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Arne Slot has already demonstrated his ability to manage unhappy players using a method that's "worth its weight in gold". The Liverpool boss revealed last week that Federico Chiesa was frustrated after being omitted from his Champions League squad.
Chiesa, 27, will miss out on representing the English champions during the competition's league phase, with the head coach selecting 17-year-old prodigy Rio Ngumoha instead of the Euro 2020 champion.
Chiesa delivered a vital contribution in August by netting in the Reds' season opener against Bournemouth. However, despite featuring in each of Liverpool's opening four Premier League games, he has accumulated fewer than 50 minutes of playing time overall.
He would likely have secured a place in the squad had the club succeeded in completing the deadline day signing of Marc Guehi. This is because new arrival Giovanni Leoni, who cannot be registered in Liverpool's homegrown quota, might have been excluded instead, as Slot wouldn't have required additional defensive cover.
Chiesa ultimately suffered due to Slot's judgement, and the Dutch manager acknowledged before Sunday's trip to Burnley that the player was left disheartened. "Of course, that is one of the most difficult things you have to do as a manager," Slot said.
"For a player not to play, it is not always easy to tell them but not to be in the squad is always more difficult. I just explained to him why we made this choice. Of course, he wasn't happy with that.
"I think he understood my arguments - that is not to say he agreed with them. He didn't tell me, by the way, that he didn't agree with them! But he gave me the answer you want to hear from a player, that he will be there to help the team in the cups and in the league.
"That's one thing to say but I think he also showed this because he wasn't selected but he worked really hard these days to be ready for the upcoming days. That is even more important than what a player tells you."
According to Panathinaikos forward Cyriel Dessers, Slot possesses considerable experience in handling such delicate situations, and his people management abilities will surely ensure any tensions don't spiral out of control. The Nigeria international previously found himself in a similar predicament when Slot made the decision to bench his leading goalscorer at Feyenoord.
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However, the manager successfully transformed Dessers' mindset through a candid discussion during a team coach journey, which proved pivotal in reshaping the player's trajectory.
Dessers reflected: "When I was at Feyenoord, there was a match Arne Slot started with Bryan Linssen instead of me against Heerenveen. I was so disappointed.
"I came on ten minutes before the end. It was freezing cold, the match was already over, nobody really wanted to go forward. I came on with a really poor attitude because I was so disappointed that I wasn't allowed to start.
"After the match, Slot sat next to me on the bus. I've had managers who got angry in such a situation. But he actually said in a very normal and calm way that he understood how I felt.
"He also explained why he had made his choice. I apologised, he said again that he could imagine my emotions. I walked back to the back of that bus and felt like it was out of my system. I still think back to that one conversation sometimes. There, Arne proved to me that he is not only a good manager, but also a good person.
"I sometimes miss that empathy in football with the media, with the fans too, who sometimes forget that a player is only human. The world of football is hard, sometimes unreasonable. So it's worth its weight in gold if you have a manager who treats you normally, honestly and with understanding."
Liverpool's Champions League journey kicks off on Wednesday as it welcomes Spanish heavyweight Atletico Madrid to Anfield.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Liverpool ECHO by clicking here.
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