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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League crown. The team's ability to secure victories without optimal performances felt like the hallmark of true champions.

But, then the momentum shifted. Liverpool persisted with mediocre showings and started losing matches. At the same time, Arsenal, known for their stubborn defense and strength in depth, started closing the gap at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Modern Football

Can a trio of straight defeats constitute a collapse? Like most sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your interpretation of the central word. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "world class" even mean? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Alright, perhaps that is a question we might answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and last season's brilliance, a minor setback appears a reasonable assessment. On a recent radio show, former striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that particular threshold.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear footballing issues. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct style to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a challenge. Likewise, incorporating a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a number of individuals who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. Actually, the majority of the team are. Yet every one of them have one significant, recent event: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their friend. Although the wider world progresses rapidly, shifting attention to other matters, Liverpool's players continue going to work day after day without their mate.

This is impossible to know how each individual and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of speculation. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a small per cent due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a fixture, drawing a comparison to his own situation of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are doing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through a very similar experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training complex and you find every day that place vacant. So you must be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are constant. They hear his chant in the first half, they see his empty peg 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.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that everything is not normal.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely do not know how an individual is feeling at any given time and how that impacts their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We know a terrible event occurred, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of effect on different people at the club. It is very possible that a few of the players personally do not truly understand its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how fans dissect performances is obviously not the primary thing. On a practical basis, bringing up Jota's death is challenging to accomplish in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field issues. Beyond this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface each criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their family relationships, health struggles, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- pro footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on radio about how his mother's passing halfway through his playing days impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The high points 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 months.

The Final Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it every time we discuss their matches, even if it isn't the cause for their final outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a brilliant footballer, but, more importantly, they lost a dear friend.