Graeme Souness has hit out at Liverpool after their late season collapse and claimed they have missed a huge opportunity.
The Reds had been well in the Premier League title race for most of the campaign, with Jurgen Klopp’s side two points clear at the top after a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United on April 4.
Liverpool also won the Carabao Cup in February, and there was genuine hope Klopp could end his time at Anfield by securing a historic quadruple.
However, after crashing out of the FA Cup to Man United, the Reds then suffered a shock Europa League exit to Atalanta, before their Premier League form nosedived, as they picked up just five points in their past four games to end their title hopes.
And Liverpool legend Souness admitted he couldn’t quite believe the scale of their collapse and didn’t understand what had gone wrong.
Graeme Souness has slammed Liverpool after dramatic dip in form across recent weeks
Liverpool were in the running for a historic quadruple, but their season has fallen apart
Souness couldn’t believe the scale of their collapse and didn’t get what had gone wrong
‘It’s a disappointing end to the season for Liverpool,’ he said at the launch of the Every Minute Matters campaign – a year-long partnership between Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation to inspire the nation to learn life-saving CPR.
‘I thought they would win the Premier League. They were playing a brand of football where they didn’t have to play well to win games because there was so much firepower in the team.
‘That’s gone in the last couple of months, and they’ve gone from a team that could score for fun to a team that can’t score.
‘They’ve got to look at themselves. At the time that really mattered, they couldn’t deal with that pressure for whatever reason.’
Klopp’s farewell now looks set to end quietly, but it shouldn’t take away from what the German has achieved over a glittering nine-and-a-half-year spell at Anfield.
Yet, despite significant reflection, Souness couldn’t put his finger on why Liverpool had fallen away so badly, but felt the players had a lot to answer for.
‘They’ve been great for seven months but for the last two months of the season, they’ve just not been the same players,’ he added.
‘Collectively they are not the same team and they have to look in the mirror and say “I’m going to learn from this and never let it happen to me again as an individual”.
‘They’ve been a major disappointment to themselves and the football club because they had a wonderful opportunity.’
Feyenoord boss Arne Slot is expected to replace Klopp this summer, with Mail Sport reporting last week how Liverpool were ironing out the final details of his arrival.
Souness called Liverpool’s players a ‘major disappointment’ and said they needed to ‘look themselves in the mirror’ and ensure something like this never happens again in their careers
The Liverpool legend also felt Jurgen Klopp’s successor is now in for a much more difficult job
Souness was speaking a the launch of the Every Minute Matters campaign – a partnership between Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation to inspire the nation to learn life-saving CPR
However, Souness felt the club’s dramatic decline over recent weeks has made the situation a more difficult one to walk in to.
He continued: ‘After the Carabao Cup final I would have said whoever gets the Liverpool job is walking into a very healthy situation.
‘But I look at it now and it’s not such a healthy situation. If we are talking about what the future looks like for Liverpool, are we looking at Liverpool for the first seven months of the season?
‘Or are we talking about Liverpool for the last few months of the season? Because only the players can answer that and we have to wish the new manager the best of luck.’
Graeme Souness was speaking at the launch of the Every Minute Matters campaign, a year-long partnership between Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation to inspire the nation to learn life-saving CPR. Learn CPR in 15 minutes for FREE with British Heart Foundation’s online training course
