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Just a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially another Champions League crown. Their capacity to win without peak performances felt like the mark of genuine title-winners.

However, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with average showings and began losing matches. At the same time, the North London club, known for their stubborn defense and strength in depth, started narrowing the gap at the top.

Defining a Crisis in Modern Football

Can three straight defeats represent a crisis? As with most sporting discussions, it hinges entirely on your definition of the key term. Was the United midfielder elite? How do you define "world class" even mean? Are Aston Villa a major club? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Well, maybe that's one we can answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis seems a fair assessment. On a recent radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many defeats in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. Currently, they are halfway to that point.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Issues

There are obvious footballing issues. Assimilating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different style to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who shone last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. Actually, most of the team is. Yet they all have one profound, fresh event: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Grief on the Pitch

It has been just over three short months since the devastating passing of their friend. Although the wider world moves on quickly, diverting attention to global events, the club's squad carry on training and playing each day without their friend.

This is impossible to know how each individual and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a recent match because he was tired. Or maybe his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a fixture, making a comparison to his personal situation of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are doing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the tragedy. I went through 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 club, it's not easy for the coach when you come to the training ground and you see daily that spot vacant. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to handle a situation that is not easy."

Just as explained succinctly on a well-known supporter's show, the reminders are ongoing. They hear his song in the first half, they see his unused peg in the changing room. Even during games, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it signals that everything is far from normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Personal Grief

Having reporting on football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely do not know how an individual is feeling at any specific moment and how that impacts their play. Jota's passing is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a terrible event happened, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable layer of impact on different people at the organization. It is highly likely that some of the squad personally don't truly grasp its influence from one day to the next.

How the media covers this and how supporters analyze performances is clearly not the primary factor. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's death is challenging to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field issues. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface each critique of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental situation, personal challenges, or marital problems.

A former professional footballer, the defender, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's death halfway through his playing days affected his passion for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The highs and the lows that come with it didn't really feel the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Final Point

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or failure—even if we omit reference to it whenever we discuss their matches, even if it is not the sole cause for their final result, we must remember that a short time ago they lost not just a exceptional player, but, crucially, they lost a dear friend.