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Just a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League crown. The team's ability to secure victories without optimal performances felt like the hallmark of true title-winners.

However, then the tide turned. Liverpool continued with average performances and started dropping points. At the same time, Arsenal, known for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started narrowing the gap at the summit.

Understanding a Crisis in Modern Football

Does three straight losses represent a crisis? Like most sporting discussions, it depends completely on your definition of the central term. Is Paul Scholes world class? How do you define "elite" actually signify? Are Aston Villa a big team? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, maybe that is one we might settle.

For a club of this club's stature and previous campaign's excellence, a mini crisis appears a fair assessment. During a broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe clear tactical issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct skill set to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a challenge. Likewise, incorporating a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical talent who improves those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a host of players who shone last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, the majority of the team is. And every one of them share one profound, fresh experience: the passing of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just over three months since the devastating passing of their friend. While the wider world moves on rapidly, diverting focus to other matters, Liverpool's squad carry on training and playing day after day without their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how each individual and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he lacked energy. Or perhaps his form is down a few per cent because he misses his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, making a parallel to his personal experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's tragedy. I went through a very similar experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the players, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training complex and you see every day that spot empty. So you must be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to handle a situation that is not easy."

As summarized succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are constant. They hear his song in the first half, they see his empty peg in the changing room. Even during games, a pass might be made and the thought arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that all is far from normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an player is coping at any given time and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We know a tragic thing happened, and we comprehend the concept of grief. But further lies an intangible level of impact on various people at the organization. It is very possible that a few of the squad themselves don't fully grasp its effect from one moment to the next.

How the media covers this and how supporters dissect performances is clearly far from the primary thing. On a practical basis, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before transitioning to on-field issues. Outside of this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each criticism of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their family situation, health struggles, or marital problems.

A former professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on a broadcast about how his mother's passing halfway through his career impacted his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the lows that accompany it no longer felt the same any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three short months.

The Concluding Point

So, whatever Liverpool achieve in the coming months—be it success or failure—even if we omit reference to it every time we analyze their matches, even if it is not the sole reason for their final result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they lost a friend.