RTÉ soccer analyst Eamon Dunphy believes that Liverpool's current on-pitch problems stem from a lack of investment in their squad and two poor transfer windows.
In the space of a month, the Reds have dropped out of both the FA Cup and EFL Cup and have seen their title challenge falter as they claimed just one win in eight January games.
To top that off, manager Jurgen Klopp now looks likely to see the January transfer window close shut without bringing in any reinforcements.
This comes on the back of Liverpool’s summer transfer activity in which they saw 14 players leave their squad and just six players join as they made a net profit on their transfer dealings.
Dunphy believes that the lack of big money signings has now come back to haunt Liverpool, who if they lose to league leaders Chelsea on Tuesday, would appear to be out of the title picture.
"The problem is Klopp’s focus on the job, his net spend in 18 months is £6.5 million, why is that?” he asked.
"You cannot win the Premier League on budget travel terms or “yellow pack”.
"You’ve got to buy top players and Liverpool Football Club have no excuse with their tradition and the expectation and fans they’ve got, not to go and be in for, the best players on the market.
Dunphy believes that Klopp has failed to address Liverpool’s biggest failing - defence - and that they need to show ambition with their signings.
"That’s got to stop. There are glaring defensive requirements and everybody knows them and now it’s too late for this season probably because he hasn’t done his stuff.
"I’m very disappointed that he didn’t use the summer transfer window to restock with defenders and a really top midfield player.
"Everyone is talking about Antoine Griezmann going to Manchester United and no-one is talking about him going to Liverpool."
Liverpool's drop down the table has coincided with a loss in form of the injury prone Daniel Sturridge and Dunphy claims that his manager is not utilising him properly.
"Confidence is huge for strikers, it’s huge for everybody but strikers in particular," he said.
"I think he [Klopp] has played him in the wrong position, he’s not a centre-forward. He’s played him up the middle in most of the games he’s played and that’s not his position.
"His position is drifting wide, coming in and coming late at the end of moves. Sturridge will not be starting when Mane is there."
