It's been an eventful summer for Liverpool Football Club, who open their 2015-16 season looking to put the "nightmare" - in the words of Kolo Toure - of last season behind them.
What better way to start then, than returning to the Britannia Stadium, the scene of their humiliating 6-1 final day defeat at the hands of Stoke City.
That day, which saw the Reds concede five goals before half-time for the first time in Premier League history, will understandably never be forgotten.
But though the trip to the Potteries will evoke bad memories of that afternoon three months ago, they return this time with a fresh new look and a rejuvenated sense of belief.
New-look Liverpool hoping to prove they've moved on from difficult 2014-15
Both on and off the pitch, Brendan Rodgers has rung the changes after surviving a scrutinous end-of-season review that deemed him capable of carrying the club forward.
New signings, added to a re-shuffled backroom staff - with Pepijn Lijnders, Gary McAllister and Sean O'Driscoll replacing Mike Marsh and Colin Pascoe, mean that there will be no transparency over whose feet the blame should fall at if Liverpool fail yet again.
Unlike previous years, it has been Rodgers who clearly identified and targeted the seven additions they have brought in, and it was also him who selected the new members of his coaching team, meaning he will ultimately be held accountable if their form fails to improve.
All of those changes have welcomingly freshened things up at Anfield, and the Northern Irishman, who is entering his fourth year in charge of the club, now desperately needs his side to prove they have progressed since May 24th, rather than regressed.
There are, of course, still plenty of concerns. The high-profile departures of Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling have left some question marks over the proven quality in Liverpool's squad.
But that has been somewhat quashed in the way they have gone about re-shaping their squad - addressing areas of weakness and bringing in players of genuine excitement as Rodgers vies to convince everybody that he remains the right man for the job.
The biggest concern is over the Reds' decision to radically overhaul the squad yet again, which has left worries that they are in for yet another period of dreaded transition.
Rodgers under pressure for new signings to find their feet
After all - Rodgers can ill-afford for his signings to take long to bed in like last year, as they'll all have vital roles to play if the Reds are to push on for a top-four finish.
The Liverpool boss saw his reputation as one of Europe's brightest young managers disintegrated over the course of the last 12 months. Despite almost ending the club's long overdue wait for a league title two years ago, he has seen his side's achievements of that season largely accredited to the presence and form of Luis Suarez, as opposed to his own managerial abilities.
And after Suarez left, that claim seemed to have been strengthened. After Rodgers spent just shy of £120 million in re-shaping the squad and trying to fill the void the striker left behind, Liverpool's re-emergence fell flat.
A dreadful opening few months set them back drastically, and an early exit from the Champions League hardly helped. A Capital One Cup run provided a nice distraction, before Liverpool maintained a brief resurgence with a 3-4-3 formation.
Regardless, they ultimately fell short of the quality required to finish inside the top-four and ended the campaign having been dumped out of the two domestic cup competitions at the semi-final stage, in addition to their early eliminations from both European tournaments.
Now, just 12 months on from the time dubbed as Liverpool's long-awaited revival, they find themselves in a situation where they need to prove their unbelievable heroics of 2013-14 were not just spearheaded by the magnificence of Suarez.
The approach taken to rectifying things is the same one which was used after the 31-goal striker left. This time last year they brought in eight permanent signings and Javier Manquillo on loan in a bid to replace Suarez collectively, after they had missed out on their main targets, whilst this summer the Reds have brought in seven - though much more decisively.
And for Rodgers' sake, those seven must integrate much more effectively than last summer's signings. Rickie Lambert and Javier Manquillo both lasted just 12 months before moving on, with Mario Balotelli expected to join them through the exit door. Meanwhile the futures of Alberto Moreno, Dejan Lovren and Lazar Markovic are uncertain after underwhelming first seasons.
There may yet be hope for some, such as Adam Lallana, whose first campaign was severely affected by niggling injuries whilst Divock Origi only recently arrived after spending the season on loan in France. That leaves just one signing who can really be classed as a successful one - Emre Can.
