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Only a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their capacity to win without optimal performances felt like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, subsequently the momentum turned. Liverpool continued with mediocre performances and started losing matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and strength in depth, began narrowing the gap at the top.

Understanding a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of consecutive losses represent a collapse? Like most football debates, it depends entirely on your definition of the central term. Is Paul Scholes elite? What does "world class" even signify? Are Aston Villa a major club? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Well, maybe that's a question we might settle.

For a club of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis appears a fair description. On a recent broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical issues. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct skill set to departed 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. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical talent who elevates those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who excelled last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the team are. Yet they all have one profound, fresh experience: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Grief on the Field

It has been just over three months since the tragic loss of their teammate. Although the wider world progresses quickly, shifting focus to global matters, Liverpool's squad continue training and playing day after day without their mate.

It is not possible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is dealing on any given day. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match because he was tired. But perhaps his performance level is down a small per cent because he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a recent, drawing 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. "Especially after Jota's tragedy. I went through exactly the same experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the manager when you come to the training ground and you see daily that place vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

Just as explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. The players hear his chant in the 20th minute, they see his unused locker in the changing room. Even during games, a pass might be played and the thought arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that everything is far from normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Personal Grief

Having covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental superficiality in the majority of punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is coping at any specific moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark illustrations. We know a terrible thing occurred, and we comprehend the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable level of effect on various individuals at the organization. It is very possible that a few of the squad personally do not fully understand its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media covers this and how supporters analyze displays is obviously far from the most important thing. On a functional basis, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before transitioning to on-field concerns. Beyond this specific tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface every criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal struggles, or relationship problems.

An ex- professional player, the defender, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's death halfway through his career impacted his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the lows that come with it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—if it's something or failure—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their matches, and even if it isn't the cause for their eventual outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a exceptional footballer, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a friend.