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Only a few weeks back, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League crown. Their capacity to secure victories without optimal performances felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

But, subsequently the momentum shifted. Liverpool persisted with mediocre performances and started losing points. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and strength in depth, started narrowing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Modern Football

Does three straight defeats represent a collapse? As with many football debates, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the central word. Is Paul Scholes elite? What does "world class" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a major team? What defines "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Alright, maybe that's a question we can settle.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis appears a reasonable assessment. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that threshold.

Identifying the Tactical Problems

There are obvious footballing problems. Integrating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style 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 midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Additionally, a host of individuals who shone last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. Actually, most of the squad is. And every one of them share one significant, recent experience: the tragic death of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Loss on the Field

It has been just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their friend. While the outside world progresses rapidly, diverting attention to other events, the club's players continue going to work each day without their friend.

It is impossible to gauge how each individual and staff member is coping on any given day. There is a great deal of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he was tired. Or maybe his performance level is down a small per cent due to the fact he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his own experience of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through a very similar thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training ground and you see daily that place empty. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

As explained well on a well-known fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. They hear his chant in the first half, they see his unused peg in the changing room. Even during games, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Oh, Jota would have reached that.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that all is far from all right.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely do not know how an player is coping at any specific time and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the clearest examples. We know a tragic event occurred, and we understand the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable level of effect on different people at the organization. It is very possible that a few of the squad personally do not truly understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the press covers this and how supporters dissect displays is clearly far from the most important factor. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before transitioning to tactical concerns. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, health challenges, or marital difficulties.

A former professional player, the defender, recently spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's passing midway through his career affected his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "The high points and the lows that accompany it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three months.

The Final Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or failure—even if we omit reference to it every time we discuss their matches, even if it isn't the reason for their final result, we should not forget that a short time ago they lost not just a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a dear friend.