Former Liverpool winger John Barnes believes Jurgen Klopp's stance in relation to Mamadou Sakho has helped swing the balance of power back towards managers.
Sakho was sent home from the club's pre-season tour of the United States earlier this week after several instances of poor time-keeping.
Barnes believes that immediately sent a message to the rest of the squad.
"Managers needs to be given that autonomy," said Barnes, speaking at the Silverstone Classic in support of Prostate Cancer UK.
"The manager needs to be given that strength to then say if 'I take a decision to drop somebody or to send them home or tell someone off then you will have to back me' - and the fans do.
"There are certain managers, [Jose] Mourinho, [Antonio] Conte, [Pep] Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, they can take decisions and the fans will back them.
"That's not happened in the past. Players have been too powerful at the clubs in the past where things have gone wrong and you blame the manager."
Barnes added: "We're not going to blame Guardiola, Liverpool fans aren't going to blame Jurgen Klopp, and that's when the players will then need to take on the responsibility and the accountability for the bad performances because when they play badly we are not going to say its 'Jurgen's fault', and that's what has to happen."
Former England winger Barnes was speaking at the Silverstone Classic in support of Prostate Cancer UK. The 52-year-old took part in a car football event celebrating the anniversary of England winning the 1966 World Cup. This year's Silverstone Classic takes place 29-31 July and the Saturday will be the 50th anniversary of England's World Cup victory.