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Just a few weeks ago, Liverpool seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League crown. Their capacity to win without optimal displays seemed like the hallmark of true champions.

But, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with mediocre performances and began dropping points. At the same time, the North London club, renowned for their stubborn backline and squad depth, began closing the gap at the summit.

Understanding a Slump in Modern Football

Does three consecutive defeats represent a collapse? Like many sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your definition of the key word. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "world class" even mean? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What defines "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that is one we can answer.

At a team of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis seems a reasonable description. During a broadcast, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that threshold.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

One can observe obvious footballing problems. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those beside him, connecting play seamlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Additionally, a host of individuals who excelled last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, most of the team is. Yet they all have one significant, fresh experience: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Field

It has been just over three short months since the tragic loss of their teammate. While the wider world progresses rapidly, diverting focus to global events, Liverpool's squad continue going to work day after day without their mate.

This is impossible to gauge how each player and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. There is a significant amount of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match simply he lacked energy. But maybe his form is down a few percentage points because he is grieving for his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his own situation of losing a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's loss. I went through exactly the same experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training ground and you see every day that spot empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a problem that is not easy."

Just as explained succinctly on a popular supporter's show, the memory triggers are ongoing. They hear his song in the first half, they see his empty peg in the changing room. Even during matches, a pass might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that everything is not all right.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

After reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most punditry. We simply do not know how an player is coping at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark examples. We know a terrible event occurred, and we comprehend the concept of grief. Beyond that lies an intangible level of effect on various individuals at the organization. It is very possible that some of the players personally do not truly understand its influence from one moment to the next.

How the press reports on this and how supporters dissect performances is clearly not the primary factor. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before moving on to tactical issues. Beyond this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each criticism of a player with an admission that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their family situation, personal challenges, or relationship problems.

A former pro player, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death halfway through his playing days impacted his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "The high points and the low points that accompany it no longer felt the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—whether or not we don't mention it every time we analyze their fixtures, and even if it isn't the cause for their final outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they lost not just a brilliant footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.