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Only a couple of weeks ago, Liverpool appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their ability to win without peak displays felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, subsequently the tide shifted. Liverpool persisted with average performances and began dropping matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, known for their stubborn defense and squad depth, began narrowing the gap at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Can three consecutive losses constitute a collapse? As with many sporting discussions, it hinges completely on your definition of the central word. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "world class" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a big club? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, perhaps that is a question we can answer.

For a club of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis seems a fair assessment. On a recent broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are midway to that point.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

One can observe obvious footballing issues. Assimilating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Similarly, blending in a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a number of individuals who shone last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the squad is. Yet every one of them share one profound, fresh event: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

We are now just more than three short months since the tragic passing of their friend. Although the wider world progresses rapidly, diverting focus to global matters, the club's squad continue going to work each day without their mate.

This is not possible to gauge how every player and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match because he was tired. Or maybe his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he misses his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his personal experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are doing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's loss. I lived exactly the same experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you find every day that place empty. So you have to be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to handle a problem that is not easy."

As summarized succinctly on a well-known fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. They hear his song in the first half, they see his unused locker in the changing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Jota would have reached that.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is far from all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

After reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent lack of depth in the majority of punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is coping at any specific moment and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We know a tragic thing occurred, and we understand the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable level of effect on various people at the organization. It is very possible that some of the squad personally do not fully grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how supporters analyze performances is clearly far from the primary factor. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short segment before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface every criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, health struggles, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- pro player, the defender, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's passing halfway through his playing days impacted his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "The highs and the low points that accompany it no longer felt the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—if it's something or if it's nothing—whether or not we omit reference to it every time we discuss their fixtures, even if it isn't the reason for their final result, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a dear friend.