Digging deeper into Jeremie Frimpong and how he might be used in Lfc.
The Frimp is done so lets have a low down on what type of player he is and how he might be used by Slot.
Firstly you need to reset your mindset that Frimpong is brought in as Trents replacement! He's a lot more than that and it might be that in the future he's ment to be a winger for us.Let's go through how Frimpong might be used with us but first we will take a look at what type of player he is.
The type!
Frimpong is a player full of flair and speed. The speed and ability to take on players one vs one are his biggest assets. He's one of the fastest players in Bundesliga and for example clocked higher speed than well known fast players like Alphonso Davies and Karim Adeyemi. In champions league only Mbappe, Haaland and Hakimi has clocked a higher speed than Frimpong. Comparing to premier league only 6 players have been faster and with Diaz in place 51 of fastest players in the league with 34,92 Frimpong clearly beats him with his 36,34. So yes....he's fast, really fast.
The most intriguing thing with his speed is that he reaches top speed almost from standstill. His acceleration is crazy fast and to stop him in tight spaces when his got the ball is difficult and often results in free kicks. He's so quick to turn away from players in one vs one situations and he is a great dribbler.
He doesn't only run fast but he does it often. He has most sprints in Bundesliga and with a clear distance, in fact 32 more sprints than the runner up. He also hits a lot of crosses. Only Mittelstädt has hit more crosses than Frimpong so maybe he can take over that part from Trent.
Pressing will get better no matter which position Frimpong will be used on because he's better on that than both Mo and Trent. Very aggressive and intense. He is not a fantastic passer. Doesn't hit long passes often but is OK when using what I call (hit and run) which is to make a quick short passes search new space and progress like that. Bit of how Psg often plays and I think Slot like how psg plays. A true ball progressor and one of the better you can get doing so.
Negatives! Small built (172) and is heading is none existable. Must get smarter and stop rushing into situations to not get overplayed. Is this season only ranked 14th within Leverkusens squad ( according to Sofascore). He has not had a great season and must get back to the form he had last season and be able to maintain that form every game if he wants to be a starter for us.
What would he give on different positions?
Frimpong as a winger.
One thing is pretty sure, when Mo Salah goes to Afcon next winter it will be Frimpong who takes his place. Frimpong has basically been used as a winger the last two years. Just check the heat map from this season and you can see it is very similar to Salahs.
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As you can see they operate on pretty similar areas with the difference that Mo moves inside more and Frimpong stays out wide and of course drops deeper than what Mo does since he's basically relived from any defensive duties.
If we play Frimpong as a winger I'd say think Jeremy Doku, Pedro Neto, Adama Traore with the big difference that Frimpong actually scores and assists to goals. How does that sound to you? All extremely fast and fantastic dribblers but Frimpong is simply more effective with better end product.
In one vs one with Salah defenders mainly have to block him from cutting in to take shots while that's harder with Frimpong as he's good with both feet and doesn't mind going either in or outside to beat his man. That he's so tricky and fast often results in free kicks in good areas.
In Frimpong we would get something we don't have much of right now which is the skill to with speed and dribbles beat his man and progress into the penalty area. He would instantly be our fastest player and best dribbler and would give us kind of what Kvaratchkelia gives psg.
Without the ball he would also give us a lot if he plays as a winger. He's very good at putting pressure and closes his man down quickly and doesn't give space or time for opposition to build up play.
Frimpong as a rightback!
People say that Frimpong can't defend and doesn't play as a rb at Leverkusen. That's wrong I say. Yes he's is a bad defender but it wouldn't be worse than with Trent. Trent is a better tackler and stronger in duels but Frimpong makes up for that with his speed and determination. He catches runners a lot better than Trent and he's more difficult to dribble past than Trent due to his speed.
In the buildup phase it is a little of give and take with Frimpong compared to Trent. Trent is definitely a better passer and good calming games down with a brilliant pass when we are under pressure. While Frimp is a lot better ball progressor using his speed and short wall passes to get out of tricky situations. Trent is one of the worst fullbacks in the league do to his guy with a dribble which opens space to move forward while that is one of Frimpongs specialities.
When we're pressured to defend deep Frimpong is pretty bad though. He lives from his speed and in static defending he'd be out muscled often and wouldn't give us anything on aerials. Therefore Bradley could be the one to prefer as a rb in games where we know we would be put under pressure, like we were against City, Psg and Newcastle this season.
Don't forget that we might see something different and we use a leftback that will be used very defensively, like Robbo has been sometimes this season. Then Frimpong could be used very very advanced on his side but that means Mo and him would occupy much of the same space and require that Mo plays more inside and I'm not so sure that will happen.
Conclusion!
We are getting a great player. There's no doubt about that.....but we don't know how he will be used. There's 3 scenarios.1- He's seen as a winger in the long run to take over after Mo.
2- He's gonna take over after Trent immediately and Bradley remains on the bench but we might also see that Frimpong gets used on both positions.
3- he might be a backup while Salah and Bradley remains the starters.
My personal opinion: I'm bloody excited! If there's people who loves speed and dribbles then they should be excited. We're getting a tricky speedster and it's a good chance The Frimpwill become a fans favourite 🤘.
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