There was a moment in Liverpool’s final league phase tie in the Champions League that seemed to show Federico Chiesa at ease in his surroundings.
Shunted into the advertising hoardings and almost into a mid-warmup Trent Kone-Doherty, the winger turned to the referee in remonstration and, accepting the decision, a wry smile etched across his face.
After a gruelling four months, Chiesa made his second start for Liverpool as part of a much-changed side, his inclusion a marker of the depth of Arne Slot‘s squad and the progress he himself had made in his long-term recovery.
Having arrived short of fitness and initially struggled to keep up with the intensity required both in training and during games, things are finally looking up for the £12.5 million summer signing.
Chiesa has now featured in five of the last six games, having only appeared in one of the previous 22, with the efforts of Slot’s performance staff starting to bear fruit.
It has been, by the admission of player and coach alike, a frustrating season so far; after missing pre-season with Juventus a steady integration process was devised, but few will have expected the No. 14 to take quite so long to adjust.
But Chiesa showed in his first start since the 5-1 win over West Ham in the Carabao Cup back in September – and, crucially, his first full 90 minutes – that he could be worth the wait.
“There’s room for improvement, there’s room to get better and better, and being at the best of my game,” he told LFCTV afterwards.
“We have a great team and it’s hard to play, but that’s normal, because I want to be here, I want to play for Liverpool, I want to challenge myself.
“I will be ready for my next opportunity. Again, I want to thank the coach for tonight.”
In a side comprised largely of squad players and youngsters, including two Champions League debutants in James McConnell and Jayden Danns, Chiesa was one of the most experienced players.
Only Andy Robertson and Wataru Endo have played more games at senior club level, with Chiesa making it 293 appearances for Fiorentina, Juventus and now Liverpool, and the onus was on him to provide the impetus on the right wing.
He did exactly that from the first whistle to the last, with Slot left impressed with his endeavour and willingness to fight for the cause, and how “in the end [he] was still sprinting, trying to do his work.”
Even during his enforced time out, Chiesa has become a popular player within the squad and among fans for his natural enthusiasm, and that bleeds through into the way he plays.
According to FotMob, no player at the Philips Stadion contested (18) or won (11) more duels than the Italy international, who also won the joint-most fouls (four) and came away with more touches (48) than fellow forwards Danns (25) and Cody Gakpo (21) combined.
Not everything stuck, but Chiesa kept pushing in a performance that, despite the result, proved influential for Liverpool.
It was the 27-year-old who won the penalty for Gakpo to make it 1-0, blindsiding PSV midfielder Joey Veerman to nick the ball and take the contact, while it was his shot that was parried into the path of Harvey Elliott for 2-1.
Chiesa was only credited with one assist but Slot and Liverpool’s analysts will acknowledge that it was his drive in the final third that earned those two goals – and it marked him as a player who offers something few others in the squad can.
While Liverpool’s approach under Slot has been characterised by a steadier buildup and with a more deliberate style in possession, there is still a lot of value in a direct attacking threat.
Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez do, naturally, fit that bracket, but none of those players appear as single-minded as their new teammate.
Chiesa’s remit has been: get the ball, turn to the goal, run towards it and, invariably, shoot.
It may seem simplistic, but it is notable that, per FBref, he is averaging the most shots per 90 of any Liverpool player this season by far (5.41). The same applies for shots on target per 90 (2.86), with Chiesa recording the highest shooting accuracy in the squad so far (52.9%).
While that is based on a very small sample size of just 280 minutes, it reflects a similar trend throughout his club career which would have placed him at the top or thereabouts for this Liverpool squad in almost every season.
Over the past 365 days, Chiesa ranks in the top one percent of forwards and the top nine percent among wingers for shot-creating actions per 90 across Europe.
The closest comparison within Slot’s existing crop of forwards is in fact Diogo Jota, who possesses the same knack for driving through tight spaces and the same unwavering objective in front of goal.
It is unfortunate that both players are also tainted by the same reputation as injury prone, but the extensive fitness programme Chiesa underwent in the first half of the season has been designed to avoid further complications.
With Jota currently sidelined with another issue, Chiesa now looks to finally be coming into his own, and his direct style and versatility could be particularly useful in the months ahead.
Against PSV, he started on the right wing before shifting to the left late on, while earlier in the season he was deployed as a makeshift No. 9, with Slot clearly of the belief that he can fill every role across the forward line.
Liverpool’s success in the Champions League has avoided two more fixtures in the knockout playoffs, but they remain in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and the fourth round of the FA Cup, while their efforts stay course both in the league and in Europe.
While the trio of Salah, Gakpo and Diaz are cemented as first choice at present, Wednesday night and its buildup showed that depth is required to keep those regular starters fresh.
At least initially, that will be where Chiesa comes in, and given his infectious, full-throttle brand of attacking play, he could become increasingly key as the weeks and months go on.
