The frustration among Liverpool fans has been building rapidly as the transfer window draws to a close, with abject displays on the pitch only creating further tension.

Despite Virgil van Dijk's record-breaking transfer on January 1st, the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for an extravagant amount of money had originally created a lot of excitement towards potential imminent replacements.

Those replacements haven't happened, however, leaving Liverpool looking thin on creativity against both Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion - two games that led to surprising and uninspiring defeats.

In fact, things appear to be heading in the other direction, with Daniel Sturridge being heavily linked with a move away from the club.

While talk of a move to Internazionale has cooled slightly, it now looks very likely that a loan to Newcastle United could be completed before the end of the month - something that would leave Liverpool very short on depth.

That position looked inconceivable after the signing of Van Dijk, and especially after bringing in over £100 million this month for Coutinho.

But now it looks like January will close with Liverpool having limited attacking options rather than boosted them - something that former Liverpool playmaker Steve McManaman has spoken out on.

The Pundit, who also played for Real Madrid and Manchester City, was talking to the Liverpool ECHO’s Blood Red podcast where he voiced the concerns of Reds' fans everywhere.

“I’d rather have him at the club than not have him," he said. "I can totally understand why he might want to get out on loan.

"If he’s fit and he’s not playing, and he’s got a World Cup in three or four months which he wants to play in, he’ll want to get as many games under his belt as possible.

“I can see him wanting to leave, I can see a number of players wanting to play some games.

“But if I’m the manager and I can’t replace that player in time, unfortunately you have to be selfish when you’re manager of a football club.

“And if he’s not going to be able to replace Daniel I’d rather have him in my squad, and have him on the bench, as he’s an incredibly talented player as we’ve seen in the past.”

And the accusations of Liverpool not being 'selfish' enough echoes thoughts that came out earlier in the window, too, with many not understanding why the club sanctioned a move for Coutinho half way through a season.

If Liverpool have the ambitions they say they do, maybe it's time they toughened up.