If Jurgen Klopp's plan was for a full strength team to ease the disquiet around Liverpool just now, it was one that fell flat at Anfield on Saturday night.
An insipid - and slightly fortuitous - 2-2 draw with Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup did little to inspire confidence around a team whose out-of-sorts season has shown few signs of abating since the return of domestic action last month.
And given the names within the XI who Klopp selected against a much-changed and relegation-threatened Wolves over the weekend, it's possible that the concerns have even deepened.
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Had a makeshift, new-look Reds toiled in the same manner, those frustrations would be tempered by the identity of the squad players in situ at Anfield, but the fact that Klopp was able to name seasoned performers like Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Andy Robertson - to name just three - will only spread further anxiety about the long-term future.
That might be overegging the pudding slightly, but social media and disappointing Liverpool results make for combustible elements, particularly at a time when the same old criticisms are being made about the midfield.
Liverpool continue to be linked with a whole host of names while the transfer window is open. Joao Palhinha of Fulham and Borussia Monchengladbach's Kouadio Kone are the latest to be thrown onto the carousel.
Add those two to Matheus Nunes, Jude Bellingham, Enzo Fernandez and Sofyan Amrabat and expect more to be named in connection before the end of the month. After spending £37m to land Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven, it's unlikely huge sums will be made available in January further additions, however.
That, patently, is not what many want to hear in the early days of 2023, but it's something the manager himself addressed after the capture of Netherlands international Gakpo.
"I am now here seven years and a few months, and every window is pretty much the same," said Klopp ahead of last week's defeat at Brentford. "We talk about these things as though money wouldn't play a role. It is never like this, that we can just spend money.
"I don't want to disappoint anybody and their dreams, but we sign an outstanding player like Cody Gakpo and the next thing you read is 'who's next?'. It's like we didn't have a team.
"Honestly, we cannot play like Monopoly. We never did and I don't understand it. Of course we cannot just spend and never could. And we always sort our situations."
The lack of new signings in the midfield area will undoubtedly be cited as the key reason for Liverpool's drop-off but it is a malaise that goes deeper than the often rudimentary measure of transfers. That, perhaps, will be the most concerning element for the manager at present.
A recent report by The Times highlighted how much Liverpool have tailed off from last season's exerting efforts where they lost just four of 63 games across all competitions en route to a domestic double, a Champions League final and a 92-point finish in the Premier League.
Last term, Liverpool ranked first for sprints and high-speed runs and were comfortably in the top four for distance covered during matches too. Now they rank 16th, 11th and 14th for those respective metrics. This has evidently had a major impact on results.
So too has been the more glaring issue of conceding first in games. Wolves' opener on Saturday was the 14th time, across all competitions, that Liverpool have gone behind first.
Quite how that is rectified only Klopp and his backroom staff will truly know but at a time when the football is not at its most scintillating, failure to cut out that fatal flaw could cost them dearly for the long term. These problems go far beyond the addition of new midfielders, however much those demanding them would like to portray.
That, though, does not mean significant renovation is not needed in the engine room. With Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all set to see their contracts expire this summer and Arthur Melo's frankly disastrous loan spell likely to end with a whimper, attention needs to be paid to what is happening in the centre of the park.
Liverpool, of course, already know this and overtures are being made behind the scenes. Sources have indicated that Nunes is a long-standing target but one that won't be for this month given he has already turned out for Wolves and Sporting Lisbon this season. There's also the prospect relegation for the Midlanders may even shave a few millions off the Portugal international's price tag.
By now, it's almost an open secret that Liverpool have England international Bellingham in their crosshairs. Klopp spoke at length about the Borussia Dortmund midfielder's quality before Christmas and was relatively frank when asked last week by SportBILD in Germany.
“These things are not possible because he is under contract with Borussia Dortmund,” Klopp said about claims a deal has already been struck with Bellingham. “Jude is a great player who we are familiar with, of course. We’d be stupid not to have him on our radar. But there’s nothing more to say at the moment.”
The "at the moment" part of that sentence is the one that will intrigue, but a lot of that centres around Liverpool's participation in next season's Champions League. Given how important the funds of Europe's biggest competition are to the Anfield coffers due to the self-sustaining way owners Fenway Sports Group insist the club must be run, a failure to take part in the 2023/24 tournament will have huge ramifications, particularly for the pursuit of Bellingham.
For his part, the 19-year-old, like any top talent, will see his future at a team who are competing in the Champions League too. It's why Liverpool's record of three finals since 2018 will appeal but the big question is whether the Reds will be able to count themselves as part of the elite when the draw for next season's group stage is made in August.
"It is a big part of my philosophy," Klopp added last week. "Really working full of faith and trust with the players we have and not constantly questioning them by telling them that we need another player in their position.
"But that somebody is surprised when I say we will not now start splashing the cash - is that the phrase? I never did it but I know it anyway! - that should be really clear. If there is something we can do, and that was always the case, and that means the right player and financial situation, we will do it. Then if not, then no."
Insiders at Anfield have spoken about two lists that have informally been composed of summer targets Liverpool can look towards based on where they land this season. Throw in the uncertainty at the top of the club around FSG's ongoing ownership alongside sporting director Julian Ward's imminent exit at the end of the season and it's easy to understand why the phrase 'spinning plates' has been generally used to describe the current situation.
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