The Church case. Behind the problems of the striker who left the blue retreat

“Players’ heads are not all the same.” Gennaro Gattuso was deliberately unclear in explaining why Federico Chiesa showed up in Coverciano to answer Italy’s call in view of the World Cup play-off and then returned home, in agreement with the doctors and the coach. Nothing more than a meager statement from the federation on the situation, also relaunched by Liverpool. Nothing more than the deliberately vague explanations of the coach, who inevitably prefers to think about who he has and about Thursday’s match against Northern Ireland, the first of the two that will potentially bring the national team back to the World Cup. It is Gattuso’s mission, the only one that matters at the moment. It should have also been Chiesa’s mission, his first time in blue after the 2024 European Championship, but that of the Liverpool striker hasn’t even begun.

situation

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Chiesa’s last match in the national team remains that of 29 June 2024, the round of 16 match in Berlin of the European Championship which he lost 2-0 against Switzerland. The striker today at Liverpool played as a starter in what was Spalletti’s Italy, the coach who in November 2023 had said that Fede was “our Sinner”, a comparison that the striker had brought with him and which he has always said he considered an honour. That match in Berlin never had a sequel: after the European Championship, Chiesa ended up out of the squad at Juve, he moved to Liverpool where he struggled throughout the first season and ended up playing very little. He remained in the national team’s thoughts when Gennaro Gattuso sat on the bench: the new coach always tried to convince Chiesa to make himself available, but the no seemed firm. No problem with Gattuso, no refusal for the blue, but a personal choice as the coach had reiterated several times. It remained unchanged until last week, when to the general surprise Chiesa was on the list of those called up for the double play-off. Even though he continues to play little at Liverpool, even though he remains at the bottom of the attacking hierarchy for Slot, even though the Anfield crowd loves him. And even if he puts a lot of effort into it, he is determined to demonstrate that he can definitely be in the Premier League. Last Wednesday, in the Champions League against Galatasaray, Chiesa only played in the final. On Saturday in Brighton, despite the absences of Isak and Salah and Ekitike’s injury at the start of the match, Slot only remembered his Italian striker 14′ from the end.

Italy

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There were different expectations for his return to the blue team. Chiesa had to be evaluated for his condition, given his limited playing time (only once over 20 minutes of use in the last two months), but his class and experience had to be a plus for the group. And his commitment, the desire to rock the world that he shows every time he takes the field for Liverpool, whether it’s 20 minutes or added time, is an asset for Gattuso and for Italy. However, on Monday morning the doctors’ statement arrived which spoke of the choice, by mutual agreement, to send the player home. Then Gattuso’s explanation: “Chiesa showed up, but he had problems and we decided that it was useless for him to stay – the coach said in the press conference -. Why didn’t he stay? The players’ heads are not all the same and if one is hesitant, I have to make choices. I can convince for a while, but if someone is not well, you can’t insist too much. I repeat, we decided together: he wasn’t at 100% and he wanted to go home and it’s right that he did so”. In other words, chapter closed, at least for now. The fact that Chiesa said yes to the call-up suggests that he does not consider his adventure with the national team to be over. The fact that he went back, that “the players’ heads are not all the same” makes it clear that the problems are different. Problems that only the Church can clarify. For now, he too will sit in front of the television from home on Thursday to cheer on Italy, hoping that the match against Northern Ireland will become the first step towards returning to the World Cup.