In elite football, you often live and die by the sword. For Arne Slot, the small group of confidence lieutenants who ensured that Liverpool was premier league champions are the same stars that have helped to miss the Carabao Cup and the Champions League.
After 120 minutes, followed by the psychological discharge of the loss of penalties against Paris Saint-Germain, his team seemed in the shadows four days later against Newcastle. As Slot said, it was probably the worst performance of the season.
In the future, it seems that Slot knows that he should perhaps invoke several players pending in the wings for a little more.
One of them is Federico Chiesa and, in a video published on Liverpool’s channels this week, we can hear a coach screaming “better as an attacker” while the Italian moves and triggers a beating finish.
So, is the summer signature of 10 million pounds sterling finally ready to have an impact?
Well placed sources have said Confidential This chiesa is in better form now that it has been for more than 12 months – and the short but sweet camée in Wembley fifteen days ago only underlines that.
Confidential Understands that he spent the international break hard working with fitness exercises after being selected by Italy after the boss Luciano Spalletti said his time in England was a “failure”. Chiesa’s father, the former Enrico player, at the head saying that he was happy in Liverpool.
There is no hiding place because it was a bitterly disappointing campaign for Chiesa, who signed Juventus in August and was presented internally as an excellent opportunity having been frozen by Italian giants.
Before the goal against Newcastle, it is just to say that Chiesa was already fighting for his future Anfield despite the signing of a four -year contract last summer – with fans at least. He had not had a tangible impact and a goal does not completely modify this perspective.
But it starts to change the story and, with nine games to do, the Italian should seek to prove the slit and the CO, it can have an impact on this team now and in the future.
He refused much more lucrative offers to join the slit. Only 10 million pounds sterling, they knew it was a low risk option for a player worth 75 million pounds sterling just a few years ago. It is understood that Juventus will, however, have a six -digit sum in the complementary modules if Liverpool wins the Premier League this season.
There is no more lively player than Chiesa on the substitutes’ bench. He launches each ball metaphorically and is often on his feet applauding and applauding. It did not go unnoticed in coache staff – many players in their situation can sulk.
Chiesa’s poor performance in the release of the FA Cup in Plymouth withdraws it considerably in the manager’s eyes, reading the lines of what Slot said in the past, but this cameo of the Carabao Cup final surely recovered in the right books.
With a goal ratio per minute better than Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota this season, he surely deserves a role in the title of the title this season.
Is Bradley ready to be the main man?
Conor Bradley is almost ready to come back for a crucial period when he will start his hearing to be the heir to the throne of Alexander-Arnold, if the star of England joins Real Madrid.
Arne Slot said on Tuesday that he would make a late call to find out if Bradley can be involved against Everton or not on Wednesday. Regardless of what’s going on there, the trip to Fulham on Sunday should be a realistic return date.
The 21 -year -old has nothing to prove. When he was deputy for Alexander-Arnold in the past, he barely sore foot. Think of his tackle against Kylian Mbappe in a display of the man of the match in this confrontation with Real Madrid.
Is it ready? And can he fill the shoes of Alexander-Arnold should they join real as many are waiting for it? A man who knows the best is the one who discovered it in Northern Ireland over ten years ago.
“ A referee from the hometown of Conor, Castleger, told me that he was the best child he has ever seen and that we should bring him back to our configuration of youth to Dungannon ”, said legendary youth coach Joe McARee Confidential Last year. “He was eight years old, so I laughed and, well … The road from Castlederg to Dungannon is a horrible walk – like a snake pass.
“I said that I will not take an eight -year -old child and drive him from top to bottom this route three times a week … but I thought I would keep an eye on him. About three years later, one of my coaches asked me to go to a small final in Omagh one night – it was St Patrick against another team.
“Conor played in the center of the front – two feet shorter than everyone and two or three years younger. I spotted his parents and, after the match, I introduced myself and I invited him to Dungannon. I spoke to him in the weekend that we had and he said, “We are going to think about it and come back to you”.
“Liverpool people know much more about football than me. But I will say this: Whenever someone decides to put him in the role of Steven Gerrard, you will have a better player even better … that’s all I will say!
“He is a talented boy, with a great attitude. From the first day I met him in the cafe, he looked me in the eyes and smiled, it was just different. For an 11 -year -old boy, it was just different, the goal he had. He knew what he wanted to be, he was a supporter of Liverpool.
