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Only a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their ability to win without optimal performances felt like the mark of genuine champions.

But, subsequently the momentum turned. The Anfield side persisted with mediocre performances and started losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their stubborn defense and strength in depth, began narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can three consecutive defeats constitute a crisis? As with many sporting discussions, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the central term. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "world class" actually signify? Are Aston Villa a major team? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Alright, maybe that is one we might settle.

For a club of this club's stature and last season's excellence, a minor crisis seems a reasonable description. During a radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would trigger alarm. His reply was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular point.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

There are clear footballing issues. Assimilating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different style to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, incorporating a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of players who excelled last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, the majority of the team are. And every one of them have one significant, fresh event: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

It has been just more than three months since the tragic passing of their teammate. Although the wider world moves on quickly, diverting attention to global matters, the club's squad continue going to work each day without their mate.

It is not possible to gauge how each player and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a small per cent because he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a fixture, drawing a parallel to his personal experience of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when 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 experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you come to the training ground and you see daily that spot empty. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not good, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular supporter's show, the memory triggers are ongoing. They are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his unused peg in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Oh, Jota would have been there.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that all is far from normal.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

Having reporting on football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a fundamental superficiality in the majority of punditry. We simply cannot know how an player is coping at any given time and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we understand the concept of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of effect on different individuals at the organization. It is very possible that some of the squad personally don't fully grasp its effect from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how fans dissect displays is clearly far from the primary factor. On a practical level, bringing up Jota's death is difficult to accomplish in a short segment before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this particular tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface every criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental relationships, personal struggles, or relationship difficulties.

A former pro player, the defender, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death midway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The highs and the lows that accompany 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 Concluding Thought

Therefore, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it every time we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the cause for their final outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.