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Only a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club seemed set to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and potentially a further Champions League crown. The team's ability to win without peak performances felt like the mark of true champions.

But, then the tide turned. Liverpool persisted with average performances and started dropping points. At the same time, the North London club, known for their stubborn backline and strength in depth, started narrowing the gap at the top.

Understanding a Crisis in Modern Football

Does a trio of consecutive defeats constitute a collapse? Like most sporting discussions, it hinges entirely on your definition of the key word. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "world class" even mean? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Well, perhaps that's one we can answer.

For a club of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis appears a fair assessment. During a radio show, former striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause panic. His answer was six. Currently, they are halfway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

One can observe obvious footballing problems. Assimilating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different style to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who improves those around him, linking play effortlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a host of players who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, most of the team is. And they all have one profound, recent experience: the tragic death of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their friend. While the wider world moves on rapidly, shifting attention to global events, the club's players continue training and playing day after day without their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how each player and staff member is coping from one day to the next. It requires a great deal of projection. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a particular match simply he was tired. But maybe his performance level is down a small per cent because he misses his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, drawing a comparison to his own experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's tragedy. I went through a very similar experience 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 coach when you come to the training complex and you see daily that place vacant. So you have to be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

As summarized succinctly on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are constant. The players hear his chant in the first half, they see his unused locker in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that all is not all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

After covering football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in the majority of punditry. We simply do not know how an player is feeling at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a tragic event occurred, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an immeasurable level of effect on different people at the organization. It is highly likely that a few of the squad themselves do not truly understand its influence from one moment to the next.

The way the press reports on this and how fans dissect displays is clearly not the most important factor. On a functional basis, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to accomplish in a brief soundbite before transitioning to on-field issues. Outside of this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify each criticism of a player with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their family situation, health challenges, or relationship problems.

A former pro footballer, the defender, lately talked on radio about how his mother's passing halfway through his career affected his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "Some of the high points and the low points that accompany it didn't really feel the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Final Thought

So, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or failure—even if we omit reference to it every time we discuss their matches, even if it is not the sole reason for their eventual result, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a friend.