06 Feb 2026 14:10:02
Interesting insight by Kelleher on the BBC website regarding Liverpool and their performances this season.
Don't hate me, I didn't put him up to it.
06 Feb 2026 15:51:45
Very interesting insight, Ken. Thank you.
06 Feb 2026 17:48:46
I agree with him Ron. It's only people on here who seem to think they should just get on with it. As if they're not human beings just because they earn a lot of money.
I've lost a work colleague to a car accident back when I use to work in hospitality. It took months for the place to feel normal again. Everyone got on with it but there's no doubt our performance levels weren't as good as they had been before and we were just serving over privileged fools afternoon tea and caviar. It affects you.
06 Feb 2026 18:14:13
Yep, i can remember when it happened people were saying it didn't even matter how we did this year. That the players would take a while to get over this. More important things in life than footie.
06 Feb 2026 19:16:01
How do we explain when performance levels and results have been high at certain points this season (first 5 games, Villa, Frankfurt, Real, inter, Marseille, Qurabag, Brighton, Newcastle etc).
Is grief only a factor when we don't play well and lose?
06 Feb 2026 19:45:05
Spot on JK.
06 Feb 2026 20:01:33
JK Ask CK ?
He's just reporting what he's witnessed.
I think it's folly to dismiss what CK is saying.
I'm sure the players are trying in every game but grief hits people at different stages and for different reasons with different triggers.
If you're being honest JK, we didn't play well in any of the fist 5 games but we found a way.
06 Feb 2026 20:35:45
@Ron, why is @Fornax calling you Ken? We need to know.
06 Feb 2026 20:42:40
Not sure where I've dismissed CK Ron.
I only asked a question.
I'm guessing if anyone dares have an opinion on here moving forward they will be told to contact the person or club in question for the answer.
06 Feb 2026 21:39:21
I think you already know the answer JK at least I hope you do. You always hear people dealing with grief, life changes, illnesses etc say they have good days and bad days.
How I see it is these things are not consistent. You don't always feel the same level of grief. Some days you think you're ok and other days it hits you like a tidal wave. It can change by the minute even.
Early season it was fresh and they were probably going out and doing it for Diogo. That would explain the going in front and then relaxing allowing teams back into it and then that extra burst of adrenaline to get it over the line. But you can't maintain that, it's exhausting.
The defeat to Palace deflated us like a balloon and it took us a lot to get back from that, we are still not recovered. With each defeat it drained the energy more and more. Some players might feel like they are letting him down, letting his memory down which is a heavy weight to carry.
It's just not as simple as saying but we don't play badly all the time so it can't be that. Life just doesn't work that way.
06 Feb 2026 22:17:13
Varry it seems like you have all the answers.
I'll agree to disagree with you on this one.
06 Feb 2026 22:32:07
Way too black and white JK. There is no doubt the players are hurting.
Also football has a pretty poor record of dealing will mental illness. I just hope lads are being offered the correct support.
06 Feb 2026 23:13:25
JK - CK is telling you how it is, he knows the players individually, he still talks to them. If you still don't want to accept it as a fact then that's up to you, but the information doesn't get much more accurate. He is not at the club any more so he has nothing to gain from revealing this.
To ask 'are only grieving when they lose' is probably one of the most ridiculous things you've written. I think you're better than that. If you haven't experienced grief then you're lucky and I hope you never do, but it's a unique individual experience for everyone and it consumes many peoples every waking thought.
It often hits you when you least expect it, maybe for 10 minutes of a match or maybe for several weeks. Tin you multiply that to almost an entire squad not to mention "head coach" and other coaches.
07 Feb 2026 00:23:40
These lads are gunna win the Champions League for Diogo Jota.
I have hope in my heart. ❤️ ? YNWA!
07 Feb 2026 04:50:24
Cheers for that Ron. Luckily I don't need validation from a complete stranger to tell me I'm better than that.
In my job role and career I've unfortunately experienced severe grief over certain periods, so perhaps I actually have experience in it.
At no stage have I said the players aren't grieving because of course they would be. but the site is all about opinions.
Sadly Konate has recently lost a parent so will be grieving even more but somehow managed to turn in his best performance of the season last week. But yes that's because grief affects people differently but here we're saying it's effected the team the same.
Of course they aren't only grieving when they lose or draw but that's the only time it seems to get rolled out by the "better fans" like yourself who refuse to believe others can have an opinion.
The question I don't understand is how this grief affects us in certain games by being unable to defend set pieces, give up 2 goal leads, can't win tackles, can't press, can't win aerial duels, pass the ball sideways more and play far slower.
Yet in certain games I've already mentioned throughout the season we've been so much better.
07 Feb 2026 09:45:03
JK - because grief affects your ability to focus and concentrate. Elite sportsmen say that's what separates elite from good. That's the 1% advantage elite sportsmen have. The ability to focus in the moment, when it really counts and you're physically and mentally fatigued to your limit. Switch off for a moment and you're defeated.
