A couple of years ago they were the heartbeat of a Liverpool side that almost ended a 20 year title wait.
Last night they were like a couple of kids as they poured over Celtic’s Champions League thriller with Astana.
In his new role as a BT pundit Steven Gerrard found himself interviewing his old boss, Brendan Rodgers.
Gerrard: Would you relish Anfield return?
Rodgers: They must be paying you to say that!
Gerrard quizzes Rodgers. pic.twitter.com/OIeK1VgVgf
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) August 16, 2017
For any remaining doubters south of the border the managerial ability of Rodgers was again underlined last night.
Without Moussa Dembele and putting a ball playing midfielder into central defence Rodgers was able to plot the downfall of a team that had taken 180 minutes to break down 12 months ago.
Every decision that the Irishman made paid off with Nir Bitton faultless in defence, Tom Rogic opening the scoring and £4.5m signing Olivier Ntcham stamping his authority on midfield in a manner that Stevie G could only approve of- with at least six more episodes to come.