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Only a few weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League trophy. Their capacity to secure victories without optimal performances seemed like the hallmark of true title-winners.

However, subsequently the tide shifted. The Anfield side continued with average performances and began dropping matches. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their stubborn backline and squad depth, started closing the gap at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Can three straight losses represent a crisis? Like most football debates, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the key term. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "elite" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big team? What constitutes "major"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Alright, maybe that's one we can answer.

For a club of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis appears a reasonable assessment. On a recent radio show, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are midway to that point.

Identifying the Tactical Issues

There are obvious tactical issues. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical talent who improves those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who shone last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the team is. And every one of them have one profound, recent event: the passing of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Grief on the Field

It has been just more than three months since the devastating passing of their teammate. While the wider world moves on quickly, diverting attention to other matters, Liverpool's squad carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their friend.

This is impossible to know how every individual and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. There is a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match because he was tired. Or maybe his form is down a few per cent due to the fact he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, drawing a comparison to his own situation of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are doing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after Jota's tragedy. I went through a very similar thing 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 coach when you arrive at the training complex and you see every day that place vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to deal with a situation that is not easy."

Just as summarized well on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are constant. They hear his song in the first half, they notice his unused peg in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a pass might be made and the realization arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian 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

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in the majority of punditry. We genuinely do not know how an individual is feeling at any specific time and how that affects their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a tragic event happened, and we comprehend the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various people at the organization. It is highly likely that a few of the squad themselves don't fully grasp its influence from one day to the next.

How the press reports on this and how fans analyze displays is clearly not the primary thing. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's passing is challenging to do in a short segment before moving on to tactical concerns. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each criticism of a player with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their family relationships, health challenges, or relationship problems.

An ex- pro footballer, Nedum Onuoha, recently talked on a broadcast 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 said. "The high points 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 months.

The Concluding Thought

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their matches, and even if it is not the sole cause for their final result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a brilliant footballer, but, more importantly, they lost a dear friend.