When Manchester United walk out at Anfield on Sunday it will be nearly 11 months since they were last there, but for the supporters occupying the corner of the Anfield Road end, it will feel like a different lifetime.
United were humiliated on Merseyside 320 days ago. A 4-0 defeat took the aggregate score to 9-0 across two games that season. While Liverpool chased four trophies, United were a laughing stock.
In the post-match press conference, Ralf Rangnick said the club were six years behind Liverpool and needed 10 new players. The mood around Old Trafford was as dark and despondent as it had been for a decade. They looked miles away.
READ MORE: Ten Hag praises United's leaders ahead of Liverpool fixture
Fast forward to March 2023 and United head to Anfield this weekend still in the hunt for four trophies themselves, even if the Premier League looks a more distant dream by the week, while Liverpool contemplate their own summer rebuild.
It can be hard to articulate the scale of the transformation Erik ten Hag has overseen at Old Trafford, but this weekend looks a neat one for the purposes of comparison. Not only has the mood around the club lifted considerably, but the squad has been reshaped as well.
Phil Jones started last April in a three-man defence and the team included both Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot. Paul Pogba played his final 10 minutes for the club before limping away to the sound of abuse from the away end and he was replaced by Jesse Lingard., who is now struggling to get in the Nottingham Forest team. The only cheers from the away end came when Hannibal Mejbri arrived for the final six minutes and started booting people.
Of the 20-man matchday squad for that fixture on April 19, 2022, eight players have either left or are out on loan. Anthony Elanga started that night but now hasn't begun a Premier League game under Ten Hag since November. He's started one of 20 games since the World Cup break ended.
Only four players who started last season will be in Ten Hag's team on Sunday, David de Gea, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and one of the right-backs. It's worth remembering that many fans would have gladly let Rashford go last summer and he didn't score in any of his final 15 games of the season.
This weekend, United will head to Anfield with a team of outstanding players and a coterie of leaders. Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez will marshal the defence, when last season it was a back three consisting of the three players now below them in the pecking order.
In midfield, Casemiro is a considerable upgrade on Nemanja Matic, who began this fixture last season. Matic was a good holding midfielder, but Casemiro is world-class and he is just as valuable off the pitch as he is on it.
Further forward, Rashford will head down the East Lancs Road in the form of his life. Antony offers a new threat out wide and Jadon Sancho has his form and confidence back. In summary, this is a very different United side to the one thrashed home and away by Liverpool last season.
The transformation in mentality has been just as important as the improvement on the pitch. They folded without much of a fight last April but will slug it out on equal terms this weekend. It was Jurgen Klopp who coined the term 'mentality monsters' to describe his players, but Ten Hag is gathering together a similar group.
“I think our team, our mentality in general is very good," Ten Hag said at his pre-match press conference. "I think we also have many leaders who set the mentality, who set the standards, who control the standards, who correct if necessary.
"I think we are happy with this process but it can always be better. That has to be the approach."
Eleven months ago United's supporters at Anfield watched another humiliation unfold and were sick of the sight of their team letting them down. This time they will express confidence in a side they have a growing bond with. From the darkness, Ten Hag has quickly provided the light.
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