Arne Slot has been accused of ‘humiliating’ one Liverpool player in an act of ‘desperation’ in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
It wasn’t until after Richarlison’s 90th-minute equaliser that Federico Chiesa was summoned from the bench to try and secure a late winning goal for the Reds, just as he did against Bournemouth on the opening night of the Premier League season.
The Italian did actually set up a chance in stoppage time for Hugo Ekitike, only for the latter’s shot to be blocked by a Spurs defender as LFC’s attempts at a last-ditch salvage mission were foiled.
In a roundup of the match for Virgilio Sport, journalist Rino Dazzo wrote that the 28-year-old is ‘still humiliated by Slot’ over his piecemeal game-time for Liverpool this term.
The reporter added: ‘Just after Richarlison’s equaliser in the 91st minute, Liverpool manager Arne Slot remembered Federico Chiesa was on the bench and threw him into the fray almost out of desperation, hoping for a dramatic turn of events from the former Fiorentina and Juventus player. It didn’t come.
‘Chiesa, who came on for Mac Allister, had only one chance to play the ball, which fell to Ekitike in the penalty area: his teammate ruined everything by having his shot blocked by a defender.’
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The Italy international has now had two seasons at Liverpool in which he’s barely been trusted by Slot – with the exception of his start against Wolves over the festive period, only once has the forward has played more than 20 minutes of a Premier League match since the end of October (Transfermarkt).
It’d be hard to blame Chiesa if he felt mistreated by his head coach, who has handed him considerably more apperances in this campaign than the last but is still limiting him for the most part to brief cameos in the final quarter-hour of matches.
The 28-year-old is greatly appreciated by his teammates, with Alisson Becker saying that the Italian ‘always make a difference‘ when he plays, and the forward has been commended for his attitude behind the scenes on Merseyside despite rarely getting a chance to start.
Liverpool’s number 14 would feel justified in knocking on Slot’s door to plead for a fairer opportunity to show what he can do, especially with many of his attacking teammates experiencing a downturn in form over the past few weeks.
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That’s why I said slot play to not lose and not to win. It’s very obvious we were dominating Tottenham but we only held onto the 1 goal lead and he went defensive. Playing at home in front of the fans with this kind of mindset will not go well. We should go all out to win and improve our goal difference. It will be comical if we are level on points with villa, Chelsea or Manc but lose out on goal difference.
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