Questions need to be asked of Hughes as to why he was signed in the first place if Arne never had any intentions to play him. Doesn’t look like much of an opportunistic signing now does it?
Working relationship lads, build one.
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May explain today but not the rest of the season.
Yeah I’d sack him… not signing VVD and Salah on 8 year contracts.
After all you were bigging up the Chelsea approach a few months back.
I wasn’t bigging up any approach, I used it as an example with a touch of irony to get the deals done because frankly, it was becoming a piss take how long it was taking to get simple deals everyone knew needed to be done done.
“Simple deals”.
Multi-million pound investments requiring agreement between three parties, all with their own interests and parameters to be met in order to get things signed.
Only simple thing is your perception of how this kind of thing works.
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Obviously, Chiesa is a transfer committee buy and not a Brenda… I mean Slot buy, so he’s not going to play him until Hughes and Edwards promise to buy a premier proven player for Slot.
Totally agree, not the players fault, he came expecting to play, doubt his excitement was manufactured.
As has been mentioned just who is running the transfer Market,and targets?
Pretty sure if Slot had a big say on who came and went, this wouldn’t be happening so can only assume he is being told who he gets, and if the player doesn’t fit his plans it is not hard to understand why bench time results…and that is not the players fault.
Endo doesn’t fit his plans either, but he was inherited, this is unfair on the player too.
The squad has to fit the managers plans, to some extent ,surely, or we get to a situation of bringing a manager to suit the squad..not a great plan at all.
Whether the hierarchy like it or not, the manager should have some input.
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Slot has shown himself to be someone who uses his strongest possible team as often as possible. He obviously sees Chiesa as a big step down from the other 5 or he would have had chances.
Of course the “indictment” is on Chiesa. Slot’s job is to win trophies, he’s doing it. Chiesa’s job is to oust someone from our frontline - he isn’t doing it.
But, I will add that there doesn’t need to be an indictment here. We, as a club, are going to win the league. That’s why we play this game. Who cares how often the 6th choice forward plays?
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Funnily enough the alternative is….a multi-million pound investment requiring so and so, only difference here is you have 2 world class players on the top of their game that’ve spoken of their admiration of the club and desire to stay…..so yes, a simple decision which everyone was fully onboard with, renewing them is the easiest decision any director of football could make, better late than never but we came to our senses and got there in the end.
Hey look. Casemiero is available. Stupid Real Madrid do not want him. Easy decision. He’s a winner. So he’ll make us a winner. Let’s get him. Everyone in favor.. say Aye! Great everyone is on board. Transfer cost? Wages? Don’t care. Get him today with whatever he wants. These decisions need to be made quickly.
Done. Haha losers other clubs. Thank fck we didn’t delay like these other clubs do.
So who’s next? Antony? Easy decision…
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How is he supposed to oust someone when he isn’t given the chance to do so?
If there are more signings with which Slot isn’t onboard with, since he’s supposed to be a coach and not a manager, should we expect more of the Rodgers treatment towards them? How many trophies do you think he’ll be winning then?
Just because you say it’s simple doesn’t make it so.
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Arne does have a say (he has said so on multiple occasions, the only bit he doesnt do is the contract negotiation). Him choosing not to play a particular player does not mean that he did not agree to his signing. For all we know Chiesa may be struggling fitness wise or to fit into the tactics/ play of what Arne wants.
Perhaps he isn’t performing in training as well as he needs to?
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Too simple unfortunately…
He drank Slots coffee or stole his sandwich…
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Seems unlikely, though not impossible.
I’ve seen references to how having 2 games a week doesn’t lend itself well to players trying to break in to the team not having been part of it before as they don’t get time to train with the rest of the team (since the latter are on recovery schedules).
That might explain a large part of the season. Now though? It seems as though the less there is riding on the results of individual games now the more Arne’s just sticking to whatever he knows. Maybe it’s to get over the line. Maybe it’s tunnel vision. I don’t have an answer to that.
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Some things are impossible to predict and some things we don’t know what happen from the perspective of fans on the outside.
I really liked the player (one of those rare Italians of this era) when it seemed like he was on the up a few years, both at club and international level. A bit on the wild side though, very enthusiastic, robust, direct, could play a few positions.
Overall, I don’t think he really evolved in his career as it was planned or how it looked he could.
