'We didn't care about football': Robertson reveals Jota's death derailed Liverpool's title defence
Andy Robertson has delivered an emotional account of the devastation that gripped Liverpool following Diogo Jota's death, revealing that the players "didn't care about football" last season as they mourned a team-mate and close friend — and that the squad "lost the edge" that underpins every successful title defence.
Jota, alongside his brother Andre Silva, was killed in a car accident in northern Spain on July 3, 2025, at the age of 28. His death came less than a month after he helped Portugal win the Nations League for the second time, and barely two months after he had played a key role in Liverpool's Premier League title triumph in 2024-25.
What followed was a defence of that crown undone by grief. Arne Slot departed at the end of the campaign after the Reds finished fifth in the table, with Champions League qualification salvaged only on the final day of the season.
Robertson — who joined Tottenham on a free transfer in June, following 378 appearances across nine years at Anfield — told The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast that the loss of one of his closest friends had a huge impact both on and off the pitch.
"It's difficult to describe or talk about. What we went through was horrendous," he said.
A club left heartbroken
The Scottish left-back said the impact of the tragedy extended even to the club's new arrivals, who had signed for big money and arrived at a club in mourning.
"The new signings, they're coming into a club that was heartbroken. I felt so sorry for these guys because they'd signed, and they'd signed for big money, and it took them months to settle in," Robertson said.
'We lost the edge'
Robertson believes the emotional toll directly contributed to Liverpool's on-pitch struggles as they attempted to defend their title.
"We didn't care about football. That was the truth of it, we didn't care about football because we'd just lost one of our best mates in the changing room," he said.
"All footballers have that edge and, when you lose that edge sometimes, you can't perform to your best. I think last season we lost the edge."
The former Liverpool defender admitted that, at times, the squad even struggled to see the point of competing while Jota's family endured such pain.
"When I look back on it now, I think we lost that determination a little bit because, at times, we were maybe thinking 'what's the point? Look at what Jota's family is going through, I mean look at his kids,'" he said.
"We were grieving. He was our mate at the end of the day; he wasn't a footballer to us. He was a team-mate, a friend. For us, it was incredibly difficult."
A wedding, then tragedy
Among the most painful memories for Robertson was his final meeting with Jota before the tragedy struck.
"The week before he died, I was at his wedding. That's one of the most difficult things you'll ever go through, seeing him on the happiest day of his life and then the next week, you're seeing his family torn apart," he said.
Despite the overwhelming grief, the squad had little choice but to keep playing — something Robertson believes shaped the course of the entire season.
"But we had to play football at the end of the day. We didn't have a choice in that. We tried to do it as best we could and perhaps that's why last season was so tough," he added.
A title defence to forget
The numbers underlined just how far Liverpool fell from their championship heights. The 60 points the Reds collected in the Premier League last season were the fewest of any team to finish fifth or higher since Tottenham in 2006-07, when Spurs also finished fifth with 60.
Meanwhile, their 24-point drop between 2024-25 and 2025-26 was the largest by any ever-present Premier League side across those two seasons.
A fresh start at Anfield
Liverpool are now rebuilding under new boss Andoni Iraola, who has nine points on the board after five games in charge. A 1-0 victory over Bournemouth last time out ended a run of three draws in their first four matches.
Robertson, meanwhile, is beginning a new chapter of his own career at Tottenham after nearly a decade and 378 appearances at Anfield — carrying with him the memory of a friend and team-mate he says the club will never truly replace.