BBC pundit highlights TWO major factors in Liverpool's inability to win Premier League

BBC pundit Garth Crooks has suggested that two key factors have contributed to Liverpool's Premier League title 'failure' this season. 

Liverpool closed out their campaign with a 2-0 win over Wolves on Sunday that marked Jurgen Klopp's final game in charge, with victory seeing the Reds finish with a total of 82 points.

The Reds ended the season third in the table and qualified for the Champions League, albeit they finished nine points off eventual champions Manchester City.

Liverpool's poor form late in the season is what proved costly in the Premier League title race, with defeats to Crystal Palace and Everton in April particularly damaging.

One of the main reasons Liverpool surrendered their position at the summit was because of decisive errors in both boxes, but Crooks has suggested that two other factors may have been influential.

GARTH CROOKS DETAILS REASONS BEHIND LIVERPOOL 'FAILURE'

Crooks outlined his theories behind Liverpool's end of season collapse when announcing his BBC Team of the Season, with Virgil van Dijk the only Red making the cut.

Justifying his selections, Crooks pointed to the departures of Jordan Henderson and James Milner as one reason behind the drop-off, with Klopp's announcement of his exit another.

"To have selected only one Liverpool player for my team says it all really," wrote Crooks.

"Liverpool have not only let the title slip from their grasp, they have shown signs that the pressure was starting to get to them.

"The departure of James Milner and Jordan Henderson cannot be quantified, but it was left to Virgil van Dijk to hold it all together. Gone are the days when the team used to pick itself.

"Neither can we be sure what impact the timing of Jurgen Klopp’s announcement, that he was leaving Anfield at the end of the season, had on the players.

"All of these were factors of Liverpool’s title failure, but they are back in the Champions League – and who can forget that heroic performance by Van Dijk in the League Cup final against Chelsea?"

Few would have expected Liverpool to challenge for the title at the beginning of the campaign given the significant changes in the squad, with the Reds having largely overperformed for much of the term.

It will be interesting to see what next season brings under incoming coach Arne Slot and what supporter expectations will be heading into a new era.