“This boy can get from box to box like a reindeer, huge endurance, he can spend threads in places where you would not know there. I patiently wait for him to move in the midfield and that he is the next Gerrard. It is a fairy tale. He must think that he died and went to paradise!
Your questions answered
A new feature for Confidential Where I will choose the questions of certain fans to answer.
Masska asks: What is the possibility for Liverpool to sell Harvey Elliott? And can Xavi Simons be an option for Liverpool in this case?
I think it is right to say that Harvey Elliott has an uncertain future in Liverpool, but the last fortnight before the international break was very strong for him, despite the results of the team as a whole.
I am talking about the objective against Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc des Princes, then help for Federico Chiesa in the Carabao Cup final. Two really large and two contributions that will have pleased the Arne slit.
Elliott likes Liverpool. He wants nothing more than succeeding in this football club. He said he was repeatedly when we talked to him this year. He was devastated by the broken foot injury he received at the start of this season.
There is certainly interest in him, but Liverpool will not force him to leave the door, that’s for sure. During these last nine games of the season, I would like to see locations give it more minutes to prove itself and, if nothing else, increase the price if an exit is on the cards!
IWLFC asks: Is Hugo Ekitike a real candidate for Liverpool? Are we put forward on a summer signature?
We are in April therefore in terms of “advanced” in this way, no. But Liverpool has shown reasonable diligence on targets and has developed potential agreements.
Ekitike is his name that appears almost daily, described to me yesterday as “a mini Alexander Isak”. It seems that Michael Edwards goes to sign the “mini” version of an attacker for three times less money than the real version.
The Frankfurt Ekitike striker, with 19 goals and eight assists this season, is certainly on the radar of the best clubs across Europe. Confidential The regulars will remember our in -depth gaze last week of a colleague who watched him live for France under the age of 21.
He is certainly the type to keep an eye, but nothing more than this stage.
Daniel asks: How many figures can you see us get? Are we for more than one attacker?
Speaking about the state of social media aggregators who do not eat this, I would guess four or five! According to expenses.
I cannot see realistic more than one attacker enter. But again, it depends on who goes. If two of the six before, I think they will have to be replaced.
Liverpool requests that fans be on the best behavior
Liverpool warned the supporters that they would reduce the team bus en route to Anfield if the roads are too busy – as has happened in several big games this season.
Fans like to line up Anfield Road as a tradition on the day of the day, with thousands of people with red rockets on the biggest games.
But the club this morning warned that security was priority.
A statement can be read as follows: “ The club would like supporters to continue to welcome the team bus – this is a large part of the Anfield pre -match atmosphere – but to do so safely, the road must be kept clear on Anfield Road. If it is blocked, which was the case for the link in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, then there will be no choice but to relaunch the team’s bus.
“The meeting and welcomes them along Anfield Road is a tradition of the day. Fans participating in the match can help ensure that the team gets the reception they deserve without compromising security by staying on the trails, staying out of the road and using the entire length of Anfield Road.
“The reaction of the team bus is not something that the club wants to do for any game, but it is something that will happen if the route is considered dangerous.”
Anyone want a trip to the Maldives?
The president of the Maldives will be a special guest of Liverpool this week.
President Muizzu, who has been in office since November 2023, is on Merseyside due to the club’s link with Visit Maldives.
The nation’s visit to become the official tourist partner of Liverpool a fortnight ago.
He will visit the AXA training center and also meet Maldivian students in the United Kingdom.
Sorry to say that there is no sign of a pre-season friend in the Maldives for the moment, fans of Reds!
Red riddle
Last week, I asked: Wataru Endo played 26 times in all competitions for Liverpool this season, but has not yet made a single start of the league.
He joined three other players in the history of the Reds who have played more than 15 times in a season without starting a single league. Who are they?
The answers were: Jonjo Shelvey 2010-11 (21), Harvey Elliott 2024-25 (21) and Divock Origi 2021-22 (18).
If you did them well, it was difficult.
This week, Liverpool goes to Fulham on Sunday, so I ask you to appoint the 15 players past or present who played for the two teams in the era of the Premier League.
I think all in two figures is an excellent score. Good luck!