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Just a few weeks ago, Liverpool appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League crown. The team's ability to win despite not optimal performances felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

But, then the tide turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre showings and started dropping matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their stubborn defense and squad depth, began narrowing the distance at the summit.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of consecutive losses represent a crisis? As with most football debates, it hinges entirely on your definition of the key term. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "world class" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big team? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Well, perhaps that is a question we can settle.

For a club of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor setback appears a fair description. During a broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause panic. His reply was six. At present, they are halfway to that point.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

There are clear footballing problems. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative talent who elevates those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a number of players who shone last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. In fact, most of the team is. Yet they all share one significant, recent event: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just more than three months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the wider world progresses quickly, shifting focus to other matters, Liverpool's players continue going to work day after day without their mate.

This is not possible to gauge how every player and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. There is a great deal of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he lacked energy. Or perhaps his form is down a few per cent due to the fact he misses his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his personal situation of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you see every day that spot vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

Just as explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. The players hear his song in the first half, they see his unused locker in the changing room. Even during matches, a through ball might be made and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that everything is far from normal.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is coping at any specific moment and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We know a terrible event happened, and we comprehend the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various people at the organization. It is very possible that some of the players personally don't truly grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how fans analyze performances is clearly not the most important thing. On a functional level, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief segment before transitioning to on-field concerns. Outside of this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify each criticism of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental situation, health struggles, or marital problems.

A former professional player, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on radio about how his mother's passing halfway through his career affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "Some of the high points and the lows that come with it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three months.

The Final Point

Therefore, whatever Liverpool achieve this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the reason for their final outcome, we must remember that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not just a brilliant footballer, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a friend.