Liverpool head coach Arne Slot accepted he did not always make the right decisions after an underwhelming Premier League title defence ended with a fifth-placed finish.
A 1-1 draw at home to Brentford did not provide the send off the departing Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson were hoping for, but was symptomatic of a campaign which had failed to deliver on numerous levels.
History may show the handling of Salah, whose benching in November and December during a catastrophic run of nine defeats in 12 matches, was one of the things Slot could have dealt with better considering the fallout which followed.
Salah publicly criticised the head coach, for which he effectively served a one-match suspension, and it ultimately led to him negotiating an exit from his lucrative contract with a year still remaining.
Slot's continued faith in a number of under-performing players, combined with reluctance to give precocious teenager Rio Ngumoha more of a role until it was almost his only option, may be other instances which will not stand up to scrutiny.
"Not what I would have loved us to achieve this season before we started but taking everything into account, what has happened to us this season, I'm happy that we've qualified for the Champions League," said Slot.
"We, I, haven't been perfect, but I would have answered this question exactly the same in the year we won the league because as a manager you can never be perfect, a player can never be perfect.
"But all the decisions I've made throughout the whole season has been only with one idea, and that's being very well prepared.
"Not every decision can be the right one so it would be stupid for me to sit here and say all the decisions I've made were the right ones.
"But before I made them, it felt every time they were the right ones to make. But a lot of times I didn't even have to make decisions or choices."
That last point refers to the numerous injuries he has had to deal with. But before even that, a significant mitigating factor was the death of Diogo Jota in a car crash on the eve of pre-season, unmeasurable in terms of the emotional toil it took on players.
The impact of physical injuries is more tangible. British record signing Alexander Isak was absent for 28 matches, starting just eight Premier League games.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker missed 20, first-choice right-back Conor Bradley 32, Jeremie Frimpong 19 and Wataru Endo 18, while 19-year-old new centre-back Giovani Leoni's season lasted just 81 minutes of his debut.
"If you asked me one word to describe this season, I would describe that with the word 'injury'," said Slot.
A win for Brentford would have secured them a maiden European campaign, but head coach Keith Andrews said finishing ninth was still progress.
"It shows we are a good football club," he said.
"It never should be taken for granted finishing in the top half, you could ask a lot of clubs dotted around the Championship who possibly got ahead of themselves.
"The fact we have been able to do that two years in a row is pretty special."
In a match in which all eyes were on the departing Salah, he at least contributed an assist for Curtis Jones' opener.
Liverpool only held their second-half lead for six minutes before Kevin Schade headed home summed up their season.
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