🔗 Share this article

Just a few weeks back, the Merseyside club seemed destined to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League crown. Their ability to win without peak performances felt like the mark of true champions.

However, subsequently the tide turned. Liverpool persisted with average showings and began losing points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, renowned for their resolute defense and squad depth, began closing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Can three consecutive losses constitute a collapse? As with most sporting discussions, it hinges entirely on your interpretation of the key word. Is Paul Scholes elite? How do you define "elite" even signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit returned to prominence? Alright, maybe that's one we can answer.

For a club of Liverpool's stature and previous campaign's brilliance, a mini setback seems a fair assessment. During a radio show, former forward Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would cause panic. His reply was six. Currently, they are midway to that particular point.

Pinpointing the Tactical Problems

There are obvious footballing issues. Assimilating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Similarly, incorporating a talented playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, connecting play seamlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Furthermore, a host of individuals who excelled last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. In fact, most of the team is. Yet every one of them have one significant, fresh experience: the passing of their colleague and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Effect: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just over three short months since the devastating loss of their friend. Although the wider world progresses quickly, shifting focus to global events, the club's squad continue going to work day after day without their friend.

It is impossible to know how each player and member of the backroom team is coping on any given day. There is a significant amount of speculation. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a particular match because he was tired. But maybe his performance level is down a few per cent due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a recent, drawing a parallel 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 tragedy. I went through exactly the same thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It is difficult for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the coach when you arrive at the training ground and you find daily that spot empty. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the explanation why for me they are performing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to deal with a situation that is not easy."

Just as explained succinctly on a well-known supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. The players hear his chant in the first half, they notice his empty peg in the changing room. Even during games, a pass might be played and the thought arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have reached that.' When the Egyptian was seen crying in front of the Kop a matches ago, it signals that all is not normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

Having reporting on football for two decades, one comes to believe there is a fundamental lack of depth in most analysis. We genuinely cannot know how an player is feeling at any given moment and how that impacts their play. Jota's passing is one of the most stark examples. We are aware a tragic thing happened, and we understand the nature of grief. But further lies an immeasurable layer of impact on various individuals at the club. It is very possible that a few of the players personally don't truly grasp its influence from one day to the next.

How the media covers this and how fans analyze performances is clearly far from the most important thing. On a practical level, mentioning Jota's passing is difficult to do in a short segment before moving on to on-field concerns. Beyond this particular tragedy and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify every critique of a footballer with an admission that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their family relationships, health challenges, or marital difficulties.

A former professional player, Nedum Onuoha, lately spoke on radio about how his mother's death midway through his career affected his love for the game. "I didn't enjoy football as much," he said. "The high points 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

So, whatever Liverpool accomplish in the coming months—if it's something or failure—even if we don't mention it every time we discuss their matches, and even if it isn't the cause for their final outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not just a exceptional player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a friend.