Liverpool are back to a positive frame of mind after beating AC Milan in the Champions League.
The Reds had seen their excellent start to the season hit a big road-block on Saturday, suffering a surprise defeat against Nottingham Forest.But Arne Slot and the Liverpool squad did not panic following that disappointing setback, or even when Christian Pulisic fired Milan into an early lead.Instead, they calmed themselves and hit back with three unanswered goals.
A debut for Federico Chiesa at San Siro was the cherry on top of a birthday cake for Slot.Plenty had expected Chiesa to make his debut during Saturday’s loss. However, Slot chose to keep the forward back. And after he played some injury time minutes back in Italy, the Liverpool head coach explained his thinking behind Chiesa’s slow introduction.
Arne Slot shares Federico Chiesa observationsChiesa has by now had around three weeks to settle into life in Liverpool.Having stayed on Merseyside during the international break, most of that has been spent putting in work at the AXA Training Centre.Alisson Becker spoke warmly about Chiesa ahead of the fixture against Milan and it’s clear that the 26-year-old has impressed his new teammates already.
And speaking to after Tuesday’s 3-1 win, Slot also insisted that from what he’s seen in training, Chiesa is indeed a ‘very good player.’“He gets fitter and fitter,” the 46-year-old said to beIN SPORTS.“He had a difficult pre-season because he was not always able to train with the first team of Juve. He had to train a lot on his own, and it takes a bit of time to go to your match fitness.
He is getting better and better,” added Slot. “He needs to play minutes now, but he has competition from some good wingers as well, so let’s see when we are going to use him.“But he is 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 that’s also what we see on the training ground now.”Federico Chiesa set for bigger roleIt is understandable that fans have been clamouring for Chiesa to get more minutes than he has so far. The former Juventus man is the kind of player who really excites supporters.
Quick and direct, Chiesa will add a little more pace to a Liverpool team who could sometimes use it.Despite that, though, Slot has held his new No.14 back and given his slightly patchy injury record, that is probably for the best.
But as the boss says, his match fitness is now growing and Chiesa will likely soon be in a place to feature for more time.After a brief cameo on Tuesday, we’d expect that the winger may get a little more time on the pitch during Saturday’s game against Bournemouth. From there, a bigger role will beckon.
