Di Livio's verdict: Chiesa stalled at Liverpool, Juventus squad short of standard
Angelo Di Livio says Federico Chiesa erred by joining Liverpool and argues Juventus's current squad lacks players fit to wear the shirt, after a 2-0 loss to Genoa.
Angelo Di Livio has delivered a blunt double verdict: Federico Chiesa was wrong to leave Juventus for Liverpool, and the current Juventus squad contains players who do not merit the jersey he once wore with distinction.
"Chiesa made a mistake joining Liverpool," the former Italy and Juventus midfielder told Retesport, as reported by Football Italia. He added that Chiesa "needs to be recovered," insisting he would sign him himself given his ability to operate on either flank.
Di Livio also floated a specific route back into the national team, telling Retesport that "Under Gian Piero Gasperini, Chiesa would get back into the Azzurri side."
Chiesa's numbers measure absence, not ability
Since his 2024 move from Juventus, Chiesa has made 51 competitive appearances for Liverpool, scoring five goals and providing five assists, according to Football Italia. Spread across more than two years, that return works out to just 1,194 minutes on the pitch.
That figure is a playing-time count, not a form guide. It tells you how rarely Chiesa has been trusted, not whether the quality Di Livio references has actually declined. A goal-and-assist tally built on so few minutes is also too small a sample to judge output fairly — five of each could reflect a player finding rhythm in flashes, or one who has never had the sustained run to build it.
That distinction matters to Di Livio's argument. His claim that someone with Chiesa's talent "doesn't just lose" it is really a bet that the underlying ability has been masked by a lack of game time rather than eroded by it. The minutes column supports the premise that he has barely played; it cannot settle the question of whether he can still perform at his previous level.
A wide forward with use on either side
Di Livio's specific reason for wanting Chiesa is his versatility across the front line: the ability to play on both wings rather than being tied to one side of the pitch. That kind of profile gives a coach flexibility to switch attacking shape without changing personnel, shifting a winger from right to left to unbalance a full-back or to accommodate a different partner further forward.
It is also the quality Di Livio links directly to international selection, suggesting that regaining that two-footed, either-flank utility would be enough to restore Chiesa's place in the Italy set-up under Gasperini. Roma, per Football Italia, could look to take advantage of that stalled Liverpool spell in the January transfer window.
Juventus's problem runs deeper than the touchline
Di Livio's second target was the squad Luciano Spalletti has at his disposal, after Juventus lost 2-0 to Genoa in midweek. "The squad is poor, there are players unworthy of wearing the Bianconeri jersey," he said, adding that he never expected to see Juventus lose "and nothing happens, it's all so calm."
That is a complaint about squad depth and the culture of accountability inside it as much as about any single tactical choice. A thin or underpowered bench limits a coach's ability to rotate without losing quality, and it shows up precisely in moments like a defeat to Genoa where there is no sharp response from within the group.
Di Livio was careful to spread the blame rather than isolate the coach. "Before thinking it is only Spalletti's fault, and he does have some responsibility, I would look at the quality of the squad that has been built," he said. The framing puts the building of the squad — recruitment and depth — ahead of in-game management as the root issue.
Juventus's defeat to Genoa and Chiesa's continued absence from regular Liverpool minutes sit as two separate problems for Italian football figures to weigh, but Di Livio ties them together: a club he represented with distinction now short of standard, and a player he rates highly stuck on the margins elsewhere. Whether Roma act on his suggestion in January will be the next concrete test of that argument.