Arne Slot was left ‘furious’ by one Liverpool player’s performance last season, and it appears that one game has impacted the rest of his Anfield career.
In recent weeks, the Dutchman has had to deal with a very public fallout with star man, Mohamed Salah. However, it has been claimed that there’s another member of his first-team squad that the manager ‘doesn’t like’.
There has been a lot of talk among the Merseyside fan base about how the 47-year-old has treated former Juventus forward Federico Chiesa. After all, the Italian was Slot’s first (and only) signing in his debut season at Anfield. But one game last season left the Reds’ boss ‘furious’.
Arne Slot ‘Doesn’t Trust’ Federico Chiesa After Liverpool Defeat
Lewis Steele of Mail Sport has claimed that people have suggested just how frustrated Slot was with Chiesa’sperformance in Liverpool’s 1-0 FA Cup upset at Plymouth Argyle last season. The feeling is that the 28-year-old attacker, as one of the senior players in the XI that day, didn’t perform as expected.
Speaking in a Liverpool-based Q&A session, Steele made the claim that the early cup exit may have permanently impacted the relationship between player and manager.
He said: “Slot, wouldn’t mind me saying it, just doesn’t seem like he trusts him (Chiesa). That’s just a guess that I got because I know when they lost at Plymouth, Slot was furious with Chiesa. He was one of the senior players on that day, and he just didn’t seem to (perform). A few people have said how frustrated Slot was.”
Despite several impressive cameos from the substitutes’ bench this term, Chiesa is yet to start either a Premier League or Champions League match. A further suspicion that was raised was that Slot simply ‘doesn’t like’ the Italy international:
“I just think what Chiesa has to do is, to prove to Arne Slot that he deserves a chance because if you lose in every game, you can’t get a game. Then you sort of think that maybe he doesn’t like him at all. It seems to me like Chiesa could come off the bench and score every week. He still wouldn’t play.”
Watch the full discussion in the video below (40:00 minutes onwards):
Cheisa Won’t Change Slot’s Mind at Liverpool
Chiesa has played less than 400 minutes this season. Almost half of those came in the two full 90 minutes he played in the EFL Cup before Liverpool’s elimination.
Salah, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isakhave hardly set the world alight in front of goal, but the ex-Juventus star still hasn’t forced his way into regular game time. If he can’t become part of Slot’s plans with the club in turmoil, he’s never going to be a regular starter while the Dutch boss is in charge.
Add the fact that the Merseysiders are linked with a January swoop for Bournemouth talisman Antoine Semenyo, and it looks bleak for Chiesa’s prospects at Anfield.