with Zoltan Gera's first strike since 2010. Add in to that a sending off for the reds and a bonus round of penalties awarded by the athletic Phil Dowd and on reflection three points was going to be mission impossible.
But it seems Liverpool, for yet another season, seem almost determined to handicap themselves by playing without a goalscorer.
Luis Suarez is not a prolific goalscorer - he is a huge creative talent but there is too much pressure on him to create and then finish off his own moves. If Liverpool are going to play a front three then Suarez needs to be able to have options in the middle for him to offload the ball to.
Can Fabio Borini be the man? Who knows. What we do know is that using him out wide is not going to help him be the man ready to feed off Luis' twists and turns.
Stewart Downing in the front three? Now - who are we kidding.
Andy Carroll it seems has been effectively frozen out - he received a brief cameo when Liverpool were 3-0 down - and it seems his purpose then was more simply to try and stop the waves of West Brom attacks from building.
In what has become a recurring summer theme - the reds continue to go out and do most of their transfer business in the wrong part of the pitch.
We've a glut of defenders and defensive midfielders. The latest speculation is all about Nuri Sahin turning down a move to Liverpool - another midfielder.
Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva are not going to score us many goals. Glen Johnson can chip in with the occasional couple - but not when he is being shifted over to the more unfamiliar left back as he was on Saturday.
Steven Gerrard can put the ball away - but from midfield he no longer has the drive to get involved in as many attacks as he used to - his match-winning performances over the last 18 months can be counted on one hand.
This summer we have lost Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez and Craig Bellamy - all players approaching the twilight of their career - but all players who knew exactly where the goal was and how to find the penalty area. To replace all those goals with a punt on a young Italian striker suggests that the Liverpool management have still to learn the obvious lesson.
The fact we are eleven days before the transfer window and this problem remains should concern all Liverpool fans.
From the moment that Fenway refused the funds for Jelavic the warning signs were there. Everton have gone out and secured two more strikers this summer - to give them by far the better goalscoring options out of the two teams.
We can tika-taka all we want. We can retain 70% possession in a stunning feat of football prowess. But unless someone at Anfield deals with the glaring problem - then this season will be another long slog.
Liverpool need to bring in attacking talent urgently - they need to give the forwards some competition. Steven Gerrard would even be more effective relieved of his midfield duties and used as part of this front three than Stewart Downing.
Fenway need to ensure Rodgers is given the money to boost the front three positions because at the moment we are being asked to play baseball with a paper bat.