Jurgen Klopp's decision to announce his upcoming departure from Liverpool during the season has damaged his team's hopes of silverware.
That is the view of former Premier League manager Alan Pardew, who feels that Klopp's public announcement in January has been 'unsettling' for the Reds' players.
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Liverpool's title chances were dealt a blow at the weekend as they were beaten by Crystal Palace; Eberechi Eze strike seeing Oliver Glasner's side take all three points at Anfield, whilst Manchester City took went top of the Premier League on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Luton.
The defeat meant that the Merseysiders missed the opportunity to hold the title race's fate in their own hands, while Arsenal went on to lose 2-0 to Aston Villa later on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp's team now face an uphill task of lifting silverware both in Europe and domestically, having also suffered a 3-0 humiliation to Atalanta in their Europa League quarter-final first leg just days earlier.
And Pardew believes that the knowledge that their manager is to leave the club at the end of the season has been a unfair distraction for Liverpool's players during the run-in.
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Speaking after the weekend's events on The Final Word, the ex Newcastle, West Ham and Charlton boss said: “In terms of Klopp’s decision, I just want to touch on that because, as a manager I felt that was a strange move that he did, to announce it at that time.
"I think in hindsight, whether he thinks that was the right thing when he gets to the end of the season, only he will be able to tell.
“Personally, I think he should have waited until the end of the year and maybe told the upstairs and left it at that.”
Co-host Majestic then compared Liverpool's situation to Bayern Munich's decision to part ways with head coach Thomas Tuchel at the end of the current campaign.
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Pointing out that Bayern's results have continued to suffer since Tuchel's departure was announced, Majestic said: “Looking over of course and seeing that Bayer Leverkusen have won the Bundesliga.
"And the way they [Bayern Munich] have done Tuchel and they’ve sacked him and said: ‘But you’re still the manager until the end of the year’.
"It doesn’t bode well does it, to know that someone’s leaving?”
Pardew agreed, arguing that members of Klopp's side may now be preoccupied with their own futures at the club, rather than their quest for trophies.
The 62-year-old added: "It is unsettling for the dressing room for sure, because you have such faith in the manager.
“He's probably given you a bumper contract somewhere along the line, and you have a real connection with him, and he's leaving.
“It gets all a bit uneasy. You don't feel as confident about your position as a player when the manager is departing, that you love so much. So that is difficult."
Despite their latest disappointment, the Reds are still in with a fighting chance of giving their coach a dream send off, as they sit just two points off leaders City, and have been boosted by the recent returns of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota.
The Carabao Cup winners could revive their European hopes in spectacular fashion in their next game if they overturn a three-goal deficit in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Atalanta.