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Just a few weeks back, Liverpool seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to win without peak performances seemed like the mark of genuine champions.

But, subsequently the momentum turned. Liverpool continued with mediocre showings and started dropping points. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their stubborn backline and squad depth, began closing the gap at the top.

Understanding a Slump in Today's Game

Can three straight defeats represent a crisis? Like many sporting discussions, it depends completely on your definition of the central word. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "elite" even mean? Are Aston Villa a major team? What constitutes "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that is one we might answer.

At a team of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis appears a reasonable description. During a broadcast, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical problems. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a challenge. Likewise, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a number of players who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, most of the squad is. And they all share one significant, recent event: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Field

We are now just more than three months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the outside world moves on quickly, diverting attention to global matters, the club's squad continue training and playing each day without their friend.

This is not possible to gauge how every individual and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a significant amount of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match because he lacked energy. Or perhaps 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 own experience of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through a very similar thing 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 manager when you arrive at the training complex and you find every day that place empty. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not good, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. They hear his song in the 20th minute, they see his empty peg in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have reached that.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is far from normal.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an player is coping at any specific time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark examples. We know a tragic thing occurred, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable level of impact on different individuals at the organization. It is highly likely that a few of the squad themselves don't truly grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how supporters dissect performances is obviously far from the most important thing. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field concerns. Outside of this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal struggles, or marital difficulties.

A former professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death halfway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "The high points and the lows that accompany it no longer felt the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish this season—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 must remember that a short time ago they lost not merely a exceptional player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a dear friend.