Liverpool may not be doing much to help manager Thomas Tuchel look to lead England to World Cup glory this summer, with Curtis Jones not included in the latest Three Lions squad as the only realistic Reds star to compete for a spot next summer, but they are doing a great job of thwarting other major nations’ bids.
Federico Chiesa has not played for Italy since Euro 2024, but after barely featuring in Liverpool’s first season he rejected a September call-up because he was “not feeling 100 per cent”, manager Gennaro Gattuso has now revealed the winger has snubbed him again ahead of the MFA match.
“I talk to him a lot,” Gattuso said. “We have to respect the decisions and issues that each person has.
“We know very well what to say to each other. We have to respect what the players say. We can’t say anything else.”
Read: 16 takeaways from Man City 3-0 Liverpool: Champions drop to eighth and out of title contention
Asked who made the decision to keep Chiesa out of the squad for the crucial game against Group I leaders Norway, who are three points behind Moldova, Gattuso suggested it was once again Chiesa who had declined the call-up.
“Yes, this is already the fourth or fifth time I am explaining this,” he added.
It’s not at all clear what the “problem” is, but if it’s because Chiesa is planning to peak before returning to the national team, then a) he apparently believes that’s not the case, despite a fairly significant increase in game time this term, and b) it’s highly unlikely that he’ll reach that point, just as he won’t be in the squad with Liverpool’s crisis, so when will it be?
Florian Wirths was called up for Germany’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Slovakia this month, with manager Julian Nagelsmann blaming Liverpool’s lack of consistency on the poor form of their playmaker.
Germany are currently at the top of Group A, ahead of Slovakia on goal difference and only three points behind Northern Ireland.
Wirtz was branded Liverpool’s second ‘little boy’ this season by Gary Neville after the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, but surprisingly he is still yet to score for Liverpool after his £100m move from Bayer Leverkusen and has provided just three assists in 16 games so far.
“To be honest, the whole situation is not easy for him either,” Nagelsmann said. “This year the whole club (Liverpool) itself is not as stable as last year. It’s much more difficult to slip into the team now.”
“If you look at[Manchester]City, they were the worst team for the whole 90 minutes, so it’s hard for flow to really have a big impact.
“Ultimately, the overall situation is that he needs a bit more time. That’s normal and you’ll see the same thing with other players moving to the English Premier League.”
More Liverpool coverage on F365…
👉 Premier League winners and losers: Villa, Konate, Soucek, Newcastle, Brentford, Ugarte, Franck and more
👉 What did Alexander Isaac see during Liverpool’s defeat when the ‘important warning’ was given?
👉 How Guardiola solved Liverpool’s ‘nightmare’ and accidentally signed potential world’s best right-back
Nagelsmann then called on Wirtz’s Liverpool teammates to capitalize on the chances he created.
“We all know what he’s capable of and it’s quite normal for players of his age to be a little off,” added the former Bayern Munich manager. “You can’t expect him to perform at the same level three years in a row.
“Instead, we all need to support him a little bit so he can clear his head here. Then maybe Liverpool can also help him by scoring some of the chances he creates.”
“That would be one idea, too, because he’s certainly created some chances. He just doesn’t like them to shoot the ball from those chances for some reason. That’s part of the truth.”
