Liverpool's Current Difficulties: The Ways Diogo Jota's Loss Continues to Affect the Team

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Merseyside club appeared destined to secure back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League trophy. The team's ability to secure victories despite not optimal performances seemed like the hallmark of true champions.

However, then the tide turned. The Anfield side continued with mediocre performances and started losing matches. Meanwhile, the North London club, known for their stubborn defense and squad depth, started closing the gap at the summit.

Defining a Crisis in Today's Game

Can three straight defeats constitute a crisis? As with many football debates, it hinges entirely on your definition of the key word. Was the United midfielder world class? How do you define "world class" actually signify? Is the Birmingham club a big club? What defines "major"? Are Manchester United back? Well, perhaps that's a question we can settle.

At a team of Liverpool's size and previous campaign's excellence, a minor crisis seems a reasonable description. On a recent radio show, ex- forward Neil Mellor was questioned how many losses in a row would cause alarm. His reply was six. At present, they are midway to that particular point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Issues

One can observe clear tactical problems. Integrating recent signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who offer a different skill set to previous key players Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, creates a difficulty. Likewise, incorporating a gifted attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly disrupted the engine room. Observers of the Bundesliga point out that Wirtz is a creative player who elevates those beside him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of players who shone last season—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now below their best. In fact, most of the squad are. And they all share one profound, fresh experience: the tragic death of their teammate and companion, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Impact: Loss on the Pitch

It has been just over three short months since the devastating passing of their teammate. While the wider world moves on rapidly, shifting focus to other events, Liverpool's squad carry on going to work day after day in the absence of their friend.

This is impossible to gauge how each player and staff member is coping from one day to the next. It requires a great deal of speculation. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a particular match because he lacked energy. Or maybe his performance level is down a few percentage points due to the fact he is grieving for his friend.

Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, spoke insightfully before a recent, making a parallel to his personal experience of the loss of a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are doing this campaign is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after Jota's loss. I lived exactly the same thing when I was a player two decades past."

"It's not easy for the squad, it's not easy for the organization, it's not easy for the manager when you arrive at the training ground and you find daily that spot vacant. So you have to be incredibly resilient. And this is the reason why for me they are performing not well, but exceptionally well. Because they are attempting to handle a situation that is not easy."

As explained well on a well-known supporter's show, the memory triggers are constant. The players are reminded by his song in the first half, they notice his empty peg in the dressing room. Even during games, a through ball might be played and the thought arises: 'Ah, Jota would have been there.' If Salah was seen crying in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is far from normal.

The Boundaries of Punditry and Human Emotion

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a fundamental superficiality in most analysis. We simply cannot know how an player is coping at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's passing is one of the most stark illustrations. We are aware a terrible event happened, and we understand the concept of sorrow. But further lies an intangible layer of effect on various people at the organization. It is very possible that some of the squad themselves do not truly understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the press reports on this and how supporters analyze performances is obviously far from the primary factor. On a practical basis, mentioning Jota's death is challenging to do in a short soundbite before transitioning to on-field concerns. Beyond this specific tragedy and outside Liverpool, it would seem strange to preface every critique of a player with an admission that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their parental situation, personal challenges, or relationship difficulties.

An ex- professional footballer, the defender, recently talked on a broadcast about how his mother's passing halfway through his playing days affected his love for the game. "I lost some joy in football as much," he said. "The high points and the low points that come with it no longer felt the same after that." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been only three short months.

The Final Point

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—be it success or failure—whether or not we don't mention it every time we analyze their fixtures, even if it isn't the reason for their eventual outcome, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not just a brilliant player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.