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Just a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. The team's ability to secure victories without optimal displays felt like the hallmark of true champions.

However, then the tide shifted. The Anfield side persisted with mediocre showings and began losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their stubborn defense and strength in depth, began closing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can three consecutive losses constitute a crisis? As with many football debates, it depends entirely on your interpretation of the central word. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "elite" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a major club? What defines "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Alright, perhaps that's one we can settle.

At a team of this club's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback appears a fair assessment. During a broadcast, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that particular point.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

One can observe clear footballing problems. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different style to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative talent who improves those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of players who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. Actually, most of the team is. Yet every one of them share one profound, recent experience: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the tragic passing of their friend. While the wider world progresses rapidly, diverting focus to global matters, Liverpool's players carry on going to work each day without their mate.

It is impossible to gauge how each player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he was tired. But perhaps his form is down a small percentage points because he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a fixture, drawing a comparison to his own experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the tragedy. I went through a very similar experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"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 every day that spot vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to handle a problem that is not easy."

As explained succinctly on a well-known supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. They are reminded by his chant in the 20th minute, they notice his empty peg in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have reached that.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that all is not normal.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an player is feeling at any specific moment and how that affects their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We know a tragic thing happened, and we understand the concept of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various people at the club. It is very possible that a few of the players themselves don't truly grasp its effect from one day to the next.

How the press covers this and how fans dissect displays is clearly not the primary thing. On a practical level, bringing up Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief segment before transitioning to on-field concerns. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to qualify each critique of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their family situation, personal challenges, or marital problems.

A former professional player, the defender, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's death 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 after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Point

Therefore, whatever Liverpool achieve this season—if it's something or failure—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, and even if it is not the sole cause for their final outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a dear friend.