Liverpool signed Jeremie Frimpong in the summer to try and replace Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Even though the Englishman supposedly didn’t know what he was doing until the end of last season, most Liverpool fans knew that Alexander-Arnold would be heading to Real Madrid upon the expiry of his contract.
This meant that a new right-back had to be sourced, because, as good as Conor Bradley is, he can’t physically play every single game in every single competition for Liverpool.
Frimpong was the defender that Slot chose to bring in, and after the Reds’ fans saw how many goal contributions he had from right-back under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, they were excited about his arrival.
And, while he’s shown that he has plenty of pace and can hold his own in the Premier League if needed, he hasn’t had much of an impact.
Questions are now being raised about some of the Anfield outfit’s business with Chris Sutton even dubbing Frimpong’s move “bonkers.”
Chris Sutton has been left baffled by Liverpool’s choice to sign Jeremie Frimpong
Although Frimpong is actually a right-back by trade, he’s often deployed much further up the pitch when he’s chosen to play for the Netherlands.
And, even when he played for Leverkusen, there were times when Alonso would use him as a right-winger rather than a wing-back.
His attacking prowess is second to none, but seeing as though he was brought in to be Alexander-Arnold’s replacement, it’s clear that he also needs to be solid defensively.
At the moment, this is far from the case with Sutton slamming Liverpool for even signing the Dutchman in the first place.
“The right-back situation is a mess,” Sutton said on BBC Sport’s Football Daily Podcast in quotes relayed by BBC Sport.
“Szoboszlai has been their best midfielder, so playing him there kills him.
“And Frimpong, how can you spend that money on a right back who can’t really play there?
“It’s bonkers.”
Arne Slot must figure out what his best starting XI is and stick with it
After Liverpool spent over £450million on new players in the summer, they now have two world-class players in more or less every position.
Centre-back is arguably their weakest area at the moment, especially with Giovanni Leoni getting himself ruled out for the season.
However, Liverpool’s right back also has a few question marks around it as three different players have been used there this season.
And, although Szoboszlai has performed the best in that role, he’s also been the Reds’ best midfielder, and, in the grand scheme of things, using him in the centre of the park is more important than at full-back.
If Slot doesn’t figure out what his best starting XI is soon, he could end up digging his own grave.
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