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Just a couple of weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly a further Champions League crown. The team's capacity to secure victories without peak performances seemed like the mark of genuine champions.

However, subsequently the tide shifted. The Anfield side continued with average performances and started dropping points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, started closing the gap at the top.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of straight defeats constitute a collapse? Like most football debates, it depends completely on your definition of the key term. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "world class" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Well, perhaps that's a question we can settle.

For a club of this club's stature and last season's excellence, a minor setback appears a fair assessment. On a recent broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that threshold.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe obvious tactical problems. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, blending in a gifted 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, connecting play seamlessly rather than forcing 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 currently underperforming. In fact, the majority of the squad are. Yet they all share one significant, fresh experience: the passing of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Field

It has been just more than three months since the devastating passing of their friend. While the wider world moves on rapidly, diverting focus to other matters, Liverpool's players carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

It is not possible to gauge how each player and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. There is a significant amount of projection. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a particular match because he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a small percentage points due to the fact he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his own situation of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are doing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's tragedy. I went through exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you see daily that spot empty. So you must be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to handle a problem that is not easy."

Just as explained well on a well-known fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. The players are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his unused peg in the dressing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that everything is far from normal.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

After reporting on football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of analysis. We genuinely do not know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we understand the nature of sorrow. But further lies an intangible level of effect on various individuals at the club. It is very possible that a few of the squad themselves don't fully understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how supporters analyze displays is clearly far from the primary thing. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's death is challenging to do in a short segment before moving on to tactical concerns. Outside of this specific event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify each critique of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal challenges, or relationship difficulties.

A former pro player, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his career affected his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the lows that come with it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Concluding Point

Therefore, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or failure—whether or not we don't mention it whenever we discuss their matches, even if it isn't the reason for their final outcome, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a dear friend.