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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially a further Champions League crown. Their ability to win without peak displays seemed like the mark of true champions.

However, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with mediocre performances and started losing matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their stubborn backline and strength in depth, began closing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Modern Football

Does three consecutive losses represent a collapse? As with many football debates, it depends entirely on your interpretation of the central term. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "world class" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a big team? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Alright, perhaps that is a question we can answer.

At a team of Liverpool's size and last season's brilliance, a mini setback seems a reasonable description. On a recent broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

There are clear tactical issues. Integrating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different skill set to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, 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 elevates those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a number of players who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. In fact, the majority of the squad are. Yet every one of them have one significant, recent event: the passing of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

It has been just more than three short months since the tragic passing of their friend. Although the wider world moves on rapidly, diverting attention to other matters, the club's players continue training and playing day after day in the absence of their friend.

It is not possible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he lacked energy. Or perhaps his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a fixture, making a parallel to his own situation 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 tragedy. I went through exactly the same experience when I was a player two decades past."

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

As explained well on a well-known supporter's show, the reminders are constant. The players are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his empty peg in the dressing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be played and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely do not know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark examples. We know a tragic thing happened, and we understand the concept of sorrow. Beyond that lies an intangible level of effect on different individuals at the club. It is highly likely that a few of the squad personally do not truly understand its influence from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how supporters analyze performances is obviously far from the primary thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to do in a brief segment before moving on to tactical issues. Outside of this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify every critique of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their family relationships, personal challenges, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- pro player, Nedum Onuoha, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's death midway through his playing days impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "Some of the high points and the low points that come with 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 Concluding Thought

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool achieve this season—be it success or failure—whether or not we omit reference to it whenever we discuss their matches, and even if it isn't the cause for their final outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional player, but, crucially, they lost a dear friend.