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Just a couple of weeks back, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to secure victories without optimal performances seemed like the hallmark of genuine champions.

However, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with average performances and began dropping matches. At the same time, Arsenal, renowned for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started closing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can three consecutive defeats represent a collapse? Like most football debates, it depends completely on your definition of the central term. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "elite" actually mean? Are Aston Villa a major club? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, maybe that's a question we might settle.

For a club of this club's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback appears a reasonable description. On a recent broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His reply was six. At present, they are midway to that threshold.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

There are obvious footballing problems. Integrating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of individuals who excelled last season—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, the majority of the squad is. Yet they all have one significant, fresh event: the tragic death of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Loss on the Field

We are now just more than three short months since the tragic passing of their teammate. While the wider world progresses quickly, shifting attention to other matters, Liverpool's players carry on going to work each day in the absence of their friend.

It is not possible to know how each player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. It requires a great deal of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he was tired. But perhaps his performance level is down a small per cent because he is grieving for his pal.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, making a parallel to his personal situation of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I lived a very similar experience when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It is difficult for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training complex and you find daily that place vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. 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 well on a popular supporter's show, the memory triggers are ongoing. They are reminded by his chant in the first half, they see 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.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it indicates that all is not normal.

The Limits of Punditry and Personal Grief

Having covering football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent superficiality in most analysis. We genuinely do not know how an individual is feeling at any given time and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the clearest examples. We know a terrible thing happened, and we understand the concept of grief. But further lies an immeasurable level of impact on various people at the organization. It is highly likely that a few of the players themselves don't fully understand its influence from one day to the next.

The way the press reports on this and how fans analyze performances is clearly far from the most important thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to do in a brief segment before moving on to on-field issues. Beyond this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every critique of a player with an admission that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their family situation, personal struggles, or relationship difficulties.

A former professional player, Nedum Onuoha, lately talked on radio about how his mother's death midway through his playing days impacted his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "The high points and the low points 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 just three months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—even if we don't mention it whenever we discuss their fixtures, even if it is not the sole cause for their final result, we must remember that a short time ago they lost not merely a brilliant player, but, crucially, they lost a dear friend.