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Just a few weeks back, Liverpool appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly a further Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to secure victories without optimal displays felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with average performances and started losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Does a trio of consecutive defeats represent a collapse? Like most sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your interpretation of the central term. Is Paul Scholes elite? What does "elite" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a major club? What defines "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that's one we can answer.

At a team of Liverpool's size and last season's excellence, a mini crisis seems a reasonable description. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are midway to that particular point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe obvious footballing issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different style to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Similarly, blending in a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative talent who improves those around 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 now underperforming. In fact, the majority of the squad are. And every one of them share one profound, recent event: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Field

It has been just over three months since the devastating passing of their teammate. While the wider world moves on rapidly, diverting focus to global events, the club's squad carry on going to work day after day in the absence of their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how every individual and member of the backroom team is dealing on any given day. There is a significant amount of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his performance level is down a small percentage points because he is grieving for his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, making a parallel to his own experience of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the tragedy. I lived a very similar experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you find every day that spot empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to handle a situation that is not easy."

Just as summarized succinctly on a well-known fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. They hear his chant in the first half, they see his unused locker in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be played and the thought arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that all is far from all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most punditry. We simply cannot know how an individual is coping at any given time and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a terrible thing occurred, and we understand the concept of grief. But further lies an intangible layer of impact on different people at the organization. It is highly likely that some of the players personally don't fully understand its influence from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how fans analyze performances is obviously not the most important factor. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to tactical concerns. Beyond this specific event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify every critique of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their family relationships, health challenges, or marital problems.

A former pro footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's death halfway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The high points and the low points that come with it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we don't mention it every time we discuss their matches, and even if it is not the sole cause for their eventual outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.