MUCH HAS changed about Liverpool this season but the rallying call that followed their first defeat of the campaign at White Hart Lane on Saturday was all-too familiar.
Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, as always, led the call-to-arms to demand that Atletico Madrid were met with a show of character comparable to Chelsea and Manchester United, and one worthy of a side now being considered in title terms.
But it was never about character for Liverpool last night. It was a question of quality, and its absence in too many areas will trouble Rafael Benitez regardless of the reprieve they were gifted by referee Martin Hansson last night.
If there is one aspect of their game Liverpool do not have to prove it is spirit, the indefatigable belief that has rescued Benitez's team at the very pinnacle of the Champions League competition and has been evident throughout this season's rise to the Premier League summit.
What they have still to prove, despite several high-profile scalps and impressive comebacks this term, is the strength in depth required to sustain their unquestioned ability of their first team and the aspirations of their supporters.
As David N'Gog replaced Robbie Keane with Liverpool in desperate search of an equaliser against Atletico, with Fernando Torres squirming in the stands with every miss against his boyhood club, and as the Spaniards targeted their hosts' problems at full-back at every opportunity, the question was brought to the fore.
It remained there despite Hansson's ludicrous penalty award that allowed Gerrard to equalise in the dying seconds.
Ending Chelsea's 86-game record at Stamford Bridge, a month after beating Manchester United for the first time in the league under Benitez, removed any insecurities that lingered in Liverpool against the teams they must overcome to claim a first title since 1990.
The relative weakness of their full-backs compared to United and especially Chelsea, however, remains a problem for the Liverpool manager.
Alvaro Arbeloa has certainly improved on his alarming start to the season but his appearance record - starting every game bar the Carling Cup third round win over Crewe - owes more to the lack of alternatives available to Benitez than the quality of the defender signed from Deportivo La Coruna. The manager has already talked of resting the defender after this game.
Arbeloa's distribution against Atletico, or the consistent lack of it, drove the Anfield faithful to distraction and there were even calls for Philipp Degen to be brought off the bench here, despite the Swiss international having made only one appearance in an injury-plagued first season for Liverpool.
In fairness to Degen he at least arrived at Anfield on a free transfer and with a track record of fitness problems from his time at Borussia Dortmund.
His fellow full-back signing of the summer, Italian international Andrea Dossena, cost €8.6 million from Udinese and has had only marginally more impact than the lesser-spotted Swiss.
Keane's latest subdued display as a lone striker was another concern to Anfield and his fortunes were encapsulated when he gave way to the inexperienced French youngster N'Gog.
