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Only a couple of weeks back, Liverpool seemed set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially a further Champions League trophy. Their capacity to win without optimal performances seemed like the mark of true champions.

However, then the momentum turned. Liverpool continued with average showings and began dropping matches. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, started closing the distance at the top.

Understanding a Crisis in Today's Game

Can a trio of straight defeats constitute a collapse? As with many sporting discussions, it hinges completely on your interpretation of the key term. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "elite" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a major team? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Alright, maybe that is a question we can settle.

At a team of this club's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback appears a fair description. During a broadcast, ex- striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

There are clear tactical problems. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different style to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of players who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. Actually, most of the squad is. Yet they all share one profound, recent experience: the tragic death of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Pitch

We are now just over three short months since the tragic loss of their teammate. Although the outside world progresses rapidly, shifting attention to global events, the club's squad continue going to work day after day without their friend.

This is not possible to know how every player and staff member is dealing on any given day. It requires a significant amount of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match because he was tired. Or maybe his performance level is down a small per cent because he misses his friend.

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

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training ground and you find daily that place empty. So you must 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 situation that is not easy."

As explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. The players are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his unused peg in the changing room. Even during matches, a pass might be played and the thought arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have been there.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that all is not normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We simply do not know how an individual is coping at any given time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's death is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a terrible thing occurred, and we understand the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of effect on different people at the club. It is highly likely that some of the players themselves don't fully grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

How the media reports on this and how supporters analyze displays is obviously not the primary thing. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's death is difficult to accomplish in a brief soundbite before moving on to tactical concerns. Beyond this specific tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, health struggles, or marital difficulties.

A former pro player, the defender, recently talked on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his career impacted 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 no longer felt the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their matches, even if it isn't the cause for their final result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.