In terms of the transfer though, a few more difficult years later (in also a struggling Juventus), I thought some jumped too quickly on the fee like “you have to take it without a blink”.
The financial aspect of the deal is transfer fee and wages, plus the length. A spot in Liverpool’s first team squad (which is winning titles) is and should be hard to attain. If we go on to collect every player on a free or just because he’s cheap… where do we end up? Sometimes you have to think for a moment why are they cheap? We have to look at it from different angles. Not just: Chiesa, cheap = great deal. Now a lot of those people possibly think differently, that it wasn’t so great.
And maybe also, we’d think a bit differently and less dramatic if he got, say, 5 starts in a row and then it would be “why Elliott (or insert another name) isn’t playing more?!”. It’s impossible to have all players equally happy and even more impossible to have all fans always satisfied.
I sometimes separate it by looking at deals where I’m more pleased with the business than the player. Shaqiri was one. Cheap player, good deal, but player wise not really enough to be 4th forward behind the calibre we had. Thiago was an opposite example. Good player, but we knew it was a financial investment considering his age, etc.
Chiesa realistically went from not really being at the peak of his powers lately in a struggling Juventus (playing mostly second striker with Vlahovic in a 3 at the back formation), to a similarly big club, but certainly a better/more competitive side and on the same wages until the age of 31.
Liverpool could be satisfied with the profile of player they got as one of the backups for the transfer fee that was, but overall I thought there’s more reasons for Chiesa to be delighted with this move than us. And it actually looked so, when he joined. From our side, perhaps we were fully aware of the risks involved, but it was also later in the window. A bit like Endo’s deal also.
Now, we had the situation of going into the season with the unknown what would happen with Salah. Basically had no other natural options for the right side. Even if it’s arguable if the right wing is Chiesa’s best position. He’s played right, left and as a second striker.
What we had going into the season with the CV’s of our 6 forwards was I thought the best strength in depth in the league. In a way, coupled with less injuries, I think that’s the biggest difference that’s likely to make us league champions.
But some have underperformed, some haven’t kicked on and some just haven’t played enough, for whatever reason.
First of all it’s not to forget that Chiesa didn’t have a proper pre-season. Then, who bloody knows how he has trained over the season, all the internal things that can happen and not leak out. Then, Salah having the season he has and finally staying (which the club knew before we found out), Diaz and Gakpo on the other side having each their periods of top form, sometimes playing together in a starting team.
In some moments, totally I agree that Chiesa could’ve got more minutes. Felt sorry for him when we ignored him for weeks (but like Sweeting also said, we have our priorities, which is not called keeping all players happy, this is not Red Cross FC), but turned pretty early to him in the final. Slot’s made some rotations that I don’t really understand, I’ll give a fresh example: Jones gets two starts at RB, then starts at #10. Szobo underperforming, Jones not great either, Elliott waits for a start. In the period of season where the ball doesn’t flow fluently through the lines.
I don’t know what happens this summer or if there’s already a verbal agreement for Chiesa to go back to Italy or wherever where he can play more. There is surely pressure for him to play for his national side and this situation will not help him do it. Chiesa probably wants it, their coach wants it, the whole Italian public wants it.
Maybe his profile is just too much for him to be so low down the pecking order here.
Still, some of our forwards will bloody “have to” stay. We will certainly not sell everyone apart from Salah and Gakpo. Even if we drop to 5 forwards instead of 6 (which I think is likely). Some of the current bunch will stay.
Something will have to change with Chiesa’s situation. Either he goes, either he stays, but with hopefully a full pre-season, gets more game time next season (maybe as part of 5 forwards, depending on who goes, etc.).
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Just the normal trajet of an Italian player at Liverpool, isn’t it?
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He sees them train everyday and has consistently picked everyone else ahead of him. Are we really that upset about him not getting more minutes? Based on what, a few minutes at the end of the cup final? He has also been shockingly poor in some outings most notably Plymouth - and noticeably some of the other lads who were poor that day have also struggled to get another look in.
I think you’re jumping to conclusions by claiming its Slot having a problem or not being onboard with Chiesa’s signing. He was always an emergency option in case Salah got injured, best case scenario he would have been so good that he forced his way into another frontline position. As it stands he’s just a cheap squad filler who we haven’t needed. Signing him allowed us to loan out Doak and get him some Championship experience also.
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