🔗 Share this article

Only a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and possibly another Champions League trophy. Their capacity to secure victories without peak displays felt like the hallmark of true title-winners.

However, then the momentum turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre showings and began dropping matches. At the same time, the North London club, renowned for their stubborn backline and squad depth, started closing the gap at the top.

Understanding a Crisis in Today's Game

Can a trio of consecutive losses represent a collapse? As with most football debates, it hinges completely on your interpretation of the central 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 back? Alright, maybe that's one we might answer.

At a team of this club's size and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini crisis appears a reasonable description. On a recent radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. At present, they are midway to that threshold.

Identifying the Tactical Problems

There are obvious footballing problems. 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 challenge. Likewise, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the midfield. Experts of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself on the game.

Furthermore, a number of players who excelled last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the squad is. Yet every one of them have one significant, fresh event: the tragic death of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Grief on the Pitch

It has been just over three months since the devastating loss of their friend. Although the outside world moves on rapidly, shifting attention to other events, the club's players continue going to work day after day without their mate.

It is impossible to know how every player and member of the backroom team is coping from one day to the next. It requires a significant amount of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match simply he lacked energy. But maybe his performance level is down a few per cent due to the fact he misses his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, making a comparison to his personal experience of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this season is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Especially after the tragedy. I lived a very similar experience when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult 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 every day that spot vacant. So you must be very strong. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not good, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to handle a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. They are reminded by his song in the first half, they see his unused locker in the changing room. In the middle of matches, a pass might be played and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' If Salah 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 Human Emotion

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a inherent superficiality in the majority of analysis. We simply do not know how an individual is feeling at any given moment and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the clearest examples. We are aware a tragic event happened, and we comprehend the nature of sorrow. Beyond that lies an intangible layer of effect on different individuals at the club. It is very possible that some of the squad personally don't fully grasp its effect from one day to the next.

The way the media covers this and how supporters dissect performances is obviously not the primary factor. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to do in a brief soundbite before moving on to on-field concerns. Outside of this particular event and outside Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to preface every criticism of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we are largely ignorant about their private circumstances—be it their parental relationships, personal challenges, or marital problems.

An ex- professional footballer, Nedum Onuoha, recently talked 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 stated. "The high points 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 just three short months.

The Concluding Thought

Therefore, whatever Liverpool achieve this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—whether or not we omit reference to it whenever we analyze their fixtures, 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, more importantly, they lost a friend.