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Just a couple of weeks back, Liverpool appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially a further Champions League trophy. The team's capacity to secure victories despite not optimal performances seemed like the mark of genuine title-winners.

However, subsequently the tide turned. Liverpool continued with mediocre showings and started losing points. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their resolute backline and squad depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Does a trio of consecutive losses represent a crisis? Like many sporting discussions, it depends completely on your interpretation of the central term. Was the United midfielder world class? What does "elite" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a major team? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United returned to prominence? Alright, perhaps that's one we might answer.

At a team of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a minor crisis seems a fair assessment. During a broadcast, ex- striker Neil Mellor was asked how many losses in a row would trigger panic. His reply was six. At present, they are midway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

One can observe obvious footballing problems. Assimilating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a difficulty. Likewise, blending in a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a number of individuals who excelled last campaign—including Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. Actually, most of the squad is. Yet they all share one significant, recent event: the passing of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Grief on the Pitch

It has been just more than three short months since the devastating loss of their teammate. While the outside world progresses quickly, shifting focus to global events, the club's squad carry on training and playing day after day in the absence of their mate.

This is impossible to gauge how each player and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. It requires a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his personal experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, while at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the loss. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"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 ground and you find daily that place vacant. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to deal with a problem that is not easy."

Just as summarized well on a popular fan podcast, the reminders are ongoing. The players are reminded by his chant 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: 'Oh, Jota would have reached that.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that all is far from all right.

The Limits of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having covering football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a inherent lack of depth in the majority of analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an individual is coping at any specific time and how that affects their play. Jota's passing is one of the clearest illustrations. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we understand the concept of sorrow. But further lies an immeasurable layer of impact on different individuals at the club. It is highly likely that a few of the players themselves don't truly understand its influence from one day to the next.

How the media covers this and how supporters analyze displays is clearly not the primary thing. On a functional level, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to do in a brief segment before moving on to tactical issues. Outside of this specific tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface each criticism of a footballer with an admission that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental relationships, health challenges, or relationship problems.

An ex- pro player, the defender, lately spoke on a broadcast about how his mother's death midway through his career affected his passion for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he stated. "Some of the highs and the lows that accompany it no longer felt the same any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three months.

The Concluding Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—even if we omit reference to it every time we analyze their matches, even if it isn't the cause for their eventual result, we should not forget that a short time ago they lost not merely a exceptional footballer, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.