It does not take much to get Dietmar Hamann going. This Champions League winner is no club ambassador toeing the party line.

Speaking to him about Liverpool is like having a pint with a real Kopite — even if Hamann used to drink in Everton pubs to avoid overly enthusiastic fans.

He knows what the demands are. Hamann sets the bar high. And that is why he runs in contrast to most ex-Liverpool players by actually criticising manager Jurgen Klopp.

Dietmar Hamann has questioned Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's record at the club

Klopp has not managed to win a trophy and his side were knocked out of the FA Cup last week

By the end of the interview he has admitted that he doesn’t think his compatriot’s tenure has been ‘good enough’.

We meet two days after Klopp’s side exited the FA Cup courtesy of a defeat against West Brom. It is just over a week since the Reds toppled the previously invincible Manchester City in a thrilling tie and, despite their win against Huddersfield this week, it feels as though an opportunity has been missed.

Hamann agrees. He told Sportsmail: ‘At some stage they have to win something again. Telling everyone we progress is one thing, but you need something to show for it.

‘Liverpool is about winning trophies. You can lose against City, United, no problem. They lost a League Cup semi-final against Southampton last year over two legs. They lost against Wolves. They lost against West Brom, that’s simply not good enough.’

Klopp had his contract renewed after failing to beat Sevilla in the Europa League final in 2016

This is not a sudden change in outlook from the former Germany international. Hamann was baffled by Klopp receiving a new deal at the end of his first eight months in charge after two cup final defeats against Manchester City and Sevilla.

‘I got quite a bit of stick for saying it at the time. People may see it different now, I’ve not changed my mind. I hope he can turn the corner, but if I look at results in the last few days, then I just wonder where the team and the club is going.

‘If a contract gets extended after losing two cup finals, what message does it send to the fans? It’s one thing getting to the final, but you have to take the opportunities. In recent years Liverpool, when the chips are down, always find a way to lose.

‘A good team or outstanding team always finds a way to win. An average team finds a way not to.’

Liverpool also fell to a surprise defeat against Swansea in the league game after the City win

Expectation seems to be the buzzword for Hamann. He points out that the club have only won one trophy in the last 11 seasons – a League Cup – which will become 12 if they do not capture the Champions League this campaign.

While most fans were happy, and reasonably so, just to return to Europe’s elite club competition this season, Hamann does not believe the bar can be set that low. And that is why he has doubts over Klopp’s time in charge.

‘I’m not sure whether there’s anybody out there who would do a better job at the moment,’ he admitted, but added, ‘I don’t know where the club wants to go. I don’t know what the expectations are. Are they happy to just get into the Champions League and get knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Cup for the next five years? If that’s what it is…

‘You can only talk the talk for so long. At some stage, you have to produce results. Getting back into the Champions League was great. They’re still in it, they still have a chance to win it even though it is a big ask.

Klopp's tenure at Anfield has not 'been good enough', according to his compatriot Hamann

‘But if you look at the whole tenure, cup competitions included, me personally, I don’t think it’s been good enough.’

The 44-year-old believes that Liverpool will struggle to win the trophy he famously captured in 2005 with the club. On that night in Istanbul he could only watch on from the bench as they fell three goals behind to an excellent AC Milan in the first-half. Introduced at the start of the second period, he helped inspire the arguably greatest comeback seen in the competition.

‘We relied on each other, we had belief in each other. We knew that we wouldn’t make any mistakes,’ he recalled. ‘The bigger the occasion, the less mistakes we made. We weren’t a great team... we were a winning team.

‘We weren’t the greatest team that season in the Champions League, but we beat the English champions, the Italian champions and then we beat AC Milan in the final. It’s down to belief, it’s down to mentality and down to mental strength.’

The German famously won the Champions League with Liverpool in Istanbul in 2005

The arrival of Virgil van Dijk at the start of January seemed to offer Liverpool more strength. The departure of Philippe Coutinho has, by any measure, weakened them.

And Hamann feels that while the impact is already being felt, it will become more clear come May.

‘I don’t know why you make all this fuss in the summer and then sell him in January,’ he said. ‘I think if Coutinho stayed you’d still be in the FA Cup. It gives you a better chance of finishing in the top four. It gives you a far better chance of going deep in the Champions League.

‘He has been the most important player. As well as Mane and Salah and Firmino have done, I think he has been the heartbeat of that forward line. I think him going... in a few weeks, in a few months, we will see the harm it has done, him leaving.’

Hamann believes the impact of Philippe Coutinho's departure is already being felt

Spurs, one of the teams who could take advantage of Coutinho’s exit in the league, are on the horizon. They are a team buoyed by victory against Manchester United on Wednesday night.

Hamann himself is full of praise for Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: ‘He’s different class. He’s probably the most interesting (manager in the world).

‘You’ve got a couple in Germany who are very up and coming but I think the job Pochettino has done on the budget he’s working, the wage bill he’s got at his disposal, it has been nothing short of superb. How far can he take them with the wage structure they’ve got, I’m not too sure.

‘But I don’t think anybody else could have done more than he has.’

Dietmar Hamann was speaking on behalf of TAG Heuer to promote the TAG Heuer Premier League Pressure Test (http://tagheuerpressuretest.com/). TAG Heuer is the Official Timekeeping Partner of the Premier League.