Arne Slot has explained the impact Liverpool’s schedule is having on chances of game time for players like Federico Chiesa, admitting it is “not an ideal world.”
Chiesa is running out of opportunities as his first season at Liverpool nears an end, with little indication that he will come into contention.
The summer signing has been an unused substitute in the last seven games in all competitions and his last start for the club came in the 1-0 loss to Championship side Plymouth in the FA Cup.
Even with Cody Gakpo only half-fit, Slot opted against sending Chiesa on in the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
That served as an indictment of his lowly position in the squad at present, with the head coach admitting that a lack of training time with his regular starters was affecting the chances of those on the periphery.
“That’s of course more difficult, because these players hardly train with the starters if you look at our schedule in the last three or four months,” Slot said.
“So if we play for example on Saturday and then we play on Tuesday again, then on Sunday the ones that played on Saturday only do a recovery session, so they’re not on the pitch.
“And then it’s the day before the game and it’s maybe 10, 15 minutes of tactics, where it’s more walking football than playing football.
“So there’s hardly ever a moment when they can compete with each other.
“But the day after the game I’m always outside, my assistants have great exercises and the players always show themselves in these moments.
“So those are moments to show where you are. If you’ve improved, yes or no, and if you come closer to the players that are starting – and of course, when they come in [off the bench].
“I agree that for the ones that don’t start, it’s not an ideal world that we have so many games, that’s completely true.”
Chiesa is not alone in this treatment, though he is certainly the player fans feel is most hard done by, with the likes of Wataru Endo, Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott all more regularly involved as squad players.
It comes due to a variety of factors, chiefly the fitness levels he arrived with, with Slot and his staff considering the No. 14 as a long-term project.
Whether this disappointing campaign will see him stay at Anfield beyond the summer remains to be seen, with there no doubt further interest from clubs in Italy.
