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Only a few weeks back, Liverpool appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League trophy. The team's ability to secure victories despite not peak displays seemed like the hallmark of genuine champions.

But, subsequently the momentum shifted. The Anfield side persisted with average performances and started dropping matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their stubborn defense and strength in depth, began narrowing the gap at the summit.

Understanding a Crisis in Modern Football

Can three straight defeats represent a collapse? As with many sporting discussions, it depends completely on your definition of the key term. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "elite" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Well, perhaps that is one we can answer.

At a team of this club's stature and last season's brilliance, a minor crisis seems a reasonable assessment. During a broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical issues. Assimilating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of players who excelled last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the squad is. Yet they all share one significant, recent experience: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Pitch

It has been just over three months since the tragic loss of their friend. While the outside world progresses quickly, shifting attention to other events, the club's squad continue training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

It is not possible to gauge how every individual and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. There is a significant amount of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match simply he was tired. But maybe his form is down a few percentage points because he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, making a parallel to his own experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are doing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I went through 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 see daily that spot empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

As summarized well on a well-known fan podcast, the memory triggers are ongoing. The players are reminded by his song in the 20th minute, they see his unused peg in the dressing room. In the middle of games, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Jota would have reached that.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that everything is far from normal.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most punditry. We simply do not know how an individual is feeling at any given time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a terrible event happened, and we understand the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable level of impact on different people at the club. It is highly likely that some of the squad personally don't fully grasp its influence from one moment to the next.

How the press reports on this and how supporters dissect displays is obviously not the most important factor. On a functional basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief segment before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal challenges, or marital problems.

A former pro player, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his playing days impacted his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "The highs and the lows that come with it no longer felt the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

So, whatever Liverpool achieve in the coming months—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we don't mention it every time we analyze their matches, even if it isn't the reason for their final result, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.