🔗 Share this article

Just a few weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their ability to secure victories despite not optimal displays felt like the mark of true title-winners.

However, then the momentum shifted. The Anfield side continued with average showings and began losing points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, started narrowing the gap at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can three consecutive losses constitute a collapse? As with most sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your interpretation of the key word. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "world class" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What defines "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Alright, perhaps that is a question we can settle.

For a club of Liverpool's size and last season's brilliance, a mini crisis appears a fair description. On a recent radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical problems. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative talent who elevates those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a number of individuals who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. In fact, the majority of the team are. And they all share one significant, fresh experience: the passing of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

We are now just over three months since the tragic passing of their teammate. Although the outside world progresses rapidly, shifting focus to other events, Liverpool's squad continue training and playing each day in the absence of their mate.

It is not possible to know how every player and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. There is a great deal of projection. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he was tired. Or maybe his performance level is down a small percentage points due to the fact he misses his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a recent, drawing a parallel to his own experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's loss. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you see daily that spot vacant. So you must be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to handle a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular supporter's show, the reminders are ongoing. The players hear his song in the first half, they notice his unused peg in the dressing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

Having covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We simply do not know how an individual is feeling at any specific time and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we comprehend the nature of grief. But further lies an intangible level of effect on different individuals at the organization. It is highly likely that some of the players themselves do not fully understand its effect from one day to the next.

The way the press covers this and how supporters dissect performances is clearly not the most important factor. On a practical basis, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before moving on to on-field issues. Beyond this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their family relationships, health struggles, or marital problems.

An ex- pro footballer, the defender, lately spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "The high points and the lows 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 months.

The Concluding Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool achieve in the coming months—if it's something or failure—whether or not we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the reason for their eventual result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.