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Only a couple of weeks back, Liverpool appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially another Champions League trophy. Their ability to secure victories without peak displays felt like the mark of genuine title-winners.

But, subsequently the momentum shifted. The Anfield side persisted with mediocre showings and began losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their resolute defense and squad depth, started narrowing the distance at the summit.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of straight losses constitute a crisis? Like many football debates, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the central word. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "world class" even mean? Are Aston Villa a big club? What constitutes "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Alright, perhaps that's a question we can settle.

At a team of this club's size and last season's excellence, a mini setback appears a reasonable description. During a broadcast, ex- striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would cause panic. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that particular threshold.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe obvious tactical issues. Assimilating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a distinct skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who elevates those beside him, linking play effortlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a number of individuals who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently underperforming. In fact, most of the team is. And they all have one profound, recent event: the passing of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Grief on the Pitch

We are now just more than three short months since the tragic passing of their friend. Although the outside world moves on quickly, shifting attention to global matters, the club's players continue going to work each day in the absence of their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how each individual and member of the backroom team is dealing from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match simply he lacked energy. Or perhaps his performance level is down a few percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a fixture, drawing a comparison to his personal experience of the loss of a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the loss. I went through exactly the same thing 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 ground and you find every day that spot 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 handle a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are ongoing. They hear his song in the first half, they notice his empty peg in the dressing room. Even during games, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' When the Egyptian showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that all is far from normal.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

Having covering football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a fundamental superficiality in most punditry. We simply do not know how an individual is coping at any specific moment and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a terrible event occurred, and we understand the concept of sorrow. But further lies an intangible level of impact on various people at the club. It is highly likely that some of the squad themselves do not truly grasp its effect from one day to the next.

How the media reports on this and how fans dissect performances is obviously not the primary thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this particular event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, health struggles, or relationship problems.

An ex- pro player, the defender, lately talked on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "The highs and the low points that accompany it no longer felt the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three short months.

The Concluding Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—even if we don't mention it every time we discuss their fixtures, even if it is not the sole reason for their final outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a brilliant player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a friend.