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Just a couple of weeks ago, Liverpool seemed set to claim back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League crown. Their capacity to win without peak performances felt like the mark of true title-winners.

However, then the tide shifted. Liverpool persisted with average performances and started dropping points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, known for their stubborn backline and squad depth, began narrowing the distance at the summit.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can a trio of consecutive losses represent a collapse? As with most football debates, it hinges completely on your definition of the key term. Is Paul Scholes world class? How do you define "world class" even mean? Are Aston Villa a major team? What defines "major"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that's a question we might answer.

For a club of this club's size and last season's excellence, a mini setback seems a reasonable description. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would trigger alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that particular threshold.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

There are obvious footballing issues. Assimilating new additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct skill set to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who elevates those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than imposing himself on the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, the majority of the squad are. And they all share one significant, recent event: the tragic death of their colleague and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just more than three short months since the devastating passing of their teammate. Although the outside world moves on rapidly, shifting focus to other events, the club's players continue training and playing day after day without their friend.

It is not possible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. There is a great deal of projection. Perhaps Salah failed to defend in a particular match simply he lacked energy. But perhaps his form is down a few per cent due to the fact he misses his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented eloquently before a fixture, making a parallel to his own experience of losing a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "How they are doing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's tragedy. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player 20 years ago."

"It's not easy for the players, 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 empty. So you must be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not good, even better than good. Because they are attempting to handle a problem that is not easy."

As summarized succinctly on a well-known supporter's show, the reminders are constant. They hear his chant in the first half, they see his empty locker in the dressing room. Even during matches, a through ball might be made and the thought arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have reached that.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that all is not all right.

The Limits of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an player is feeling at any given time and how that impacts their play. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We know a terrible event occurred, and we understand the concept of sorrow. But further lies an intangible layer of effect on different individuals at the club. It is very possible that a few of the squad personally do not fully understand its effect from one moment to the next.

The way the media reports on this and how supporters analyze displays is clearly not the primary thing. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's passing is challenging to accomplish in a short soundbite before transitioning to on-field issues. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify every critique of a player with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their personal lives—be it their parental relationships, health struggles, or marital difficulties.

An ex- pro footballer, Nedum Onuoha, recently spoke on radio about how his mother's passing midway through his career affected his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he stated. "The highs and the lows that accompany it no longer felt the same any more." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three short months.

The Concluding Point

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—be it success or if it's nothing—whether or not we omit reference to it every time we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the reason for their eventual outcome, we should not forget that a short time ago they suffered the loss of not merely a brilliant footballer, but, more importantly, they lost a dear friend.