So, Jeremie Frimpong
Arne Slot is adding a risky new ingredient to his recipe.
So I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, and as I sit down to write it, I’m excited to see where I end up after putting all of my thoughts into words.
I think my read on what Liverpool might do in any given transfer market is generally pretty good. I mean, I’d hope so after doing this for so many years. But in Jeremie Frimpong, it’s safe to say I did not see this one coming.
I just need to see him wearing the kit at this point. Because even despite all of the noise surrounding his impending move to Merseyside, I still feel like part of me is waiting for the club to announce this whole thing was actually just a sick social experiment.
But no, it looks like Frimpong is genuinely replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold. Lots to unpack.
Alright, so first things first, I like Frimpong. That’s an important place to start. As a player in isolation, he’s good. He moves the needle for Bayer Leverkusen, there’s no question about it.
I’m a fan of players like that. You know Frimpong is on the pitch. He’s not just another body, no. He makes a difference. From an opposition perspective, you need to worry about him. You design tactics to stop him.
Frimpong has extreme qualities. Very specific ones. And for that reason, you can almost use him like he’s a nifty tactical tool. He kinda depicts shades of Adama Traoré under Nuno EspÃrito Santo in that sense. Like, who plays as a wing-back one week and as a centre forward the next?
His biggest perk is — of course — his pace. He seems to reach his top speed in an instant. Scary acceleration from a standing start. Like, Darwin Núñez is fast, but you don't realise that until he’s been running for about five seconds. Frimpong goes supersonic in a heartbeat.
He doesn’t need a second invitation to put on the afterburners, because he knows nobody can catch him. We can’t usually access physical data in the public space, but the guys in charge of the Bundesliga are really nice. You can access their numbers for free, with Frimpong ranked top of the entire division for sprints.
He’s on 1,021 this season, to be exact. Followed by Ridle Baku on 989, Tim Kleindienst on 941 and Dimitrios Giannoulis on 915. A certain Florian Wirtz places eighth, with Benjamin Šeško seventh.
As a vehicle to transport you from A to B in a second, he’s excellent. And he’s a prominent runner without the ball, too. Frimpong is great at creating separation from his marker before crossing into the penalty box, and he’s not bad on the dribble, either.
The clips I’ve used capture his threat. He’ll underlap and overlap until the cows come home — which should complement Mohamed Salah at the age of 32 — and he’ll be great in transition, too, thriving whenever there’s space to be consumed.
Indeed, across his past three seasons, he’s posted 0.32, 0.56 and 0.46 xG plus xG assisted per 90. Alexander-Arnold, according to the same metric, has posted 0.33, 0.4 and 0.42. So despite losing He Who Got Booed to Real Madrid this summer, Liverpool shouldn’t really be any less dangerous next term.
Frimpong clearly has plenty of positives to his game. The large majority of them are attached to the fact he’s quicker than anyone you’ve ever met. But that’s cool given he’s still only 24 years old and never gets injured.
And now for the miserable part. This is why you subscribe, right? Well, there are reasons why I didn’t expect Liverpool to chase Frimpong, and most of them are tactical.
First on the list, he’s technically not a full-back. And yes, I know he’s played as one quite a few times in his career, but you’re buying him because of his showings for Leverkusen. And for Leverkusen, he’s been a wing-back at best.
I’m always concerned when a player shines in a specific team, before being bought and used in a completely different way at his next club. I see you want an example. Cool, how about one close to home, then? I’ve got two words for you: Cody Gakpo.
He was tearing the Eredivisie to shreds as a left-sided forward, but Jürgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders saw Roberto Firmino in him. He spent the first 18 months of his Liverpool career in purgatory before Arne Slot realised the problem and moved him back to his preferred spot. Now he’s good again.
Positions aren’t fixed in football, but Frimpong thriving as a wing-back has been no accident. With defensive cover behind him, he’s able to advance ahead of the ball. Free to run, free to create. He’s been used as your classic outlet in Germany.
This season, just 22 per cent of his touches have originated in his own half of the field. That’s pretty wild for a full-back, and it’s not ideal considering the current dynamics of Liverpool’s build-up structure.
Slot has favoured a 4-2 shape when building from the back this season, which would — in theory — involve Frimpong acting as more of a passer by feeding those ahead of him.
