Arne Slot has proclaimed that one player at Liverpool now ‘needs’ more game-time on the pitch, having just been handed his first appearance of the season.
The Reds’ 3-1 win over AC Milan on Tuesday night saw Federico Chiesa handed a four-minute stoppage time cameo off the bench for his club debut after his transfer from Juventus last month, with the 26-year-old being introduced gently after he was frozen out of the Turin side’s pre-season plans.
Speaking to beIN SPORTS after the victory at the San Siro (via Liverpool Echo), the head coach hinted that some of the players who didn’t feature ‘a lot’ against the Rossoneri will be given more game-time ‘soon’.
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On the Italy forward, Slot said: “He had a difficult pre-season because he was not always able to train with the first team of Juve, so he had to train a lot on his own. Then it takes a bit of time to get your match fitness.
“It’s getting better and better. He needs playing minutes now, but he has competition from some good wingers as well, so let’s see when we’re going to use him.
“He’s going to be a big asset for us, a very good player for us, that’s clear. That’s what we knew before we signed him and it’s also what we see on the training ground now.”
Chiesa effectively underwent pre-season at Liverpool in the three weeks between signing for the Reds and making his debut against Milan, so it was always going to be a case of building up his fitness gradually until he was ready to get on the pitch.
Having only briefly featured at San Siro, it’s unlikely that he’ll be thrown in from the start against Bournemouth on Saturday, but hopefully he’ll have a longer stint off the bench before then being in prime condition to be selected from the get-go in the Carabao Cup tie against West Ham four days later.
That latter fixture is sure to see Slot fielding a much-changed side and handing starts to the likes of Caoimhin Kelleher, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah, Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones, each of whom has had little or no game-time in the first month of the season.
It should also provide the perfect scenario for Chiesa to make his full Liverpool debut on the right wing, with Mo Salah given a breather as the Reds boss possibly seeks to manage the Egyptian’s minutes more carefully this term.
Now that the Italian has had a sample of game-time for his new club, he’ll no doubt be ravenous for increasing portions in our forthcoming matches, and we’re very much looking forward to seeing more and more of him in the weeks ahead.
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