Arne Slot might have had other things on his mind after Saturday's sacking, but watching Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak light up their international friendlies would have been a painful reminder of what never quite clicked at Anfield.

Wirtz looked sharp for Germany in their 4-0 demolition of Finland on Sunday, operating on the left of an advanced midfield three and tapping home the second goal. But it was Isak who really caught the eye during Sweden's 3-1 loss in Norway on Monday evening.

The striker came off the bench in the 63rd minute and within 13 minutes had produced a moment of pure class. Racing from just inside the Norway half onto a long ball down the left flank, he held off his marker, drove into the area and curled a shot into the top corner. Vintage Isak.

"Hopefully our confidence won't be affected too much," said Isak afterwards. "I don't think our supporters should be worried. It didn't go well against Norway but this is just preparation. We will try to win on Thursday and come to the World Cup with a good feeling."

The timing feels pointed. Here was a player operating at full throttle for his country, the same player who managed just one 23-minute substitute appearance in Liverpool's final month and didn't even make the bench against Brentford in the season finale eight days earlier.

Slot was never given the luxury of seeing what this partnership could truly offer. The £125 million man from Newcastle and the £116 million arrival from Bayer Leverkusen managed just 632 minutes on the pitch together across the entire season. That's barely seven full matches between two players who cost Liverpool a combined £241 million.

Their longest spell as teammates came in December's 1-1 draw with Sunderland, where they shared 86 minutes. After that, they started together for just 196 minutes across the rest of the campaign. Eight times in total they appeared in the same Liverpool XI. Eight.

Sweden face a tough World Cup group alongside Holland, Japan and Tunisia after sneaking through the play-offs, having finished dead last in their qualifying group. It won't be easy, but that might actually work in Liverpool's favour.

Whilst international tournaments usually have club managers nervously watching for injury updates, whoever replaces Slot might welcome deep runs from both players. Andoni Iraola appears increasingly likely to get the nod, and he could inherit something Slot never had: momentum.

If Wirtz can build on his Germany form and Isak rediscovers his goalscoring touch on the biggest stage, they might finally return to Merseyside with the confidence and rhythm that eluded them all season. The new manager would have a head start Slot was never afforded.

Sometimes the best partnerships need time away to remember what made them special in the first place. Liverpool's summer might just be getting more interesting.