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Liverpool put in one of their worst performances of the season to lose the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

The Reds turned up at Wembley on the back of a tough 120 minutes against PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday.

But much, much better should still have been expected from Liverpool than what they served up against Newcastle.

From the first minute to the last, it was simply not good enough from the Reds.

Newcastle outfought, outbattled and outran them.

However, there was one member of the Liverpool squad who could leave Wembley with his head held high: Federico Chiesa.

Chiesa came on for his first appearance since February 9th and duly got a consolation goal for Liverpool.

And after being left to rot on the bench by Arne Slot over virtually the whole season, the Liverpool head coach owes the Italian a big apology.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

The reasons for Liverpool’s abysmal performance at Wembley will no doubt be poured over in the days to come.

However, perhaps the biggest explanation – the easiest one to jump to – is that the Reds simply looked tired against Newcastle.

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There is one man who shoulders the responsibility for that, and it’s Slot.

The Dutchman has done so much right since arriving in the summer.

But his failure to put trust in back-up players like Chiesa has invariably led to them being exhausted when it came to the crunch.

READ MORE: Jamie Carragher left absolutely baffled by what £35m Liverpool player did against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final

In terms of Chiesa, his showing at Wembley proved that there was absolutely no need to keep him on the bench for so long.

The Italian offered more fight, creativity and threat than the likes of Luis Diaz have for weeks upon weeks.

You can’t help but wonder if he had been trusted a little more, the likes of Diaz wouldn’t have been quite as tired as they were on Sunday.

Prior to Sunday, it had felt as though Chiesa’s Liverpool career was just trickling down towards an exit in the summer.

However, after what he showed during his brief appearance against Newcastle, that should no longer be a formality.

If Chiesa can get some game time in his legs between now and the end of the season, there’s a chance he can prove that he should be at the club next season.

The fight certainly hasn’t gone out of him, and if he can turn up with another moment or two in the Premier League, then there is no reason to ship Chiesa out.

The one positive on a disastrous day for Liverpool.
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