Andy Robertson admits Liverpool ‘didn’t care about football’ after Diogo Jota's death

Andy Robertson has revealed that Liverpool spent last season consumed by grief following the death of Diogo Jota, to the point that football stopped being the dressing room's priority. The Scotland captain, who joined Tottenham this summer, says the squad lost its competitive edge and that the players brought in after the Portuguese forward's passing needed months to find their feet at a club shattered by sorrow.

A dressing room that lost its edge after Jota's death

Robertson was a close friend of Jota and shared a dressing room with him for several seasons at Anfield. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he explained that every footballer carries a competitive spark that drives them to win, and that in Liverpool that spark went out last season.

All footballers, we have that edge don't we? And I think last season we lost the edge. We lost that determination a little bit because there were times where we were going, like, well what's the point? Look at what Jota's family are going through, look at his kids. We were grieving.

The defender admitted the squad went through the campaign with a mix of sadness and disorientation that translated into performances well below what was expected from a team starting the year as champions.

From Jota's wedding to the crash that broke Liverpool

Jota died in a road accident in July, barely a week after celebrating his wedding. Robertson attended that ceremony and has described the contrast between the happiness of that day and the devastation that followed days later as one of the hardest experiences of his life.

The crash also claimed the life of Andre Silva, Jota's brother. The Portuguese forward left behind a wife and three children, and his absence shaped every corner of daily life at Anfield.

Isak and Wirtz arrived at a heartbroken Liverpool squad

Robertson also addressed the situation faced by the signings who arrived that summer, including Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. Both landed with high expectations and significant price tags, but found a group that was not functioning as one.

What we went through, it was horrendous. The new signings, they're coming into a club that is heartbroken and that's where I felt sorry for those guys. They'd signed for big money and it took them months to settle in because we didn't care about football. That was the truth of it.

The left-back believes the lack of emotional connection to the project made it even harder for the newcomers to adapt, as they arrived in an environment defined by loss.

From champions to fifth place: Liverpool's collapse

Liverpool started the season as reigning champions but lost nine of twelve matches between September and November. That run of results cost Arne Slot his job and left the team in a final position of fifth, far removed from their ambitions.

Robertson's words add context to that sporting decline: it was not only a tactical or planning issue, but the reflection of a group that had not yet processed the loss of one of their own.

The World Cup dream Robertson carried for Jota

In November, shortly after leading Scotland to the World Cup, Robertson spoke about Jota and revealed that reaching the tournament was a dream they had shared after missing out on the 2022 edition. The Portuguese forward never got to see it fulfilled.

Rute Cardoso, Jota's widow and the mother of his three children, wrote a letter to Robertson before the World Cup urging him to carry her husband's dream with him to North America. It was a gesture the Scotsman received as an extra push to compete for something that went beyond sport.

Frequently asked questions about Diogo Jota's death and its impact on Liverpool