The Italian was caught out of position on a number of occasions and Wisla’s 12th-minute goal came down the Liverpool left, Marek Ziencuk cutting the ball back for Tomas Jirsak to sweep a first-time finish past Diego Cavalieri.

Both Dossena and Degen can hardly be expected to slot in straight away, but both will surely now be aware of the expectations and demands of Benitez and supporters. Must do better.

Liverpool had already forged ahead in the sixth minute when pre-season specialist Andriy Voronin netted his second goal in as many games.

A flowing move involving the again impressive Lucas Leiva and Ryan Babel ended with Yossi Benayoun threading a brilliant ball into the path of Voronin who, having seen his initial effort saved by Wisla goalkeeper Mariusz Pawelek, made no mistake in despatching the rebound.

Voronin later spurned a good chance to regain the lead when a mistake by Marcin Baszczynski put the Ukrainian in the clear, but his shot was too close to Pawelek.

Benayoun had an effort cleared off the line by Arkadiusz Glowacki after the interval but the Israeli was an often infuriating figure, continually coughing up possession to the Poles.

He wasn’t alone, though, as Liverpool made life particularly difficult for themselves during the first half by struggling to hold on to the ball.

Wisla should have taken advantage of some sloppy defending, with Benitez’s side showing few signs of having yet addressed last season’s inability to consistently handle set-pieces.

After one such malaise, Liverpool had to rely on a harsh flag from the referee’s assistant to prevent them falling behind before a Marek Ziencuk free-kick evaded a clutch of defenders and struck the outside of Cavalieri’s right-hand post.

Sebastian Leto again fleetingly caught the eye with some fancy footwork only to be let down by a poor choice of final pass, while fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano announced his return to the first-team squad with a couple of crunching tackles. The midfielder clearly does not do ‘friendly’.

Voronin, Benayoun and late substitute Jermaine Pennant have all been linked with moves away from Anfield during this transfer window, serving to only further underline that this Liverpool team is virtually unrecognisable to the one that steps out for the Champions League qualifier next month.

And until the cavalry arrives, Benitez is unlikely to contemplate a wardrobe change just yet.