🔗 Share this article

Only a couple of weeks back, Liverpool appeared set to secure back-to-back Premier League championships and potentially another Champions League crown. Their ability to secure victories despite not optimal displays felt like the mark of genuine champions.

However, subsequently the momentum shifted. Liverpool continued with average showings and started dropping matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal, known for their stubborn backline and strength in depth, started narrowing the distance at the top.

Defining a Slump in Modern Football

Can three consecutive losses constitute a crisis? As with many football debates, it depends entirely on your definition of the key word. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "world class" actually signify? Are Aston Villa a big team? What defines "big"? Are Manchester United back? Alright, maybe that's a question we can answer.

For a club of this club's size and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis seems a fair description. During a radio show, ex- striker Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would trigger panic. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that threshold.

Pinpointing the On-Pitch Problems

One can observe clear tactical problems. Integrating recent additions like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a distinct style to previous stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Likewise, blending in a gifted playmaker like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a creative player who improves those beside him, connecting play seamlessly rather than imposing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a number of individuals who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are currently below their best. Actually, most of the team is. Yet every one of them have one profound, fresh experience: the tragic death of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Invisible Impact: Grief on the Field

It has been just over three short months since the tragic passing of their friend. Although the outside world moves on rapidly, shifting focus to global events, the club's players continue going to work each day in the absence of their mate.

It is not possible to gauge how each individual and member of the backroom team is dealing on any given day. It requires a significant amount of speculation. Maybe Salah failed to defend in a recent match simply he lacked energy. Or maybe his form is down a few percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke eloquently before a recent, drawing a parallel to his personal experience of losing a fellow player, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this campaign is remarkable," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's tragedy. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the players, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you come to the training complex and you find every day that spot 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 attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

Just as summarized well on a popular supporter's show, the reminders are ongoing. The players are reminded by his chant in the first half, they notice his empty locker in the dressing room. Even during matches, a through ball might be played and the realization arises: 'Oh, Diogo would have reached that.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that all is not all right.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Personal Grief

After covering football for twenty years, one realizes there is a inherent lack of depth in most punditry. We genuinely cannot know how an player is feeling at any given time and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a terrible event occurred, and we understand the nature of grief. But further lies an intangible layer of impact on various individuals at the organization. It is very possible that a few of the squad personally don't truly understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the media covers this and how supporters dissect displays is clearly far from the primary factor. On a functional basis, mentioning Jota's death is difficult to accomplish in a short segment before transitioning to on-field issues. Beyond this particular event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface each critique of a footballer with an acknowledgment that we know so little about their personal lives—be it their parental situation, personal challenges, or marital problems.

A former pro footballer, the defender, recently talked on a broadcast about how his mother's death halfway through his playing days 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 after that." And that was many years into his profession; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three short months.

The Concluding Thought

So, whatever Liverpool achieve this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—whether or not we don't mention it every time we discuss 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 player, but, crucially, they said goodbye to a dear friend.