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Only a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially a further Champions League crown. Their ability to win despite not peak displays seemed like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, then the tide shifted. The Anfield side persisted with average performances and began dropping points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started closing the distance at the summit.

Understanding a Crisis in Today's Game

Does a trio of straight defeats represent a crisis? Like many football debates, it depends completely on your definition of the key word. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "elite" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Alright, maybe that's one we might answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor setback appears a fair assessment. During a radio show, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are halfway to that threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe obvious footballing issues. Assimilating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Similarly, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a host of players who shone last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. Actually, the majority of the squad is. And every one of them have one significant, fresh event: the tragic death of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

We are now just more than three months since the tragic passing of their teammate. Although the wider world progresses quickly, shifting focus to global matters, Liverpool's squad continue going to work each day without their mate.

It is not possible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is dealing on any given day. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a recent match because he lacked energy. But maybe his form is down a small per cent because he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a fixture, making a comparison to his own situation of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through exactly the same experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training complex and you find every day that place vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing 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 memory triggers are constant. They hear his song in the 20th minute, they see his empty peg in the dressing room. Even during matches, a pass might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that everything is not all right.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After reporting on football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a fundamental superficiality in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is feeling at any specific moment and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we understand the nature of grief. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of impact on different individuals at the organization. It is very possible that some of the players themselves don't truly understand its influence from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how supporters dissect performances is clearly far from the most important factor. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before transitioning to on-field issues. Outside of this specific tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each critique of a player with an admission that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, health challenges, or marital difficulties.

An ex- professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, recently talked on radio about how his mother's passing midway through his career affected his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The high points and the low points that accompany it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Concluding Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—if it's something or failure—even if we don't mention it every time we analyze their matches, and even if it isn't the reason for their final result, we must remember that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a dear friend.