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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League crown. The team's capacity to win without peak displays seemed like the hallmark of true title-winners.

But, then the momentum turned. The Anfield side continued with average showings and began dropping matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started narrowing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Can a trio of straight defeats constitute a collapse? Like many football debates, it depends entirely on your definition of the central term. Is Paul Scholes world class? How do you define "elite" even signify? Are Aston Villa a big team? What constitutes "major"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, maybe that is one we might answer.

At a team of Liverpool's size and last season's excellence, a minor crisis seems a reasonable description. On a recent broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger alarm. His answer was six. Currently, they are midway to that point.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

There are obvious footballing issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct skill set to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. 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, connecting play effortlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who shone last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the team are. And every one of them have one significant, recent experience: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Grief on the Field

It has been just over three short months since the devastating passing of their friend. Although the wider world moves on quickly, diverting focus to other matters, the club's squad carry on going to work each day in the absence of their mate.

This is not possible to gauge how every individual and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match simply he was tired. But maybe his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his own experience of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I lived a very similar experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the players, 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 spot empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a situation that is not easy."

As summarized well on a well-known fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. The players are reminded by his chant in the 20th minute, they notice his unused locker in the changing room. In the middle of games, a through ball might be made and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that all is not normal.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent superficiality in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their play. Jota's death is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a terrible event happened, and we understand the nature of sorrow. But further lies an intangible layer of effect on different people at the club. It is very possible that a few of the squad themselves don't truly understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the press reports on this and how fans analyze performances is obviously not the primary thing. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to do in a brief soundbite before transitioning to tactical concerns. Outside of this specific tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their family relationships, health challenges, or relationship difficulties.

A former professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's passing halfway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "The highs and the lows that accompany it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, whatever Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—even if we omit reference to it every time we discuss their fixtures, and even if it is not the sole reason for their final result, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not merely a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.