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Just a couple of weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their ability to secure victories without optimal displays felt like the hallmark of true champions.

However, then the momentum turned. Liverpool persisted with average showings and began losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Modern Football

Can a trio of straight losses represent a collapse? As with many sporting discussions, it depends completely on your interpretation of the key word. Is Paul Scholes elite? What does "elite" even mean? Are Aston Villa a big club? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Well, perhaps that's a question we might answer.

For a club of this club's stature and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis seems a fair assessment. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His reply was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe clear footballing issues. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, incorporating a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, connecting play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a number of players who shone last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. Actually, most of the team are. And every one of them share one significant, recent experience: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Loss on the Field

We are now just over three months since the devastating loss of their friend. Although the outside world progresses quickly, diverting attention to other matters, the club's players carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

It is impossible to gauge how each player and staff member is coping on any given day. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a few percentage points because he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his own situation of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's loss. I went through exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training ground and you see daily that place vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to handle a problem that is not easy."

Just as explained well on a well-known supporter's show, the memory triggers are ongoing. They hear his song in the first half, they notice his empty locker in the dressing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be played 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 far from normal.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in most punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark examples. We are aware a tragic thing happened, and we comprehend the nature of grief. Beyond that lies an intangible layer of effect on various people at the club. It is very possible that some of the squad themselves don't truly grasp its effect from one day to the next.

The way the media covers this and how supporters analyze performances is obviously not the primary factor. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's death is challenging to do in a short soundbite before moving on to tactical issues. Outside of this particular event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every critique of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their family situation, personal struggles, or marital problems.

An ex- professional player, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on a broadcast about how his mother's passing halfway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The high points and the lows that come with it no longer felt the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

So, whatever Liverpool achieve this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it every time we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the cause for their eventual outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they lost not just a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.