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Just a few weeks ago, Liverpool seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly a further Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to win despite not peak performances felt like the mark of true champions.

However, subsequently the tide turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre showings and started dropping matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started closing the gap at the top.

Understanding a Slump in Modern Football

Can three straight losses constitute a crisis? As with many football debates, it depends completely on your interpretation of the key term. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "elite" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a major club? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Alright, perhaps that is one we might answer.

At a team of this club's stature and last season's excellence, a mini crisis seems a fair assessment. During a radio show, ex- forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would trigger alarm. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Problems

There are obvious footballing problems. Assimilating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct style to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, blending in a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative talent who elevates those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than imposing 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 now below their best. Actually, the majority of the team are. Yet they all have one significant, fresh event: the passing of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Field

It has been just more than three short months since the tragic loss of their teammate. Although the wider world moves on quickly, diverting focus to global events, the club's squad carry on training and playing each day without their friend.

It is not possible to gauge how each player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he lacked energy. But maybe his performance level is down a few percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, drawing a comparison to his own situation of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's tragedy. I went through a very similar experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training complex and you find daily that spot vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not good, even better than good. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

Just as summarized well on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. They hear his song in the first half, they notice his empty locker in the dressing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that everything is not all right.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We simply cannot know how an player is feeling at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a terrible event occurred, and we understand the nature of grief. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various people at the club. It is highly likely that some of the squad personally don't truly understand its influence from one day to the next.

The way the press reports on this and how supporters dissect performances is obviously not the primary thing. On a functional basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a short soundbite before moving on to on-field issues. Outside of this particular event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental relationships, health struggles, or marital difficulties.

An ex- pro footballer, the defender, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's passing midway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "Some of the high points 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 Point

So, whatever Liverpool achieve in the coming months—be it success or failure—even if we omit reference to it whenever we discuss their fixtures, and even if it isn't the reason for their eventual result, we must remember that a short time ago they lost not just a exceptional player, but, crucially, they lost a friend.