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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League trophy. Their capacity to win despite not optimal displays felt like the mark of true title-winners.

However, subsequently the momentum shifted. The Anfield side continued with average showings and started dropping matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, known for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Does a trio of straight losses constitute a collapse? Like most sporting discussions, it depends completely on your interpretation of the key term. Was the United midfielder elite? What does "elite" even mean? Is the Birmingham club a major club? What defines "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that's a question we might answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's excellence, a mini setback appears a reasonable description. On a recent radio show, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger alarm. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Identifying the Tactical Problems

One can observe clear tactical issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, incorporating a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative talent who improves those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a host of individuals who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. Actually, the majority of the squad are. And they all share one profound, fresh experience: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Loss on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the outside world moves on quickly, shifting attention to other events, Liverpool's players carry on going to work day after day without their mate.

This is impossible to know how every individual and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he was tired. But perhaps his form is down a small per cent because he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a parallel to his personal experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the tragedy. I lived exactly the same thing 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 manager when you arrive at the training ground and you find every day that place vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to handle a problem that is not easy."

Just as summarized succinctly on a popular supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. They hear his song in the 20th minute, they notice his unused peg in the dressing room. Even during games, a pass might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is far from all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in the majority of analysis. We simply do not know how an individual is coping at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a tragic thing happened, and we understand the nature of sorrow. But further lies an intangible level of impact on different people at the club. It is very possible that a few of the squad personally do not truly grasp its effect from one day to the next.

How the press reports on this and how fans analyze displays is clearly far from the most important thing. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to accomplish in a short segment before transitioning to tactical issues. Outside of this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify every criticism of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their family situation, personal challenges, or relationship problems.

A former professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on radio about how his mother's passing midway through his playing days affected 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 only three short months.

The Concluding Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool achieve in the coming months—be it success or if it's nothing—whether or not we don't mention it whenever we discuss their matches, and even if it is not the sole reason for their eventual result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.