JAMIE CARRAGHER blasted Liverpool as ‘mentality midgets’ after their sixth home defeat in a row.
And the legendary Liverpool defender has serious fears the reigning Premier League champions will fail to secure a top-four finish this season.
Jurgen Klopp famously branded his players as ‘mentality monsters’ as they raced to a first league title in 30 years last season.
But following the 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Fulham at Anfield – a record-extending result – Carragher flipped that moniker on its head.
He told Sky Sports: “So often at these stages last season, Liverpool scored late goals, even the year before when they were chasing down Man City.
“That man [Klopp] rightly called his side the mentality monsters and they deserved that tag, but right now, they are like mentality midgets.
“Every time there is a bit of adversity, you go behind in a game, his team is just not dealing well with adversity at any stage in this last three or four months.
“It’s not acceptable from Liverpool, that sort of performance, and I’ll tell you what, I played in some really poor Liverpool teams.
“These defeats, at home, against the level of opposition, you need to find something from somewhere. It looks like top-four positions now are a long way off.”
Klopp admitted the current barren run has become an ‘extreme situation’.
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He accepted his title heroes have lost their superpowers and will struggle to qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool currently sit eighth in the table on 43 points from 28 games, making them the worst defending champions in Premier League history.
Chelsea are fourth on 50 points while the three teams above and below the Reds all have at least one game in hand on the struggling Kop side.
Carragher’s fellow Liverpool icon and Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness questioned the squad’s desire to be relentless in their pursuit of silverware – and described the alarming drop in form as ‘unfathomable’.
He added: “When you’re a player and you win a big trophy, that’s parked. Enjoy it for a week. Then every day you’re laying on a beach you think about the challenges coming ahead.
“I’d say some of those players haven’t done that. ‘Let’s enjoy the moment, it may never happen to us again.’ It’s all about winning it again, and again, and again.
“It’s unfathomable. It beggars belief how a team can go from so good to so average. It’s okay asking questions about the manager but it’s about the players.
“Jurgen Klopp has found out in this moment in time what he’s got in his dressing room. Some of them haven’t stood up to the challenge.”
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