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Only a few weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League trophy. Their capacity to win without peak displays felt like the hallmark of genuine title-winners.

However, then the momentum turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre performances and began dropping points. At the same time, the North London club, renowned for their resolute backline and strength in depth, started narrowing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Does three consecutive defeats represent a crisis? As with many football debates, it hinges entirely on your definition of the central term. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "elite" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big team? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, perhaps that's a question we might answer.

For a club of this club's size and last season's brilliance, a minor crisis appears a reasonable assessment. On a recent radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the Tactical Issues

There are obvious tactical problems. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct style to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative talent who improves those beside him, connecting play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who excelled last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the team are. Yet every one of them have one profound, fresh event: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the devastating passing of their teammate. While the wider world moves on quickly, shifting attention to other events, the club's squad carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

It is not possible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a recent match because he was tired. Or perhaps his performance level is down a small percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, making a parallel to his own experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the tragedy. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training ground and you see daily that place empty. So you must be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

As explained succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are constant. They hear his chant in the 20th minute, they see his unused peg in the dressing room. Even during matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that everything is far from all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent superficiality in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an player is coping at any given time and how that impacts their performance. Jota's death is one of the most stark examples. We know a tragic event happened, and we comprehend the nature of grief. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various individuals at the organization. It is highly likely that a few of the players personally don't truly understand its influence from one moment to the next.

The way the media covers this and how fans dissect displays is clearly not the primary factor. On a functional level, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a brief segment before transitioning to on-field concerns. Outside of this specific event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each critique of a footballer with an admission that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal struggles, or marital problems.

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

The Final Point

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—whether or not we omit reference to it every time we discuss their matches, and even if it isn't the reason for their final outcome, we should not forget that a few weeks ago they suffered the loss of not just a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a dear friend.