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Just a couple of weeks back, Liverpool appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League trophy. The team's ability to win without peak displays seemed like the hallmark of true champions.

However, subsequently the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with average showings and began losing points. At the same time, the North London club, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, began closing the distance at the top.

Understanding a Crisis in Modern Football

Can a trio of straight losses represent a collapse? Like many sporting discussions, it depends completely on your definition of the key term. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "elite" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a big team? What constitutes "major"? Are Manchester United back? Well, perhaps that is a question we might answer.

For a club of this club's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor setback seems a reasonable description. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His reply was six. At present, they are midway to that threshold.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

One can observe clear tactical issues. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those beside him, connecting play effortlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of players who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. Actually, the majority of the team are. And they all share one profound, fresh event: the tragic death of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Loss on the Field

We are now just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their teammate. While the outside world progresses rapidly, shifting focus to global matters, the club's players carry on going to work day after day in the absence of their friend.

This is not possible to gauge how every player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he lacked energy. Or perhaps his form is down a small percentage points because he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his personal experience of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are performing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I lived a very similar experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult for the players, it's not easy for the club, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training complex and you see daily that place vacant. So you must be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not good, even better than good. Because they are trying to deal with a situation that is not easy."

Just as summarized succinctly on a well-known supporter's show, the reminders are constant. They hear his chant in the 20th minute, they notice his unused peg in the dressing room. Even during games, a pass might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Personal Grief

After reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an player is coping at any specific time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a terrible event happened, and we understand the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an intangible layer of effect on various people at the organization. It is very possible that a few of the players themselves don't truly understand its influence from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how fans analyze performances is clearly far from the most important factor. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this specific tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify every critique of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their family relationships, personal struggles, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- pro player, the defender, lately spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death halfway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "The high points and the lows that accompany it no longer felt the same after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three months.

The Final Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool achieve in the coming months—if it's something or failure—even if we don't mention it every time we analyze their fixtures, and even if it is not the sole cause for their final result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not merely a exceptional footballer, but, crucially, they lost a dear friend.