I thought one of the reasons Arne was selected was because of his adaptability.
His sides didnt play exactly the same - one season his side would largely create from the flanks, the following, through the centre. So i’m not sure he has to rely on wingers performing, although obviously injuries at right back have created challenges.
He isn’t giving Ngumoha or Chiesa chance after chance and they are failing to take it. It doesn’t matter how badly Gakpo and Salah perform, they will get to start.
Chiesa isn’t good enough. Seems a nice guy but a headless chicken on the pitch. Slot is clearly protecting Rio which is the right thing to do IMO
Thing is you can say he was dealt a tough card but also say he’s underachieved with the players he has.
At this point there is a case to make that he’s short but at times he wasn’t and the same players played. I will say this the hissy fit from Salah looks poorer and poorer by the day.
Let’s be honest. Chiesa is nowhere near good enough, and Rio is not ready.
Whether you agree with me on that or not, it’s certainly what Slot thinks, and he obviously thought it in the summer, and he still thought it in January.
So it begs the question why hasn’t the club replaced the winger they allowed to depart.
I can’t believe Chiesa is still in the controversy here. What a poor example 
I was so hopeful he would be an important player for us. Unfortunately, he isnt going to be.
‘Not good enough and not ready’? More likely the coach is not good enough to get something out of them. He’s not even good enough to get the best out of his starting 11.
We all know someone who would have been able to get the best out of Chiesa and Endo. Harsh comparing Slot to Klopp, I know. But that doesn’t give Slot a free pass to be a shit coach.
I’d like to see Rio get more minutes. He shouldn’t start just yet, and that’s the right decision, but there’s a very large gap between that, and the amount he has been used thus far. Time to turn the dial up a bit there Arne.
I would have liked to have seen Chiesa get some more minutes too. He’s not starter material, but I think he could have given us a bit more from the bench and helped us rest some others, had Slot done more of that.
It will be a real shocker if we don’t upgrade the wing/s in the summer. Slot could have done a bit more with what he has, but only to a point.
Whether Chiesa is good enough or not doesn’t really matter. He could have a really good game, maybe score a few goals like he did early in the season. It won’t make a difference since he’ll still get a few minutes at the end as usual. There’s no incentive for him or Endo or anyone who isn’t in Slot’s preferred group to keep trying as they know it won’t make a difference and it’s a testament to their attitude that when they get a chance, they still make an effort.
As for protecting Ngumoha, it would make more sense if Slot wasn’t using him when he’s chasing games and the pressure is at its highest. And yet, that’s exactly his function per Slot’s own words. Besides, Ngumoha at 17 wouldn’t be the first teenager to start for a big team and he won’t be the last.
And in any case, how badly does Gakpo has to play before he gets pulled from the starting eleven?
It’s a valid question, but it’s beside the point, imo. We are where we are and there’s nothing that can be done about it now. This is the squad that the club has provided him, he has to make the most of it, and no one can claim that he has done that. In fact, his approach to the situation has been reminiscent of how Rodgers dealt with transfer committee signings. Granted, Slot isn’t clueless or so stupid and arrogant that he’d blame his tools, but in practice there isn’t much difference.
I think Rio needs to given more 10-15 minute cameos as the season goes on. But fans have to be patient.
I’m not sure eithier of things would happen sadly.
On Rio, pretty much all our top youngsters have health problems… I don’t therefore understand the opposition to protecting Rio. It isn’t just game time, his practice time is also being managed. We definitely have to do something different. You just to look at Bajcetic and Danns to know how important health is. I definitely don’t want the next Ansu Fati.
On Ramsay, he couldn’t break into Bolton, Wigan and then Kilmarnock and convince them to give him minutes. On the basis of one appearance he is now ready for Liverpool? And no, probably no other manager in the world except Klopp is likely to make him play a couple leagues above his true level.
On Chiesa, the more he plays the worse he looks. Gakpo and Salah, despite how bad they are looking, might still be there on merit when compared to the options. The comparison is bad and bad. You could make a case for dropping Salah if Frimpong and Bradley were both healthy at the same time… but now?
Agree on the second part.
I think a more relevant question is how much of a role did Arne play in that decision?
It was claimed that the club had been looking to do a deal with City the year before to bring in Alvarez, so I think it was very much part of a deliberate plan.
What credible links to wingers have we had across both summers?
Chiesa, was an opportunistic move at the end of the window in which our focus had seemed to be a deep lying midfielder. Our interest in Semenyo has never really felt that significant. And, given there was a lot of talk last summer about how the club sold the vision to Wirtz, and Diaz was already expected to leave (or had left?) I can’t imagine a new winger was central to that vision.
I’m also sick of Slot, but all the talk is boring now. His failure is he can’t get the best out of players like Gakpo, Salah, MacAllister… getting something from someone like Ramsey, Chiesa isn’t going to change anything.
It’s incredible to see all the non-stop criticism for players who actually play and contribute, and hype for some useless players just because they show some enthusiasm. It’s like betting on a fairytale, it’s not gonna happen.
Then what’s the master ? I don’t know why admitting some players aren’t good enough is hard. Caulker, Davies etc were also never given a chance under Klopp too.
The matter is that there’s no meritocracy.
As for Chiesa, he has played at a level that neither Caulker, nor Davies has even dreamed of and the same goes for every member of the first team.
Ludicrous comparison.
Oh, Benteke was never given a chance too. 
Oh, but I’m totally wrong, Chiesa is given some chances, he just shows how bad he is recently
While I agree with your final point, I genuinely don’t think that any coach would get anything good out of Chiesa in PL. He’s just not good enough for this league - and I’m not sure he’d be good enough for Serie A if/when he returns there.
As for Ngumoha, I understand why they are protecting him but I also think he’d be more effective coming on just a bit earlier, he probably has it in him to give defenders something to think about for 20-25 minutes even at his age.
Meritocracy requires the replacement to be better though (to warrant the spot on merit). Does Chiesa deserve to start over anyone? I’m not sure.
Jones? He is playing some significant minutes but it is not like he is head and shoulders above Mac Allister despite his struggles or a better fit than Gravenberch for the more defensive role. Maybe he deserves to play a bit more but this isn’t being ridiculously unfair.
The only position where there is proper competition is leftback. And that is a problem.
Because everyone loves to criticize based on the spending I started thinking about this from a “squad value” perspective using ballpark figures.
The fact that we bought about 400M, sold about 200M, have about 200M of what we bought injured and another 30M+ (whatever Elliott was worth at the time plus Tsimikas) out on loan. Had a key player that would have taken 50M+ to replace pass away and one RB worth 100M+ walk away for nearly free… means the squad was always going to have to dig deep to compare to last year. Meanwhile, Arsenal spent more net (added to the tram), didn’t lose much and thus have much more to call upon.
From a dollar value, in terms of what Slot can call on, we are ~180M worse off than last year. And to make things worse the squad is unbalanced.
To emulate his much admired PSG, Slot can call upon the likes of Gakpo in place of Kvaratskhelia and Chiesa in place of Barcola.