The jury remains out whether Jurgen Klopp can arrest Liverpool's poor Premier League, according to former Reds midfielder Didi Hamann.
The RTÉ analyst was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s final outing in the group stage of the Champions League, a 2-0 victory over the previously unbeaten Napoli.
Klopp’s men were already guaranteed a place in the round of 16, but the required a four-goal margin of victory to knock the Serie A club off top spot never looked likely.
European progress contrasts sharply with domestic struggles as the Reds side sit ninth in the Premier League table with 16 points after 12 games, the weekend’s defeat to Leeds United their third domestic defeat in five outings.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s European clash, Hamann said it’s unclear whether Klopp, who has delivered Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup success since arriving in 2015, can turn the ship around.
"The next few weeks and months will show (if they can turn their form around)," he said. "They have to try and cut the deficit to fourth place in the next few games before the World Cup.
"I think it will be very difficult to finish in the top-four. We know financially what it means to be in the Champions League.
"The jury is out" for Didi Hamann on whether or not Jurgen Klopp will be able to dig Liverpool out of the hole that they're currently in. #RTEsoccer
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 1, 2022
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"I think the jury is out because it is the first time that he’s had a situation like this."
After transforming the club after his arrival seven years ago, Klopp has appeared flummoxed as to the cause for their struggles this season, with his team posting a 50% win record this campaign.
Hamann, a contributor to Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League-winning season, contends that it is a very different environment he finds himself in since joining from Dortmund.
"When he came, he changed the whole team and it was upwards for the last five or six years. The team has been on top...what they did was unbelievable, but this is a different situation now.
"It reminds me of when he first came to the club, but that wasn’t his team. This is his team.
"When you hear him sometimes after games, I’m not sure whether he has an explanation for what is going on.
"Is it just down to fatigue, or is it just down to one or two midfield players?
"The jury is out, but in the next few weeks and months we will find out."
Liverpool travel to take on a Tottenham side buoyed by topping their Champions League group on Sunday and Hamann insists that they must get back to winning ways in the league.
"A step in the right direction, but a very small one," is Didi Hamann's verdict over Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Napoli. For Kevin Doyle it's key that they build on the result and beat Tottenham at the weekend. #RTEsoccer #LIVNAP pic.twitter.com/ZhOo2Cj8Rk
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 1, 2022
"What they must not do is overestimate what they did today," the German said afterwards. "Yes they beat a very good team, but it was a dead rubber.
"It was a step in the right direction, but a very small one."
Klopp hit back at Hamann recently after the former Newcastle man suggested the Reds looked tired after a sluggish start to the season and wondered where the spark would come over the following weeks.
The Liverpool boss responded, ahead of the 7-1 rout of Rangers with: "Oh great. A fantastic source, well respected everywhere."
Earlier in the day Klopp’s representative, Marc Kosicke, rejected claims that the Reds boss is ready to walk away from his current role, just six months after signing a new, long-term contract until 2026.