For Leverkusen, on the other hand, he’s essentially played as Salah in terms of his positioning. Staying high, avoiding build-up and waiting to put his foot on the gas.
Expecting Frimpong to replicate Alexander-Arnold — or even Andy Robertson, for that matter — would be a bit mad. He’s averaging just 2.1 progressive passes per 90 this term. For context, Núñez — who literally stands in the box — is averaging 2.3 per 90.
So it’s not that Frimpong is bad, no. But it’s safe to paint him as a relatively exotic ingredient. Frimpong is nduja. You can’t just throw him into the recipe and expect your meal to taste the same. You’ll need to tweak others things.
The good news is Slot could very easily do that. His ability to navigate big departures at Feyenoord is one of the reasons why Liverpool liked him. But it’s still worth flagging. Ultimately, the Frimpong move is hard to explain without resorting to the prospect of seeing a back three at Anfield.
Now, I’m fairly certain Liverpool aren’t going to become a three-at-the-back side any time soon. But there’s always the possibility of employing bespoke shapes to face certain opponents. Horses for courses, basically.
Frimpong will defend as part of a four at Anfield — I’m pretty confident of that — but you can add rotations to your possession game to present him with a platform to play like a wing-back.
We saw an example against Arsenal last week. Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones both demonstrated a desire to drop between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté at times, forming a situational back three.
The Gunners tend to press with a front two. You want to outnumber them, and you can achieve that by dropping one of your midfielders into your defensive line.
With so many outfits in the Premier League leaning on 4-4-2 without the ball nowadays, there’s definitely logic in using a makeshift back three more often when building from the goalkeeper, thus presenting Frimpong with a temporary license to become his Leverkusen self by drifting higher.
The tactical term — if you want to go full galaxy brain — is salida laviolpiana, which translates into ‘the exit’ in English. In essence, building with three at the back despite fielding a back four. It was Pep Guardiola’s secret weapon against Alex Ferguson back in the day.
Maybe Slot has a similar ace up his sleeve?
All in all, I’m intrigued. Frimpong to Liverpool doesn’t feel like a home run. Like an absolute banker guaranteed to succeed. But given the state of the right-back market, that sure thing was always going to be impossible to find.
For as little as £30m — thanks to his release clause — you can’t ask for much more. A homegrown player entering his prime who never misses games and possesses as much danger as Alexander-Arnold. As quick as they come. Will get you to the byline. Will overlap and underlap forever.
The biggest worry for me isn’t his height, no. It’s not his defensive game, either, which has been a bit exaggerated. The iceberg you want to avoid is a tactical one. Don’t play him like he’s Alexander-Arnold. Because he’s not. Both offensive, yes, but very different.
This isn’t a plug-and-play signing. Slot will know that. And between now and August, he’ll benefit from a series of training camps to perfect Liverpool’s next blueprint. The one that will hopefully ensure that Frimpong can keep being Frimpong.
You can make any flavour pop with the right recipe. And if all goes according to plan in this case, the champions could end up cooking a pretty tasty meal next season and beyond.
Nice piece Josh. I watched the Mo Salah interview with Gary Neville and he said he’s noticed he’s receiving less and less space, often being double teamed and has mentioned that to Arne. I wonder if the Frimpong signing is a way of distracting the opposition and creating space for Mo?
Is that something worth considering?
One of the many interesting things about Slot is that he has said publicly that part of his aim is to keep Liverpool unpredictable, so it is difficult for other teams to counter them. Frimpong seems to chime with that for me.
The unresolved question for me so far is how Liverpool are going to progress the ball up the pitch. Gravenberch, Bradley, Frimpong, Robertson and (TBC) Kerkez are carriers. Virgil is a passer, Mac Allister is a passer. Konate is not a reliable progresser of the ball. Who is going to step into the passer void once Trent goes?
It wouldn’t shock me to see us go for someone like Wharton, unless by some miracle the Wirtz thing actually comes off.
I also think an underdiscussed aspect of the Frimpong deal, aside from his merits as a player, is the comparatively low price. Liverpool have more or less immediately covered for the loss of Trent in terms of having a replacement body, while keeping the powder dry for splurges elsewhere. Smart.