Dietmar Hamann has slammed Naby Keita following his performance against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, labelling him as "not good enough".
The Guinean scored Liverpool's second at the Wanda Metropolitano during their 3-2 win over the Spanish side.
But Jurgen Klopp hauled the midfielder off at half-time with the game in the balance following a fightback from Atletico.
Keita, signed from RB Leipzig in 2018, has still to justify his £59m fee at Anfield, despite his obvious talent.
Klopp has continued to persevere with the midfielder but after several years on Merseyside the 26-year-old is yet to produce consistently.
Hamann, who won the Champions League at Liverpool, praised the club's other midfielders but made his feelings clear on Keita.
He said when challenged on Twitter : "Henderson has been a brilliant leader since taking the captaincy and Milner is 35 giving everything he possesses week in week out.
"Keita only wants to play when they’re in possession and cost €75m. Hugely disappointing considering it’s his 4th season. Simply not good enough."
Klopp defended the decision to take Keita off in the Spanish capital, citing it as a tactical change and referencing the midfielder's considerable workload recently.
The Liverpool manager said: "First and foremost, it was nothing to do with Naby – we just had to defend the right side a bit better.
"We were a bit too wide, but Naby scored a goal and stuff like this and I spoke to him already.
"It is really important to me that nobody thinks we played the first half – or the second part of the first half – because of Naby. Not at all.
"He is in really good shape, but he played three games for Guinea there and the last Premier League game 90 minutes and then today. As I said, 45 minutes I think was absolutely right."
Despite Klopp standing by his player, taking him off early is nothing new.
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Six months ago the German withdrew Keita, once again in Madrid, before the half-time whistle blew.
Liverpool were taking on Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League and were behind with the Guinean's performance not up to scratch and he was hauled off on 42 minutes.
Klopp later said he and the midfielder cleared the air, claiming he "explained the decision and he accepted it obviously so now we carry on."
Keita has featured in five of Liverpool's eight league games this term, but only started on three occasions with a host of midfield options available to Klopp.
