The Wing-Back That Was
Revisiting Jeremie Frimpong.
So almost exactly one year ago — 50 weeks, to be exact — I wrote this piece on Jeremie Frimpong as rumours intensified suggesting he was being lined up to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield.
I mostly focused on the positives at the time, with most of them relating to his outrageous speed, but the link really surprised me. I was skeptical, and after following his debut season on Merseyside, I’m still very much in that camp.
His future impacts the whole right-back conversation quite a lot.
Going back and reading that piece was a cool exercise for me. Below, you’ll find two clips from back then. One with The Redmen TV, and one with The Anfield Wrap.
My overall assessment of Frimpong was that he isn’t a full-back, and he isn’t a forward either. But his extreme strengths can prove to be useful as long as they’re platformed.
He’s insanely quick, we know that. And from a standing start, too. I was curious to see whether Arne Slot’s intention was to use him as a vehicle of sorts, relying on his carrying ability as opposed to his passing.
This is going to sound pretty harsh, but Frimpong is really good when you encourage him to run, but not so good when you encourage him to play football. Using him like Alexander-Arnold was an absolute no-go.
I expected changes to happen at the back for Liverpool. I thought Slot’s build-up would evolve to push Frimpong — and Milos Kerkez — more towards the halfway line.
But with his debut campaign due to end in the coming weeks, I’d argue the plan regarding how and where to use him remains murky and unclear, with some of that perhaps stemming from his three separate hamstring injuries disrupting his campaign.
Next season, will Frimpong play as a right-back? Will Slot keep using him as a winger? Will the Reds move towards a back-three system? I honestly couldn’t tell you.
This summer, Liverpool need to formulate some form of blueprint for their right-back department. Conor Bradley is cool, but he’s just never available and for that reason, can’t be counted on.
Dominik Szoboszlai can’t keep playing in defence, and Curtis Jones might leave the club given his contract expires in 12 months. Frimpong could start next season as Liverpool’s first-choice right-back, but I wouldn’t want to see him in a back four across 38 matches. No chance.
Against the bottom half of the table, great. He’s super useful in those games because of his threat in comparison to your typical full-back. Good at winning penalties, good at getting to the byline, loves to overlap. All valuable perks when facing low blocks.
