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Only a few weeks ago, Liverpool appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League crown. The team's capacity to secure victories without peak displays felt like the hallmark of true champions.

But, subsequently the tide turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre showings and started dropping matches. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and strength in depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Can three consecutive defeats represent a crisis? Like many sporting discussions, it depends entirely on your definition of the key term. Is Paul Scholes elite? What does "elite" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Well, maybe that's one we might answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and last season's excellence, a minor setback appears a fair description. During a broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger panic. His reply was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

There are clear footballing problems. Integrating recent signings 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, incorporating a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical talent who improves those around him, connecting play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

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

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Field

We are now just more than three short months since the tragic loss of their friend. Although the wider world progresses rapidly, shifting focus to other matters, the club's squad carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

This is not possible to gauge how each player and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. There is a great deal of speculation. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a particular match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, drawing a comparison to his personal experience of losing a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I lived a very similar thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training complex and you find daily that spot empty. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting 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 hear his song in the first half, they notice his empty locker in the dressing room. Even during matches, a pass might be made and the realization arises: 'Ah, Jota 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 all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely do not know how an individual is feeling at any specific moment and how that affects their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark examples. We are aware a terrible event occurred, and we comprehend the nature of grief. But further lies an immeasurable level of effect on various people at the club. It is very possible that some of the players themselves do not truly understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how supporters dissect displays is obviously far from the primary thing. On a functional level, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before moving on to on-field issues. Outside of this particular event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify every criticism of a footballer with an admission that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, personal challenges, or relationship problems.

A former pro player, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death midway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "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 this season—if it's something or failure—whether or not we don't mention it every time we analyze their fixtures, and even if it is not the sole reason for their eventual outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a exceptional player, but, crucially, they lost a dear friend.