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Just a few weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their ability to secure victories without optimal displays seemed like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, then the momentum shifted. The Anfield side persisted with mediocre showings and began dropping matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their resolute backline and strength in depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Can three consecutive losses represent a collapse? Like most sporting discussions, it depends completely on your interpretation of the key term. Is Paul Scholes world class? How do you define "world class" even signify? Are Aston Villa a big club? What constitutes "big"? Are Manchester United back? Well, maybe that's a question we might settle.

For a club of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's excellence, a mini crisis appears a fair description. During a broadcast, ex- forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

There are clear footballing issues. Integrating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a challenge. Likewise, blending in a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative talent who improves those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a host of players who shone last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. Actually, most of the squad are. And they all share one profound, fresh experience: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just over three months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the outside world progresses quickly, diverting focus to other events, Liverpool's players carry on training and playing each day without their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how every player and staff member is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a great deal of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match simply he was tired. Or maybe his form is down a small per cent because he misses his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a fixture, making a comparison to his own 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. "Especially after the loss. I went through exactly the same 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 coach 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 explanation why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

Just as explained well on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. They are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see his empty locker in the dressing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be made and the realization arises: 'Oh, Jota would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that everything is far from all right.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

Having covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in the majority of punditry. We simply cannot know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the most stark examples. We know a tragic event occurred, and we comprehend the concept of grief. Beyond that lies an intangible 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 moment to the next.

The way the press reports on this and how supporters dissect displays is clearly far from the primary factor. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to accomplish in a short soundbite before transitioning to on-field concerns. Outside of this particular tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each critique of a player with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, health challenges, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- professional player, the defender, recently spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death halfway through his career 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 didn't really feel the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or failure—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, even if it is not the sole reason for their final outcome, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.