Federico Chiesa “wasn’t happy” but Arne Slot praises response to squad cut

Federico Chiesa was unsurprisingly frustrated at Arne Slot‘s decision to leave him out of the squad for Liverpool’s Champions League league phase games.

Liverpool registered a 22-man senior squad for their eight fixtures in the league phase of the Champions League, with Chiesa a notable absentee.

Teenagers Rio Ngumoha and Giovanni Leoni were named instead, with the successful deadline day signing of Alexander Isak effectively ruling out Chiesa’s hopes of featuring in Europe.

That could still change, with UEFA announcing an alteration to their rules on Thursday that means players can be replaced in the event of a long-term injury or illness.

But in the meantime, Slot has praised Chiesa’s response after admitting he “wasn’t happy” with the decision to cut him from the squad.

“Of course, that is one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager,” he told reporters on Friday.

“For a player not to play, that’s not always easy to tell him, but to not be in the squad is always more difficult.

“I just explained to him why we made this choice, and of course he wasn’t happy with that, but I think he understood my arguments.

“Not to say that he agreed with them – he didn’t tell me, by the way, that he didn’t agree with them – but he gave the answer you want to hear from a player.

“[He told me] that he will be to help the team in the cups and in the league – and that’s one thing to say, but I think he also showed this, because he wasn’t selected but he worked really hard to be ready for the upcoming games.

“That is even more important than what a player tells you.”

As Slot notes, Chiesa has shown his impeccable attitude throughout a difficult year at Liverpool, performing when called upon despite that rarely being the case.

There will still be plenty of opportunities for the forward to impress, particularly in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup – the latter beginning at home to Southampton on September 23.

But he will need to harness his disappointment in order to contribute as hoped, knowing that Liverpool have other priorities when it comes to their attacking line.

With Liverpool rejecting advances from Besiktas earlier this month it is clear they are still relying on Chiesa, but he faces an almighty task to fight his way into regular contention.