There is one Liverpool squad photo from the Europa League in 2010 that has become synonymous with the transformation undertaken at the club, and one of the subjects chuckles when it appears.
Liverpool Football Club of 2025 would find it hard to recognise its 2010 reiteration, not only on the pitch but off it.
The club was in the midst of a takeover by Fenway Sports Group, then New England Sports Ventures, and Roy Hodgson was overseeing a wretched start when the club travelled to Italy.
There, as is customary for European matches, a picture (below) was taken of this starting XI: Reina; Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Konchesky; Poulsen, Spearing, Shelvey; Jovanovic, Babel, and Ngog.
You may recognise it as the one that often pops up on your social media feeds when an account is seeking to reflect on who Liverpool had to call upon then versus now.
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Martin Kelly is one of the players in that picture, and he told the Athletic that he finds it amusing, with the night proving to be “one of my best achievements!”
He explained: “Roy didn’t have the budget, so he was looking at free transfers and promoting youth.
“I frequently get tagged in photos on social media of the team I was part of when we played Napoli away in the Europa League. It’s used as the contrast between Liverpool then and Liverpool now.
“I always have a chuckle, because we drew 0-0 and they had Edinson Cavani up front. That was one of my best achievements!
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“The club wasn’t in a great place, but you knew when FSG came in that they would improve things.”
The match finished 0-0 and for many remains symbolic of how much the club has evolved on the pitch and off it. It is not remotely recognisable from what we see today.
But Kelly, now retired, played 62 games for Liverpool as an academy graduate, has revealed a different side to the image of personal satisfaction, something that is overlooked.
At least he can have a “chuckle” about it!
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