Federico Chiesa had the influence you wanted the entire Liverpool squad to have in the Carabao Cup final, leaving fans to question why Arne Slot has overlooked him so often.
With energy, impetus and an obvious desire to drive his side forward, Chiesa offered more in his 20-minute cameo than most of his Liverpool teammates who started at Wembley.
A well-taken goal may have been a consolation, but he stepped up when others did not, tracking back and not giving up on the match, showing the commitment every supporter wants to see.
The Italian has the quality to make things happen and while he was hampered by fitness issues at the start of the season, fans were in agreeance that he has been mis-managed by Slot.
The Liverpool manager has not kept it secret that he likes to work with a small group of players but fans know he has to learn to trust his whole squad and identify when his ‘favourites’ are not cutting it.
Federico Chiesa Liverpool’s man of the match.
Quite why he hasn’t been involved more is pretty baffling.
— Matt Ladson (@mattladson) March 16, 2025
Start Chiesa the rest of the season. LW, RW, at the 9, idc. Start him. pic.twitter.com/Qs7kr9DB8X
— Raws (@Raws_LFC) March 16, 2025
Chiesa stepping up when we needed a goal, deserves more minutes from now on.pic.twitter.com/8D0uO0mTf6
— H (@TheLiverpoolEra) March 16, 2025
“Who knew Chiesa is actually a great player? We all did, apart from Slot it seems…” – John II in TIA comments.
“Chiesa did more in his first 3 minutes than Jota was able to do in 75+. Needs to be used in the run-in.” – Dodgey in TIA comments.
“Federico Chiesa. Criminally underused. ABSOLOUTELY.” – Jota The Slotter in TIA comments.
Chiesa did more in 15 minutes than Jota and Diaz have done in the last four games.
He definitely has to play more… pic.twitter.com/xlNPmqAYuQ
— Fede (@lfc_fede) March 16, 2025
He’s had a total of 35 seconds on the pitch for Liverpool and Enrico Chiesa has shown again is probably at worst their third best attacker. How he doesn’t play more is beyond me.
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) March 16, 2025
This is on Slot. He picks the same players every week and doesn’t give a chance to anybody else. Elliott and Chiesa would’ve won this from the start
— Sean (@SeanDOlfc) March 16, 2025
Chiesa, who has barely kicked a ball all season, by far the best of our subs. Showed more desire than the majority of our players.
— Nostalgia Merchant (@HendrickD82) March 16, 2025
Elliott, Endo and Chiesa badly under utilised at times this season.
— Rory Greenfield (@RoryGreenfield) March 16, 2025
The entire attack’s performance being dependent on Salah’s form is…bad. He’s obviously not been close to his best vs PSG and today, but there are too many passengers up there who have hid behind his ridiculous season. Not Chiesa though. He’s a lovely lad and exempt from this.
— barry (@BackseatsmanLFC) March 16, 2025
“Slot has done great things this season but if I could sit down with him for 1 minute I’d simply say: trust your squad more and rest your 1st team more often than you have.” – Lamda Pi in TIA comments.
Liverpool are fatigued and that comes at the cost of attempting to name a similar lineup every three days and it is not that Slot has zero talent beyond his preferred XI that he can trust.
Luis Diaz has one goal in his last 18 appearances across all competitions, Diogo Jota has none in 10 and Darwin Nunez has one in 13 as Mo Salah has been chief goalscorer (11 in 13).
If the latter is not going to be here next season, as it currently stands, where are the goals coming from?
Chiesa is fit, so why not use him? At least you know he is not going to let you down with his work rate. The Reds are top of the league but Slot and Liverpool cannot ignore the obvious.
