ONE of the most long-standing truisms in football is the one which holds that if you play badly but win, then you must be a good team. Because, apparently, that’s what good teams do: figure out a path to victory even when they are not playing well.

It’s a myth and, like most myths, it contains a kernel of truth. If you are so much better than the opposition then, sure, you will win while playing poorly. Floyd Mayweather Jr would still beat the stuffing out of Piers Morgan even if he was having a bad day.

But that’s not the case with Liverpool. Their six points from two games are a function of that other great leveller in this wonderful, low-scoring sport: moments of individual brilliance (Philippe Coutinho’s wonder-strike out of the blue against Stoke) and individual error (the blown offside call that allowed Christian Benteke’s goal to stand against Bournemouth).

In those two games they managed just five shots on target. More worrying than the numbers though is the “eye test”. This is Brendan Rodgers’ fourth season at Anfield and it’s difficult to discern an identity to his game. For a guy who can talk your ear off about “philosophy”, you wonder what he is trying to do.

His first campaign was all about possession (or “death by possession” as he put it). Then we saw him win second-place with a lightning quick counter-attack and Steven Gerrard hitting balls into space for Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez to chase. Last year, it was about cramming gifted, creative individuals – Raheem Sterling, Coutinho, Adam Lallana – into the starting XI and waiting for them to do something.

And now?

Now it is getting the “right service” to Benteke which, you would presume, involves a heavy dose of crossing from a team which, last season, hit the joint-fewest crosses in the Premier League.

Rodgers can cite his fair share of mitigating circumstances, of course. Having to accommodate an ageing Gerrard last season; Sturridge’s frequent injuries (and yes, he’s still on the shelf); Anfield’s revolving door: seven new faces this year, after he welcomed nine newcomers the season before.

All these things can slow a club developing an identity. But you still expect some forward progress, some idea of how the pieces fit together. His 4-2-3-1, as it stands, has no room for Roberto Firmino, his second biggest summer signing, unless he drops one of Coutinho (arguably his best player), Jordon Ibe (who is a genuine wide player capable of delivering crosses) or Lallana (who cost £25 million a year ago). When (if?) Sturridge returns, it is not clear how he’s going to accommodate him other than by switching to a two-man strike force, which, in turn, means one fewer spot for his plethora of attacking midfielders (a list which includes, in addition to Firmino, Lallana, Coutinho, Ibe, Lazar Markovic and Divock Origi).

And there would be one more, if it wasn’t for the fact that James Milner is being asked to play a whole season in central midfield, something he hasn’t done in ages; in fact, he hasn’t started more than 23 league games since 2010.

Even when things go his way – the partnership of Martin Skrtel and the much-maligned Dejan Lovren has looked solid – there’s an added headache. This means Mamadou Sakho is grumbling and needs a new contract to keep him happy.

Being chameleon-like and playing a range of styles and systems is a sign of tactical flexibility and something to be commended. But that’s as long as you are winning and playing well. And Liverpool haven’t been doing the latter. Sooner or later those “work in progress” signs are going to have to come down.

WHAT do you do when you finish second and everyone brands it a disappointing season?

Why, you spend, spend, spend your way out of it... if you can. Manchester City, who travel to Everton today, could well end up lavishing £85m on two more players in the space of 72 hours. Nicolas Otamendi’s move from Valencia was finalised last week and Kevin de Bruyne’s transfer from Wolfsburg appears imminent.

Two thoughts come to mind. The first is that City evidently don’t want to take any chances this season. Otamendi was arguably the best central defender in La Liga last year and De Bruyne was voted the Bundesliga’s player of the season. They add to what was already the best squad in the league.

The other is that either these guys improved tremendously over the past 18 months or some scouts and talent evaluators were sleeping on the job. Both moved in 2014 for £8.4m and £17.5m respectively,less than a third of what City are touted to be paying for them now.

AND because football – and particularly Fifa – doesn’t have enough to deal with right now, Bloomberg reported last week that the global players’ union, FIFPro, are offering to underwrite the legal costs of any player willing to take Fifa to court over transfer regulations. According to Bloomberg, the aim is to abolish transfer fees altogether. Players could give one or two months’ notice and move on. A bit like those who inhabit the “real world”.

Bosman mark II?

Not so fast. FIFPro apparently are struggling to find someone willing to launch a challenge, mainly because the legal system is so slow. The last time someone tried it, a Hungarian footballer named Tibor Balog in 1997, it took four years to resolve the case. It ended in a settlement which one lawyer compared to “defusing a bomb” and it ended his career.

Maybe it’s a good thing. Because apart from the needless havoc it would wreak on so many levels, if footballers can walk out on their employers, then clubs will be able to cancel contracts at the drop of a hat as well. And you wonder how many would thank FIFPro for that.