07 Feb 2026 09:45:51
It's not being rolled out by CK when we lose, we've just had our best league win of the season.
07 Feb 2026 09:58:32
Ken Aguero? There's a Rumours flashback.
07 Feb 2026 10:10:14
I think people do understand and accept that is an unknown impact. However, Jota's sad passing does not explain the slow laboured and poor tactical approach we are seeing. We should still be able to play positive front footed football, but maybe with less consistency as the grief may impact form and some players differently game to game.
We should be competitive but it has been the approach and not the grief holding us back . at least that is my opinion.
07 Feb 2026 10:13:39
Ron again where have I said CK rolled it out when we lose. I'm debating on a forum with you not him.
You're more than entitled to your opinion as am I. And again I'll agree to disagree with you.
07 Feb 2026 11:20:38
It is obvious that the guys are still affected by Jota's passing. One of the first things Robo said when Scotland qualified for the world cup was how he and Jota were talking and dreaming of playing during this world cup. So his passing is still on their minds.
I don't think it can be used as an excuse for their poor performances this season however, especially the slow passing for passing sake that we have been doing. But I'm also wondering if it does play a part in their heads dropping each time a mistake is made or when a chance is missed. Thoughts like "if only we had Jota to come off the bench" or "Jota would have put that one away", etc could be playing on the players' minds too. Not saying that it definitely the case but just raising it as a possibility.
Again, just saying that it is not to be used as an excuse for poor results. But I hope we can agree that the players are still affected by his passing.
07 Feb 2026 12:24:04
It's not just games though is it? 90% of football is training and to be the best version of yourself you need to be fully focused every single day not just on match days.
We also heard Slot saying at the round table how difficult his speech was when they came back for preseason training. He had to take into account the feelings of everyone at the club including himself but at the same time tell them they had to go back to training.
How many would've been fully focused?
There's no doubt that training would've been massively disrupted and it would've been impossible for the new players to properly integrate into the group. I think we've struggled with this all season.
All of this stuff is pretty obvious though. There's been enough said by the players, ex players and the manager to be very confident that Jota's passing has affected the players this season. They wouldn't be human if it hadn't.
07 Feb 2026 13:16:48
Varry good reply and I've not denied the players would have been affected by Jota's passing.
Can you elaborate more on how it didn't affect us v first 5 games, Villa, Frankfurt, Real, inter, Marseille, Qurabag, Brighton, Newcastle etc). and why it seems to affect being unable to defend set pieces, give up 2 goal leads, can't win tackles, can't press, can't win aerial duels, pass the ball sideways more and play far slower.
I know you've said I already know the answer and Ron believes I'm stupid and should simply reach out for a chat with CK because it's that easy.
But I genuinely don't know the answer to that question and with you and Ron ducking it I'm guessing we're all in the same boat.
Think this one would be better thrashed out in a pub over a beer.
07 Feb 2026 15:52:29
A few years ago, I was on Work site and a poor fella fell off the scaffolding n died, it was then closed down for 6 weeks, people went back to work on the site and spoke about it but after a month or two it gradually got spoke about less n less, that's because life goes on, people still went to work on the scaffolding, we've all lost people closer than a team mate so using this as an excuse for our poor play, results and performances is just so wrong.
07 Feb 2026 16:40:30
It did affect the first 5 games JK.
We didn't play well.
We switched off in large periods.
We got the results but we weren't firing on all cylinders.
The other thing people seem to miss is the effect it's had on Slot. The guys getting pelters this season but it will have affected him too.
07 Feb 2026 21:43:41
I have answered that JK, but you are just choosing not to see it.
It's really not too hard to understand but as you said we'll have to agree to disagree.
Strom your example blows my mind. The players and staff are still turning up every day and are still doing their best but a squad becomes like a family they travel, live, sleep, eat, work together really closely. They all know each other's families, they socialise outside football together because they can't do what normal people do so they have no choice but to be close with each other. So if a member of the squad dies, for some of the players and staff it will be like losing a family member not just some bloke you knew from the building site.
They would not just turn up a few weeks later and talk about him a bit but then just move on. What are you on about? Of course it will get easier as time goes by but it's not the same as some poor fella you barely knew falling off the scaffold, as sad as that is it's just not in any way the same. I'll bet it affected the people he was close to on site more than it affected you.
We have all lost people close to us and you can be sure that although we all try to get on with things the best we can, we are not quite the same for quite a while after and we are talking about elite level sport where a 1% drop in focus can be the difference between winning and losing.
08 Feb 2026 00:43:37
Vary. i think my example is a good one. you can't blame results on grief, that's a free pass for falling well below expectations, losing a team mate is sad not as sad as losing a family member though, we've all dealt with that n what do we do, we remember them but get on with life n it does get easier every day.
never heard so many excuses for poor performances, .