Liverpool's Current Difficulties: How Diogo Jota's Absence Continues to Affect the Squad

Only a couple of weeks ago, Liverpool appeared set to claim back-to-back Premier League titles and possibly another Champions League trophy. The team's ability to win despite not optimal displays seemed like the mark of genuine champions.

But, subsequently the momentum turned. Liverpool persisted with mediocre performances and started losing points. Meanwhile, Arsenal, known for their resolute defense and squad depth, started narrowing the gap at the top.

Defining a Slump in Today's Game

Can three consecutive losses represent a collapse? As with most football debates, it depends completely on your definition of the key word. Is Paul Scholes world class? What does "world class" even mean? Are Aston Villa a big club? What constitutes "big"? Is the Old Trafford outfit back? Well, maybe that's a question we might answer.

At a team of this club's size and last season's excellence, a minor crisis seems a reasonable assessment. During a broadcast, former striker Neil Mellor was asked how many defeats in a row would cause alarm. His answer was six. At present, they are midway to that particular point.

Identifying the On-Pitch Problems

There are clear footballing issues. Assimilating new signings like Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, who provide a different skill set to departed stalwarts Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, presents a challenge. Similarly, blending in a talented attacking midfielder like Florian Wirtz has reportedly unbalanced the midfield. Observers of the Bundesliga note that Wirtz is a technical player who elevates those around him, linking play seamlessly rather than forcing himself upon the game.

Additionally, a host of players who shone last campaign—such as Mo Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, Alexis Mac Allister, and Conor Bradley—are now underperforming. In fact, most of the team is. And every one of them share one profound, recent experience: the passing of their teammate and friend, Diogo Jota.

The Unseen Effect: Grief on the Field

We are now just over three months since the devastating passing of their teammate. While the wider world moves on rapidly, shifting focus to global events, the club's squad continue training and playing day after day in the absence of their friend.

This is impossible to know how each individual and staff member is coping on any given day. It requires a significant amount of projection. Maybe Salah didn't track back in a recent match simply he lacked energy. Or maybe his form is down a small per cent because he is grieving for his pal.

The London club's head coach, Enzo Maresca, commented insightfully before a recent, making a parallel to his personal experience of losing a teammate, Antonio Puerta, when at Sevilla. "The way they are performing this season is fantastic," he said of Liverpool. "Particularly after the tragedy. I lived a very similar experience 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 arrive at the training complex and you see every day that place vacant. So you must be very strong. And this is the explanation why for me they are doing not well, even better than good. Because they are trying to handle a problem that is not easy."

As explained well on a popular fan podcast, the memory triggers are ongoing. They hear his chant in the 20th minute, they notice his empty locker in the dressing room. In the middle of games, a pass might be made and the realization arises: 'Ah, Diogo would have been there.' If Salah showed emotion in front of the Kop a few games ago, it indicates that everything is not normal.

The Boundaries of Football Analysis and Human Emotion

After covering football for two decades, one realizes there is a fundamental superficiality in most punditry. We genuinely do not know how an player is feeling at any specific time and how that affects their performance. Jota's death is one of the most stark examples. We are aware a terrible thing happened, and we understand the nature of grief. Beyond that lies an intangible layer of impact on different individuals at the club. It is highly likely that some of the players personally do not fully understand its effect from one day to the next.

How the media covers this and how fans analyze performances is obviously far from the primary thing. On a functional level, bringing up Jota's passing is challenging to do in a short soundbite before transitioning to on-field concerns. Outside of this specific event and beyond Liverpool, it would seem bizarre to qualify every criticism of a player with an admission that we know so little about their private circumstances—be it their family situation, health struggles, or relationship problems.

A former professional player, the defender, recently talked on a broadcast about how his mother's passing halfway through his career impacted his passion 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 any more." And that was half a career; for Liverpool and Jota, it has been just three short months.

The Final Thought

Therefore, regardless of what Liverpool accomplish this season—if it's something or if it's nothing—whether or not we omit reference to it every time we discuss their fixtures, even if it is not the sole reason for their eventual result, we must remember that a few weeks ago they lost not merely a exceptional player, but, more importantly, they said goodbye to a friend.