The international break gives Arne Slot a fortnight to take stock of where Liverpool currently stand and assess what might need to be done differently for the Reds’ nine remaining matches this season.
The 46-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong since replacing Jurgen Klopp last summer, but two painful defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle over the past week will have given him much to ponder over the 16 days between now and our next match, the Merseyside derby on 2 April.
One standout trait of the Dutchman is his clearly defined preferred starting XI, from which he rarely deviates greatly even when there seems to be ample scope for rotation.
James Pearce calls for Slot to play Federico Chiesa more often
In an article for The Athletic analysing Liverpool’s sobering Carabao Cup final defeat on Sunday, James Pearce called on Slot to utilise Federico Chiesa more often after the Italian came off the bench to score a consolation goal in stoppage time at Wembley.
The journalist wrote: ‘With Cody Gakpo so rusty after his recent injury absence, the only bright spark was provided by Federico Chiesa. The Italy international looked sharp and coolly slotted home a consolation goal from Elliott’s incisive pass in stoppage time. Chiesa did more in 20 minutes than Jota and Diaz combined.
‘Slot needs to revisit his pecking order of attackers after the international break because Chiesa deserves more game time during the run-in.’
Should Slot be giving Chiesa more of a chance at Liverpool?
Chiesa’s fitness issues since joining from Juventus nearly seven months ago have been well-documented, and Slot has publicly stated that Liverpool’s hectic fixture schedule has been a significant factor in his sporadic use of the 27-year-old thus far.
The Italy forward has made just 11 appearances for the Reds (eight as a substitute), with his total game-time amounting to 387 minutes, only seven of which have come in the Premier League since the start of January (Transfermarkt).
Maybe there has been an understandable element of needing to manage the player’s workload carefully in light of his fitness problems, but with LFC having just one more midweek fixture for the rest of the season, that should give our number 14 more scope to feature in the run-in to the campaign.
Chiesa’s goal at Wembley was just reward for his impressive 16-minute outing off the bench, during which he won all four of his duels, registered as many shots on target as every other Liverpool player combined and touched the ball 17 times – only six fewer than Mo Salah, who played the full game (Sofascore).
Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have scored three goals in 32 appearances between them since the start of January, with the Italian netting twice in seven games in that time.
The 27-year-old is capable of playing anywhere across the forward line, so perhaps should Slot put a bit more faith in him once the Reds resume their season after the international break.
