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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League trophy. Their capacity to secure victories despite not peak performances felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, then the tide turned. Liverpool continued with average showings and started dropping points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and strength in depth, started closing the gap at the summit.

Understanding a Crisis in Modern Football

Can three consecutive defeats represent a collapse? As with many football debates, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the central word. Is Paul Scholes world class? How do you define "elite" even mean? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Well, maybe that's a question we might settle.

At a team of this club's stature and last season's brilliance, a mini setback appears a reasonable description. On a recent radio show, ex- forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical issues. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, connecting play effortlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a host of players who excelled last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. In fact, the majority of the team are. And every one of them share one profound, fresh experience: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Field

It has been just more than three months since the tragic loss of their friend. While the outside world moves on quickly, shifting attention to global events, the club's players carry on training and playing each day in the absence of their mate.

This is impossible to know how each individual and staff member is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of speculation. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a recent match because he was tired. Or perhaps his performance level is down a small percentage points because he misses his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a parallel to his own situation of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's tragedy. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training complex and you see daily that spot vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a situation that is not easy."

As explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. The players are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his empty peg in the dressing room. Even during games, a through ball might be made and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is not all right.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

Having covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of punditry. We simply do not know how an player is feeling at any specific time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark examples. We know a terrible event occurred, and we understand the concept of grief. Beyond that lies an immeasurable level of impact on various individuals at the club. It is highly likely that a few of the squad themselves don't fully grasp its effect from one day to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how supporters analyze performances is clearly not the most important thing. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a short segment before moving on to on-field concerns. Outside of this specific tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify each critique of a player with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, personal challenges, or marital problems.

A former professional player, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death midway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the low points that accompany it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or failure—whether or not we don't mention it whenever we discuss their fixtures, even if it is not the sole reason for their final outcome, we must remember that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.