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Just a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League crown. Their ability to secure victories without optimal performances felt like the mark of true champions.

But, then the tide shifted. The Anfield side continued with average showings and began dropping matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, renowned for their stubborn backline and strength in depth, started closing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Does three straight losses constitute a crisis? As with most sporting discussions, it hinges completely on your interpretation of the key word. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "world class" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United back? Well, perhaps that's a question we can answer.

At a team of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis seems a fair assessment. On a recent radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His answer was six. Currently, they are midway to that threshold.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

There are obvious footballing problems. Assimilating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct style to departed key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Similarly, incorporating a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, connecting play effortlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a number of players who excelled last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. Actually, most of the team is. Yet every one of them have one profound, recent event: the tragic death of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their teammate. Although the outside world moves on quickly, shifting attention to global matters, the club's squad carry on training and playing each day without their mate.

This is impossible to know how every player and staff member is coping on any given day. There is a great deal of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match because he lacked energy. But maybe his form is down a small percentage points because he is grieving for his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his own situation of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I went through a very similar experience 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 find every day that spot empty. So you must be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not well, 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 fan podcast, the memory triggers are ongoing. They are reminded by his chant in the 20th minute, they notice his empty peg in the changing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be made and the realization 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 all right.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one comes to believe there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely do not know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a tragic thing happened, and we comprehend the nature of grief. But further lies an intangible level of impact on different individuals at the club. It is highly likely that a few of the squad personally don't fully grasp its effect from one day to the next.

How the press covers this and how supporters dissect performances is obviously not the most important thing. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to accomplish in a brief segment before transitioning to tactical concerns. Beyond this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface every criticism of a player with an admission that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, health challenges, or marital problems.

An ex- pro footballer, the defender, lately talked on radio about how his mother's passing halfway through his career affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "The high points and the low points 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 Final Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, and even if it isn't the reason for their final result, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant footballer, but, crucially, they lost a friend.