Liverpool's slow start to the season has led fans to insist Jurgen Klopp is suffering from an apparent 'seventh season curse' once again.
But talkSPORT's European football journalist Andy Brassell doesn't see it this way, saying the German's current form at Anfield isn't the same as the end of his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Klopp's 'curse' first began at Mainz whom he took into the Bundesliga in 2003/04 season, but left when he failed to secure promotion back to the top flight in 2008 - his seventh season - following relegation.
At Dortmund, after two league titles in seven seasons and a Champions League runner-up spot, he left at the end of the 2014/15 season with the club in seventh place, 23 points behind winners Bayern Munich.
But Brassell believes Klopp's situation at Liverpool is different, despite the Reds struggling in his seventh season.
"I think firstly you've got to bare in mind what happened to Dortmund didn't happen suddenly," he told Trans Europe Express.
"It happened over a period of time. You know sometimes in our minds I think we think they went from being the champions of Germany and being in the Champions League final to being bottom of the Bundesliga on their backsides. That did not happen.
"They won the title in 2011 and 2012, they got the Champions League final in 2013 and were unlucky to lose to Bayern and Wembley and were certainly the better team in the first half of that game.
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"But that [2012/13] season they finished [second] 25 points behind Bayern at the top. That's when Dortmund started to get provoked by Bayern and I guess they were dealing with a whole load of expectations and demands which they found very difficult to balance."
Given Liverpool finished as runners up in the Premier League and won the League Cup and FA Cup last season, his seventh season hasn't started off the back of a decline in the previous one.
There are parallels to Dortmund given a lot of his current Liverpool stars are out injured and they're suffering from bad form - four defeats, four draws and four wins.
But Brassell says the Bundesliga's side's issues spurred from longer term issues, such as losing striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Mario Gotze, as well as lengthier injuries to some of their key players.
"From there, it started to go wrong," Brassell explained. "They couldn't field that same classic defence of [Lukasz] Piszczek, [Marcel] Schmelzer, [Mats] Hummels, [Neven] Subotic.
"They didn't play together for another two years after the Champions League final due to various injuries and what have you.
"It was clear the physical toll caught up with Dortmund a little bit quicker than you would've expected."
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