Arne Slot's behaviour on team bus hints at Liverpool plan for unhappy Reds ace

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Arne Slot has already shown how he deals with unhappy players (Image: GETTY)

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has already demonstrated his ability to manage disgruntled players, employing a technique that has been described as 'worth its weight in gold'.



Last week, he confessed that Italian star Federico Chiesa was discontented after being left out of his Champions League squad.

The forward won't be donning the Liverpool jersey during the league phase, with Slot favouring young prodigy Rio Ngumoha over the Italy international.

Despite scoring the decisive goal for the Reds on opening day against Bournemouth last month, Chiesa has seen less than 50 minutes of playtime in total, despite featuring in all four of Liverpool's initial league matches.

This is due to new recruit Giovanni Leoni, who isn't eligible for Liverpool's homegrown spot, potentially being sidelined instead as Slot wouldn't have required an additional defender.

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Ultimately, Chiesa fell foul of Slot's judgement and the Dutch manager conceded ahead of Sunday's win over Burnley that the decision had caused frustration.

"Of course, that is one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager," admitted Slot.

"For a player not to play, it is not always easy to tell them but not to be in the squad is always more difficult.

He didn't tell me, by the way, that he didn't agree with them!

"But he gave me the answer you want to hear from a player, that he will be there to help the team in the cups and in the league.

Federico Chiesa was left out of Liverpool's initial Champions League squad (Image: GETTY)

"That's one thing to say but I think he also showed this because he wasn't selected but he worked really hard these days to be ready for the upcoming days.

However, he successfully transformed the forward's mindset through a candid discussion on the team bus, which ultimately proved crucial.

"When I was at Feyenoord, there was a match Arne Slot started with Bryan Linssen instead of me against Heerenveen and I was so disappointed," said Dessers.

"I came on 10 minutes before the end.