Believe in the Players: Why Grief Cannot Be Benched

Humans First, Footballers Second. 'Difficult Season' means precisely that.

Liverpool have lost three games in a week and the reaction has been predictable. Blame the manager. Question the tactics. Turn on the players. Demand change. But very few have stopped to consider something deeper. Something that matters more than football. Something that Virgil van Dijk spoke about but many ignored.

Grief.

Not form. Not fatigue. Not systems. Grief.

The loss of Diogo Jota and his brother André just three months ago was not a minor moment. It was a seismic event in the lives of this squad. It was not just a teammate who died. It was a friend, a brother figure, a daily presence in their lives. He was part of the heartbeat of the dressing room. His absence is not just emotional, it is physical. Empty seat. Empty locker. Empty routine. These things are real. They do not disappear when the whistle blows.

So when a senior player stands up after a match and says this is still affecting them, why is the default response to doubt it? Why is it treated as a convenient excuse rather than an uncomfortable truth?

Footballers are not machines. They are not spared the realities of being human. And right now, this squad is still grieving.