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Just a few weeks ago, Liverpool seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly a further Champions League crown. Their capacity to secure victories without optimal displays seemed like the mark of true champions.

But, subsequently the tide shifted. The Anfield side persisted with mediocre performances and started losing points. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute backline and strength in depth, started closing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Does three consecutive losses represent a crisis? As with most sporting discussions, it depends completely on your interpretation of the key word. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "elite" even signify? Are Aston Villa a big team? What defines "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Well, maybe that is a question we might settle.

For a club of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor setback appears a reasonable assessment. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the Tactical Problems

There are obvious tactical problems. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different skill set to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Similarly, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who elevates those beside him, connecting play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of players who excelled last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. Actually, most of the team is. And every one of them have one profound, fresh event: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Field

We are now just more than three months since the tragic passing of their friend. While the outside world moves on rapidly, diverting attention to other matters, the club's squad carry on training and playing day after day without their mate.

This is not possible to know how each player and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. It requires a great deal of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match because he lacked energy. Or maybe his performance level is down a small per cent due to the fact he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a fixture, making a parallel to his personal situation of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is remarkable," 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's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the manager when you come to the training ground and you see every day that place empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As summarized well on a well-known fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. The players are reminded by his song in the 20th minute, they see his empty locker in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is far from all right.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

After reporting on football for two decades, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in the majority of punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is coping at any given time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We know a terrible event happened, and we understand the concept of grief. But further lies an intangible level of impact on various individuals at the organization. It is very possible that some of the squad themselves don't fully understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the press reports on this and how fans dissect displays is obviously far from the primary thing. On a practical basis, bringing up Jota's death is challenging to accomplish in a brief soundbite before transitioning to on-field concerns. Beyond this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify every critique of a player with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, personal struggles, or relationship problems.

A former professional player, the defender, lately talked on radio about how his mother's death midway through his playing days impacted his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the low points that come with it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

So, whatever Liverpool achieve in the coming months—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it every time we analyze their fixtures, even if it is not the sole cause for their eventual result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they lost a dear friend.