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Just a couple of weeks ago, Liverpool seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly a further Champions League crown. The team's ability to secure victories despite not optimal performances seemed like the mark of genuine champions.

However, subsequently the momentum shifted. Liverpool continued with mediocre performances and began losing points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute backline and squad depth, began narrowing the gap at the summit.

Understanding a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of straight defeats represent a crisis? Like most football debates, it depends completely on your definition of the central term. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "elite" even mean? Are Aston Villa a big team? What constitutes "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Well, maybe that's a question we might settle.

For a club of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback appears a reasonable description. During a radio show, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe obvious footballing problems. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Likewise, incorporating a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, connecting play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of individuals who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, most of the team is. Yet they all share one significant, fresh event: the passing of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just more than three months since the devastating passing of their friend. While the outside world moves on quickly, shifting focus to global matters, Liverpool's players continue going to work each day without their mate.

It is impossible to gauge how each individual 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 particular match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his performance level is down a few per cent because he misses his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his own situation of losing a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are doing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through a very similar thing 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 manager when you come to the training complex and you find daily that spot empty. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a well-known supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. The players hear his chant in the first half, they notice his unused locker in the dressing room. Even during games, a pass might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

Having covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We know a terrible thing occurred, and we comprehend the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable layer of impact on different individuals at the club. It is very possible that some of the squad themselves don't truly understand its influence from one day to the next.

The way the media covers this and how supporters analyze displays is clearly far from the primary thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field concerns. Outside of this specific event and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify every critique of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their family relationships, personal struggles, or relationship problems.

A former professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on radio about how his mother's death midway 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 accompany it no longer felt the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three months.

The Concluding Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we don't mention it whenever we discuss their matches, and even if it isn't the cause for their eventual result, we should not forget that a short time ago they lost not merely a exceptional player, but, crucially, they lost a friend.