Liverpool booked a place in the Carabao Cup semi final and Arne Slot has used this as his opportunity to aim some praise at one one his players.
Speaking about the return of injured squad options, the head coach said: “Chiesa is definitely getting stronger and better.
“He had to adapt for a long time, I’ve said so many times, if you miss team training for so long and then a league with such intensity…he is getting stronger but there is a lot of competition.
“What made our game at Southampton special, we’ve seen most clubs played with starts in the quarters, only a few with players who don’t always play.
“United had players who cost £100m, with us, it was academy players and that is what makes this club special, there is always room for academy players.
“At this club, if we miss a few players, we take a look at the Academy.”
It’s great to hear a positive update on Federico Chiesa and we all can’t wait to see what he can do in a red shirt, once his fitness is up to scratch.
We saw glimpses against Southampton of what the Italian can offer and he could be a very useful addition to the team.
What perhaps made these comments even better though was the thinly veiled attacked on Manchester United’s squad choices for the same round of the competition.
It can easily be used against our Old Trafford foes but it was a seemingly more obvious appraisal of our use of academy players and the talent present from there.
With Trey Nyoni being handed his full debut as a 17-year-old, we are a club that loves to try and nurture our own talent and that’s what helped us win the tournament last season.
We saw at St. Mary’s that it wasn’t just the teenage midfielder involved but Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher, Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James McConnell and Jayden Danns who all played and are products of our academy.
Even more options were left sat on the bench too and we may well see more minutes and debuts in the coming rounds of the FA Cup and the semi finals of the League Cup against Tottenham.
A strong youth set up, returning injured first team players and a strong position in the league should all lead to plenty of positivity around the club at the moment.
You can watch Slot’s comments on Chiesa and Manchester United via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
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