Having looked like a corner had been turned earlier this month, Jurgen Klopp has found that it was simply another pivot through Liverpool's maze of a season.
Back-to-back victories against Manchester City and West Ham had appeared as though the Reds were over the worst of their problems, but they have returned with quite the vegencance of late.
Defeats to Nottingham Forest and then Leeds United in successive weekends leaves Liverpool staring up at an eight-point gap between themselves and Newcastle United, who occupy what is now the all-important fourth spot in the Premier League.
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What is perhaps the most alarming thing for Klopp is how quickly his season ambitions have had to be re-written. From aiming to put up a title challenge in August, the German now finds himself as an outsider for a top-four finish.
A dreadful couple of months is seemingly undoing the best part of a half-decade's worth of progress. That viewpoint depends, of course, on how seriously you view this current malaise, but there can be little denying the team looks a world away from the one that flew so close to football immortality less than six months ago.
It has inevitably led to plenty of questions around the owners' relative lack of investment back in the summer months when the club posted a net spend of roughly £10m and increased the scrutiny on FSG's self-sufficient strategy for how Liverpool apparently must be run.
At this stage, it's quite conceivable that their best chance of participating in the Champions League for a seventh successive season will be to actually win it this term, given their ongoing domestic struggles.
The European Cup has provided a form of refuge for Klopp this season since it started with the low point of a 4-1 defeat to Napoli in Italy in September. After that miserable night at the Maradona Stadium nearly two months ago, Liverpool have since plundered 14 goals in four games with Rangers and Ajax.
As a result, Tuesday's visit from Napoli represents something of a dead-rubber after qualification was secured last week in Amsterdam courtesy of a 3-0 win. That is a blessing of sorts right now for an embattled Klopp as he gets set to go up against arguably the most in-form side on the continent at Anfield.
The class of 2022 have been running amok under Luciano Spalletti this season; earning plenty of plaudits along their way while topping both Serie A in Italy and Group A of the Champions League in Europe. The Partenopei are yet to lose this season and have already plundered a remarkable 50 goals in all competitions.
A five-point cushion atop the standings has their supporters dreaming of a first league crown since the iconic Diego Maradona inspired them to the 1990 Scudetto and few will want to meet the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen in the last 16. Fortunately for the Reds they are exempt for the first round of knockout ties, at least.
"I think if [Napoli] play like they do at the moment they have a good chance to go to the final, that is how it is," Klopp said. "I think Napoli are the team [most] in form in Europe at the moment. They do really well.
"Did they copy our style? Of course not, Spalletti is a very, very experienced coach, working all over the world and it looks now with all his experience, a few really good signings, good decisions, he brought the group together which works on an exceptionally high level together. But they defend differently, man marking, but from there, high energetic, everyone together, defend together, attack together, I am not sure they copy us but it is something we like to see, it is true.
"When I speak about the positive aspects of the Napoli game at the moment it is because I am a football lover. Over the few weeks since we played Napoli there have been some opportunities to watch highlights and the last three games to prepare for the game and it is just really good.
"I am not afraid or scared. It is just a tough challenge but that is all. I really respect what they are doing and I know Luciano respects what we are doing as well over the last few years.
"Now our situation is slightly more difficult than the Napoli situation obviously and I can still remember how that feels, you can never be sure the next game the performance will be like this and when you are on a winning streak you have to do a lot to stay on track. I am not scared, I am looking forward to it."
Qualification to the last 16 for the sixth time in a row was secured in the main by two bursts of energy in games at Rangers and Ajax in their last two fixtures. A 7-1 hammering of the Scots in Glasgow came largely from a four-goal haul inside 15 minutes at Ibrox when Mohamed Salah set a new Champions League record for the quickest hat-trick in just six minutes and 12 seconds.
Liverpool then scored three times inside 10 minutes either side of half time in Amsterdam to cruise past their Dutch hosts and put their name in the hat for the knockout stages' draw on November 7.
In many ways, those quick-fire blasts have seen Klopp turn back the clock somewhat with his beleaguered squad to a time when their sudden turbo boosts often took games away from their opponents en route to the 2018 final in Kiev.
In two-legged meetings with Porto, Manchester City and Roma on their way to the showpiece with Real Madrid, Klopp's men plundered 17 goals, often in relatively short bursts. A 3-0 win at home to City came via a blistering half-hour, while all five were registered against Roma between minutes 35 and 68.
Klopp may yet have to try and inspire a similar gameplan in the New Year if his underperforming, overworked squad continue to flounder in the manner they have against Forest and Leeds.
Perhaps the aim for Tuesday's game will be to just get through a relatively meaningless fixture without further scrutiny or extra concern on the injury score.
It is not quite the rallying cry that Klopp will be used to delivering, but it's a case of needs must just now.
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