Ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes that the Reds were not deserving of the Premier League title this season due to their poor "game management" and identified two results that cost them their chances of glory.
In Jurgen Klopp's final campaign at the Anfield helm, Liverpool were briefly on course for a magnificent quadruple, having bested Chelsea in the EFL Cup final while also competing for league, FA Cup and Europa League stardom.
Klopp's crop led the way at the halfway stage of the season until gameweek 27, in addition to topping the standings in gameweek 30 and 31, but after hitting the 70-point mark, results plateaued.
A miserable sequence of just one victory from five Premier League matches saw Liverpool fatally lose ground on both Arsenal and Manchester City, who are now in a two-horse race for the Premier League title heading into the closing weekend.
However, the third-placed Reds have at least managed to secure an immediate return to the revamped Champions League for the 2024-25 season, and Klopp will leave with another EFL Cup winners' medal round his neck.
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Warnock: 'Liverpool will look back at what could have been'
Speaking exclusively to Sports Mole with NewBettingSites.uk, Warnock - who made 67 appearances for Liverpool after coming through their youth setup - said that the Reds will likely rue what could have been at the start of the season and identified the recent draw with Manchester United and loss to Crystal Palace as the results which proved season-defining.
Asked if Klopp's final season can be considered a success, Warnock replied: "To a certain degree it will because of where they were at last season. You'd have taken Champions League football at the start of the season, but when you've come so close, I get the feeling that they'll look back at the end of the season and think what could have been?
"I don't think there was much missing in the team, missed opportunities, missed chances in big games, especially away at Manchester United, I think that was the one that set everything off. The Crystal Palace game at home, big opportunities missed in that, and then it just started to unravel for Liverpool."
Liverpool and another of Warnock's former clubs Aston Villa were involved in a frenetic 3-3 draw on Monday evening, where Klopp's side established a 3-1 lead early in the second half but blew their advantage in the final 10 minutes.
Jhon Duran's late brace dramatically stole a point for Champions League-bound Villa, who took a leaf out of Liverpool's book when it came to exhibiting impressive powers of recovery, as the Reds have often fallen behind this season only to come back to prevail.
Warnock: 'Liverpool's game management was not good enough'
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Klopp's men have accrued 28 points after falling behind this season - more than any other Premier League team - but Warnock believes that such a lack of "game management" meant that they were not worthy title winners.
"I think that game against Aston Villa summed Liverpool's season up, in the fact that they can be devastating at times, but their game management wasn't good enough for large parts of the season," the former left-back said.
"They are where they are because they deserve to be there. They didn't deserve to win the league because it was always a season that you felt they were chasing games.
"To go behind so many times in games and have that incredible record of scoring so many goals late and coming from behind, I just don't think you can become champions playing that sort of football."
Liverpool play their final home game under Klopp on Sunday afternoon, when Wolverhampton Wanderers arrive at Anfield for a Premier League dead rubber.
