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Liverpool might have lost against AC Milan in Hong Kong, but there was enough in the performance — particularly in the first half — for Arne Slot to take as positives.
Defensively, Liverpool was far too open at times, with Joe Gomez's absence underlining the lack of depth that Slot has in that position. The Reds' longest-serving player has been sent back to the UK with a minor Achilles issue, leaving only Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as senior center-backs who are fit.
Aside from the obvious need to bring in another player in that position — links with Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi are unlikely to be going anywhere, for instance — what else did Slot learn? Liverpool.com has taken a look.
Becoming Liverpool's most expensive signing of all time when he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, Florian Wirtz showed the first public glimpse of why the Reds spent so much money on him here.
Behind the scenes, he has already been dazzling his teammates. Here, he was flicking the ball left, right, and center — sometimes over the top of defenders' heads — and showing that Phillppe Coutinho-like low center of gravity that he has.
At 22, Wirtz is younger than Harvey Elliott. Already, he is on another level, not just compared to most of his teammates, but most of the players around the world. Strap in, because he is only going to get even more exciting.
Deployed further back in the Liverpool midfield as a result of Wirtz coming in and Elliott starting too, Dominik Szoboszlai also excelled. The Hungarian scored a brilliant goal, which he placed into the top corner, but did all the off-the-ball stuff perfectly as well.
There has been chatter in some quarters that Szoboszlai could be the man to suffer from Wirtz's arrival. It is true that he played most of last season as a No.10, but not that his game time will suddenly be limited.
If you asked Szoboszlai, he would say himself that he is better further back. And if you asked Slot, he would freely admit that he wouldn't want to lose the energy that the $82 million (£60 million) ace provides.
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Szoboszlai, quite simply, won't be going anywhere. Given Ryan Gravenberch is suspended for the season opener against Bournemouth, it is near-guaranteed that the 24-year-old will be in the starting XI there.
Speaking of Gravenberch, the Dutchman got straight back into his groove. He oozed class in possession at center-back and then further forward, and even hit the bar with a long-range effort.
Of those who started in the second half, Cody Gakpo was arguably the most impressive. His late header was superbly taken, and he is another who should be in the team at the start of the new season.
And last, but certainly not least, Rio Ngumoha excited plenty with his fearless dribbling. Born in 2008, he hasn't been alive long enough to know how big a club AC Milan is. Even if he had been, you suspect that he wouldn't have changed anything.
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