Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler believes the mental toll of last season has impacted the club's season this time around.
The Reds were chasing an unprecedented quadruple for much of last term under boss Jurgen Klopp.
However, their season ended with only the Carabao Cup and FA Cup trophies, as they failed to win the Champions League or Premier League at the final hurdles.
"They have struggled this season and all the talk coming out from the training ground is that the exploits of last season have taken its toll," Fowler told Liverpool ECHO.
"I can't sit here and argue against that. I think when you are a successful team you've got to keep fighting from any angle anyway.
"Jurgen Klopp is an exceptional manager but you will have tough times. There's always something that will happen at Liverpool. I am not an insider giving out information but I would be amazed if there isn't something happening behind the scenes [for the summer].
"I also think that when Jurgen signed a new contract that would be one of the pre-requisites as part of his contract that he can bring in players at the end of the season.
"Think of what they could have achieved! I know it's all ifs and buts and should haves and could haves. They are having a tough time and the expectancy levels have risen through the roof but I'd be confident of Jurgen turning it around.
"As a player I wanted to play more games anyway and I looked at the fact that if you are successful then you are playing more games, so I think that is a good thing. You have to accept that and adapt to that; if you want to be a successful team you're going to be playing more games than the average team. I am all for them playing as much as they can.
"I think what people don't realize is the mental side of the sport. People talk to me now and say they can't play two or three games a week and towards the end of my career I just couldn't do it. I'd had so many injuries and operations that my body couldn't get used to it. But fitness-wise, I could and I probably wasn't the fittest lad if you like.
"I think what people don't get is the mental side of things. So players can play three times a week, absolutely not a problem because they are so finely-tuned as athletes now that they can. But the mental side of things in the sport is where it takes its toll and players may suffer from that.
"The days of social media are here now and answering everything they can with their PR teams, whereas years ago there was no social media or the expectations that they are getting now. So I think that is probably where they are struggling. So it's not the physical side of things, I think it might just be the mental tiredness of where they are at."
