Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer feels a failed summer market campaign wrecked their season.
The Reds were dumped out of the Champions League last night.
McAteer told talkSPORT: "After last season some of my mates were actually talking about winning the Champions League and being in the top two of the Premier League, and maybe winning it. They thought they just needed to add to the squad, maybe three or four players on top of what we had, and we would be the real deal.
"And then that happened [with Luis Suarez] in the summer. Brendan Rodgers needs a little bit of protection because he must have been watching the World Cup with his head in his hands thinking, 'what is going on here'?
"He lost his talisman and his best player and then it was all about the rebuilding process, and at the moment it looks like he's bought square pegs to go in round holes. They just haven't fitted into the system or the philosophy and he [Rodgers] is finding it very difficult.
"The Champions League is not a place you can use for experience if you want to go far in it. You've got to hit the ground running to compete with the top sides, and you've got to have squads like the top sides.
"Liverpool haven't bought very well and have struggled because of it."
