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Just a few weeks back, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to win without optimal performances seemed like the mark of true champions.

But, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with mediocre showings and began losing matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and strength in depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Understanding a Slump in Modern Football

Does three straight losses constitute a crisis? Like many sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your definition of the key term. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "world class" actually mean? Is the Birmingham club a big team? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Well, perhaps that is one we might answer.

For a club of this club's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback seems a fair assessment. On a recent broadcast, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would trigger alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

There are obvious tactical issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a challenge. Likewise, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who elevates those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of individuals who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. Actually, most of the team are. Yet every one of them have one significant, recent event: the tragic death of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Grief on the Pitch

It has been just over three months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the wider world moves on rapidly, shifting attention to other events, Liverpool's players carry on going to work each day without their friend.

It is impossible to gauge how every player and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he was tired. But perhaps his form is down a few percentage points because he is grieving for his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a fixture, making a parallel to his personal experience of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I lived 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 come to the training ground and you find daily that place vacant. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a situation that is not easy."

Just as summarized well on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. They are reminded by his chant in the first half, they notice his unused peg in the changing room. Even during matches, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

Having covering football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of analysis. 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 illustrations. We know a terrible thing occurred, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. But further lies an intangible layer of effect on various people at the club. It is very possible that some of the squad themselves don't fully grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the press covers this and how fans analyze displays is clearly not the primary thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to tactical issues. Outside of this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each critique of a player with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their family relationships, personal challenges, or marital difficulties.

A former pro player, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death halfway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "The high points and the low points that come with it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Final Point

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or if it's nothing—whether or not we don't mention it whenever we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the cause for their final result, we should not forget that a short time ago they lost not merely a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they lost a dear friend.