Coutinho, Sturridge and Sterling are key for Reds after Suarez departure

Liverpool's defeat in Miami to Manchester United was the first blow to the confidence of the Merseysiders as they prepare to 'go again.'

Manager Brendan Rodgers will hope that there aren't many more.

Repeating last season's exceptional performances without Luis Suarez will be hard enough as it is without a wobbly start to the season.

The cogent argument that this was only a friendly was a little undermined by Rodgers' pre-match assertion that there was no such thing as a friendly between these two clubs.

Nevertheless, it's hard to take too much from a match ravaged by substitutions and played out by footballers still reaching for full fitness.

That should certainly be the message going forward. 

NEW SIGNINGS

The Suarez-shaped gap at the front of the team hasn't been filled this summer, but you have to ask how could it be filled?

If the Uruguayan's gifts could be easily replicated, Barcelona wouldn't have been compelled to spend such an eye-watering sum of money on such a troublesome character. 

Instead of moving for a direct and, in all likelihood, utterly underwhelming substitute, Liverpool have spread the money around.

It's a good, long-term strategy entirely in keeping with the good, long-term strategies the club have employed to lift them back into the Champions League places.

But it might not prevent Liverpool from sliding backwards in the short term. 

So much depends upon the triumvirate of Phillipe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling.

Those three players have the ability to change games, even against the best teams.

They will bear the burden of responsibility while players like Lazar Markovic, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana settle into their new roles.

They are worthy of the challenge. 

Sterling first burst into the Liverpool starting line-up in 2012, but he soon returned to the reserves as the sparkle of his early promise was dulled by a growing awareness among the league's defenders of his habits.

STERLING GAMBLE

Rodgers, an accomplished manager of young talent, was testing him, looking to discover his reaction to a return to the development squad.

The gamble paid off. When Sterling returned, he was a more rounded player.

Indeed, much of Liverpool's late-season success was down to his ability not just to race down the flanks, but to play an intelligent role through the middle.

That development must now continue. 

Coutinho was written off by so many people that he seemed an expensive gamble at £8.5 million ($17.9m) when he was brought to the club in 2013.

Small and lightweight, he had been deemed to frail to sustain a career at the top. He proved his doubters wrong instantly, demonstrating a wonderful awareness of the pitch and an ability to avoid the crunching tackles.

His luck ran out against Swansea in September when he was felled by a heavy challenge from Ashley Williams, but he soon returned and was better than ever.

Little wonder that Liverpool are working so hard to renew his contract. 

STAR MAN

Daniel Sturridge remains the most pivotal player in the team.

The rate of his development since arriving at Liverpool has been extraordinary. Always an excellent technical footballer, the doubt was over his mentality and his ability to play as part of a team.

He has proved himself at Anfield, so much so that he was granted the chance to lead the line for England at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The worry remains that his increased stature will see a return to his more self-centred ways but, for now, there's no reason for that to happen. 

Liverpool, who last won the English title in 1990, will have to shrug this defeat off quickly, dismissing it as the irrelevance it was, but there are still lessons to learn.

When the season begins, people will be looking for reasons to write off the Reds.

If their key trio of stars perform, those reasons can be kept to a minimum.