The German midfielder provided a number of classy and impressive performances, adapting well to a centre-back role in a back three but coming into his own when in midfield.
And whilst Moreno, Lovren and Markovic may yet turn their fortunes around - it's clear that if Liverpool are to progress, and Rodgers is to be the man in charge this time next year, the Reds' new batch of recruits must find their feet much more quickly.
Have Liverpool adequately strengthened over the summer?
A successful pre-season campaign, which saw the Reds take five wins of six - though against opponents of lesser quality, has certainly provided hope that the Reds' new signings will fare better.
James Milner and Nathaniel Clyne, though not the biggest headline-making moves of the Reds' summer - both bring a balance of experience and ability to positions in need of strengthening.
Furthermore - Adam Bogdan and Danny Ings are relatively risk-free signings, with the Hungarian goalkeeper costing nothing and providing much-needed back-up to first-choice Simon Mignolet.
Ings too, though likely to command a fee of around £5 million at an independent tribunal, seems to fit Rodgers' desired mould of a hard-working centre-forward who is intelligent in his movement, and has the versatility to play in a number of attacking roles.
Origi, though technically classified as a signing from last summer, has also come into the fold. The 20-year-old admittedly looked raw throughout pre-season, but that can be solved by working with the right coaches to ensure his potential is effectively harnessed.
Firmino and Benteke were undoubtedly the attention-grabbing deals, costing over £60 million combined and both of them add extra quality to an area Liverpool were left lacking in last year.
Highly-rated playmaker Firmino was snapped up out of nowhere, with a deal done just days after rumoured interest in the 23-year-old whet supporters' appetites.
Joining the club off the back of an excellent few years with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, his arrival represents a major coup given Liverpool's lack of Champions League football - so often a factor which drives players of Firmino's talent to clubs elsewhere.
And Benteke is another player who can potentially help take the Reds to the next level. His signature always seemed a case of when not if, given the common knowledge that Rodgers is a known admirer of the Belgian's talents.
And despite the deal initially stalling due to a differing valuations between Liverpool and his former employers, Aston Villa, Benteke came in to become the club's second-most expensive ever player.
It is his arrival which is the most intriguing. Concerns certainly exist over whether the Reds can get the best out of the 24-year-old, but it would be a disservice to the diversity of his goalscoring abilities to suggest that the only way to use him is to play to his strengths in the air.
All seven signings have their own merits, and they help add extra quality and depth in areas of the Liverpool squad that were previously lacking both. Though, whether they are enough to push them into the top-four, given the superior squads of teams such as Manchester City and Manchester United - is questionable, with Rodgers' side already written off as the underdogs for Champions League qualification.
Little expected of Liverpool this year
No-one is expecting all that much of Liverpool this season, with Brendan Rodgers written off far and wide - but that could just work in their favour.
It's perhaps no surprise that the expectations, at least from the outside, are so low. Last term they finished eight points off fourth, scoring just 52 goals, and now Rodgers has to make up for the loss of his two top goalscorers - Sterling and Gerrard, both with nine - as well as bedding in several new signings and coping with four simultaneous competitions.
It is no mean feat for any man, nevermind a man under as much pressure as Rodgers. It's not made any easier by the fact the Reds' first seven away games pit them against Stoke, Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester City.
The nightmare that Toure spoke about may refer to the return to Stoke, but the tests get tougher and tougher - but the Reds have no choice but to roll with the punches.
There are no excuses for failure, at least from Rodgers. He's had the backing of the owners, Fenway Sports Group, who have supplied him with all the tools to turn things around, and that is what he must now do. The 2013-14 Manager of the Year may not have faced a test like it yet, and he has plenty of doubters to convince if he is to prove he's capable of leading Liverpool back to the top.
When Rodgers was first announced as Liverpool manager, he insisted he would fight for his life, on and off the field, leaving no stone unturned in his quest to re-establish the club as one of the most successful in England yet again. This season will truly put those words to the test.