IF a week, as Harold Wilson once famously remarked, is a "long time" in politics, your guess is as good as mine what he might have described six months in the world of football.
Back in the final month of spring, Liverpool and Crystal Palace played out one of the most remarkable games in both clubs' recent history.
The Reds, on what would turn out to be an impossible dream of winning their first league title in nearly a quarter of a century, held a commanding 3-0 advantage in their clash at Selhurst Park. There was still more than half-an-hour left to play but Brendan Rodgers's attack-minded outfit were still hell-bent on adding to their tally.
And there would be more goals in the encounter - three in fact. But sadly for all Liverpool supporters from L4 to Mongolia - both Outer and Inner if it exists - they were all scored by the home side.
The match famously - or infamously - ended 3-3 and pretty much ensured the club's prolonged wait for the league title would extend into a 25th season.
This afternoon, if Reds fans didn't already know it, that wait will likely now last at least as long as the period of time Manchester United endured before finally winning the top flight crown - 26 years.
On that Monday night in May, Liverpool attacked for all they were worth in an ultimately futile attempt to score a ridiculous amount of times to ensure they would be ahead of Manchester City on goal difference should they both finish on the same number of points.
They had 26 attempts on goal, eight on target with three going into the Palace net. They forced seven corners and enjoyed 65% of the possession.
Today, those numbers had been reduced to 12, one, one and three with only the latter stat similar at 64%.
And of the starting XI that night, five players played no part in this afternoon's encounter - three were absent through injury, one was on the bench while the other is now plying his trade in another European league.
For the record, the six players who made both line-ups were Simon Mignolet, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen and Raheem Sterling. Not a world-beating sextet, admittedly, but all the same, this was the core of a team that went within two points of that Premier League title.
You have to ask what on earth has changed with the team? Paradoxically, it's everything and nothing.
The side conceded three goals on both occasions showing that the defensive deficiencies which plagued the team throughout the campaign have not yet been dealt with. But whereas in May you felt Liverpool would bag a goal every time they went forward, this time you're just left wondering which player will be responsible for giving the ball away in another promising part of the pitch.
When Rickie Lambert put the Reds ahead today with barely a couple of minutes on the clock, it seemed things were going to be OK after all in the capital. It was a goal that must have had its origins on Southampton's training ground, Adam Lallana's pass to the striker rivalling Gerrard's through-ball to Daniel Sturridge at Craven Cottage in that memorable 3-2 triumph back in February.
But once Palace levelled matters - perhaps a touch fortunately, but hey, they all count - Liverpool's collective lack of confidence began to rear its ugly head yet again.
The team's defensive record which was papered over to a massive extent by the sheer amount of goals scored at the other end of the field, has been exposed. And this time around, there really is no hiding place any more.
All of which makes me believe that something must change now within the coaching regime at Anfield.
I'll lay my cards on the table and say I do not believe that Brendan Rodgers should be fired. That would be an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. He is a manager still learning his trade - and he has a lot still to learn - and I believe he can have a very successful career as Liverpool boss.
But his problem - and it's a massive flaw - is that he is clearly a manager who does not rate the defensive side of the game as important as the attacking.
In some ways, there's something quite laudable about that. But in football, it's absolutely fatal. The greatest international team I have ever seen, the 1982 Brazil outfit, were undone by an Achilles heel of a lousy defence. They were stunning going forward but once you tested their back line, they buckled. Paolo Rossi's hat-trick can account for that when they went out of the competition in a famous 3-2 loss to Italy. The Italians, of course, went on to lift the World Cup trophy in Madrid a week or so later. It could - and should - have been the Brazilians that summer. But it wasn't.
And similarly, it should have been Liverpool lifting the Premier League title last spring. But it wasn't. And the common link between the teams is the defence - or rather, lack of.
Say what you like about Jose Mourinho - and believe me, I'm not the only one who has (I cannot stand him as a person) - more often than not he organises his teams brilliantly to do a job. Yesterday was a classic Mourinho-led Chelsea victory. We've seen it so many times before it's like a stuck record. Score one, add an insurance goal and shut up shop. It might not be pretty, but by God it's effective. And at this stage, his team are cruising, hardly out of first gear, towards the title while sides around them are imploding, not least Liverpool.
So something has to change at Liverpool. The club must think seriously about bringing in a coach to work specifically on the defensive side of their game. In American Football parlance, a defensive coordinator. Because things have reached crisis point now when it comes to the team's defending.
In my view, drafting in that person should not be seen as a sign of weakness. Because when you recognise your own faults, it shows real strength of character. I suspect Rodgers would not like to admit that, largely through pride. But then, according to the old saying, doesn't a fall follow pride?
And given what the manager has already achieved with the team in such a short space of time, I would not like to happen. I want stability at Liverpool Football Club, starting with the manager.
His departure would not only lead to instability again, but would doubtless result in goodness knows how many years without the title. I want to give Rodgers the benefit of the doubt but even he must admit that something has to be done to stop this ship sinking before it's too late. It's listing dreadfully now and needs righting.
Former Liverpool great Jamie Carragher gave a damning indictment minutes after the final whistle.
He spoke about a "lack of leadership" on the field. For a side captained by club great Gerrard, that really made my ears prick up.
Whether that was a veiled dig at his ex-teammate, it's difficult to say. But leadership on the football pitch stems from the skipper. And right now, Gerrard is definitely not fulfilling that duty.
So there's much to be concerned about for all Liverpool fans just now. From the porous defence to an absence of on-field leadership to a lack of goals bailing the team out at the attacking end of the pitch, there are problems everywhere you look.
One thing is certain, these travails will not have escaped the attention of Fenway Sports Group.
And I fully expect them to act one way or the other should things not improve. After all, if we are to believe them, they are not here just to make a few bucks before selling up and moving on. Are they?
Anyway, in the meantime, if it were up to me I'd be giving our former number 23 a call to see if he fancies giving up his job at Sky Sports for a role at Melwood. He just might be the answer to his old employer's problems.
