Former Wales coach and outspoken Liverpool critic Raymond Verheijen has once again condemned Jurgen Klopp for his training methods, stating the German is wholly responsible for ‘running his players into the ground’.

Liverpool endured their second home defeat within the space of five days after they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Southampton in Wednesday night’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg.

The Reds started the season in emphatic form but have suffered a recent dip which has seen them manage just one win in seven games since the turn of the year, which came in the FA Cup replay against League Two side Plymouth.

Verheijen, who has criticised Klopp’s methods on multiple occasions in the past, took to social media to voice his damning opinions of the German.

In a series of tweets, the Dutchman remarked that he has not been surprised by the side’s slump and suggested the club “will struggle in the last months of this season”.

"Liverpool is not even playing in Europe,” he said. “Just imagine how squeezed the players would have been if they had played Champions League or Europa League this season."

"The secret of 'pre-season periodisation' is to develop top fit players while maintaining rather than losing freshness. Quality over quantity.

"After a few seasons the Dortmund players were totally squeezed by Klopp: many muscle injuries, several ACL injuries & relegation problems."

Verheijen did admit that Klopp is one of the best in the game but insisted the German needed to ‘raise the bar’.

"Overall, Klopp is one of the best managers in the world,” he added. “But he clearly has some flaws in his pre-season training methods. Raise your bar!

"Hopefully, the next generation of coaches will learn from mistakes made by current generation of Klopp & Co."

Despite defeat on Wednesday night, Klopp suggested there were plenty of positives to take from the game.

"We usually score in situations like this but we didn't," he said of their failed attempts to score past Claude Puel's well-organised team for the third time in just over two months.

"It doesn't say anything about the performance but everything about the result. We are out and we have to accept it.

"As a coach it is very important for me to know what the performance is like and I thought we deserved to win the game.

"For me it is very important the way we choose to create chances.

"We stuck to the usual plan and in one or two moments immediately we had good chances.