Paul Robinson was inclined to point out the absence of Sadio Mane as a ‘huge miss’ for Liverpool in the wake of their 3-2 defeat to Arsenal.
Still, the ex-goalkeeper felt the ‘crux’ of the issue stemmed to something beyond the Senegalese international’s departure to Germany, highlighting the performances of a number of key Reds stars.
“You look at last season and they played every single game possible,” the former England No.1 told BBC Sport.
“They have lost Sadio Mane, who is a huge miss for them, but you don’t become bad players overnight.
“They’ve got too many top-quality players who are underperforming – and that’s the crux of it.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah both attracted blame from the publication’s chief football writer, Phil McNulty, the former of whom earned an early substitution after sustaining an ankle concern.
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The question now is: what must Jurgen Klopp do to get the best out of his underperforming talents once more.
Not the time to call for Jurgen Klopp’s head
A formation change against Scottish outfit Rangers appeared to herald a new dawn in what has been a supremely challenging campaign for the former quadruple hopefuls.
Now, however, it seems that a change of shape won’t be enough to recapture the spark of Liverpool’s intensity.
That’s not to suggest that the issue lies with the manager – and, indeed, any calling for his head already should be deeply ashamed of themselves – though the responsibility to turn things around most certainly does.
We’ve every faith in the 55-year-old being the man to do so.