Jeremie Frimpong eviscerated a new lie everyone was repeating

Liverpool turned in a horrid performance yet again last weekend in the Premier League, drawing Burnley 1-1 with more fans calling for the club to ask serious questions about Arne Slot’s employment.

Days later, Liverpool made another statement win in the Champions League against a dangerous Marseille side, thoroughly dominating the southern French side with a 3-0 victory that showcased excellence at all levels of the team.

Though his performance was more quietly praised than the rest of his teammates, young right back Jeremie Frimpong delivered the goods again for the Reds, shining across from resurgent young left back signing Milos Kerkez.

Jeremie Frimpong was top class in Germany

Like Kerkez, Frimpong has largely been playing below his level this season, with many fans questioning his fit with the team. But most true Reds supporters have been optimistic that with health and a proper adjustment period, the Dutchman would be able to show the quality that made him one of the best players in the Bundesliga at Bayer Leverkusen.

There have been a lot of fans around European football, including back when he played in the Bundesliga, who have tried to argue that Frimpong is too attacking minded and thus too deficient defensively to play right back at this level, particularly for a club with the expectations of Liverpool.

Well, on the big stage against a quality attacking opponent in Marseille, Jeremie Frimpong kept up his record of literally never being dribbled past in the Champions League this season.

Furthermore, the 25 year old right back had four tackles and an interception in an all action defensive play, shutting down shop on the right flank as Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 clean sheet.

Whereas Frimpong had four key passes and was much more attacking minded over the weekend against Burnley with plenty of progressive carries like in his Leverkusen days, the former Invincible showed that he can turn up the one on one ability in defense against Marseille.

Liverpool need to continue to see more of this from Frimpong in the 2025/26 season, but the lie that people have often repeated that Frimpong cannot play the right back position feels eerily similar to the exaggerated claims people used to make about former Reds right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, simply because he was such a great offensive player.

No, Frimpong is not the second coming of Alexander-Arnold, but, similarly, it feels as if his weaknesses defensively are exaggerated. Frimpong is a great ball winner with speed to burn, and he showed he can be Liverpool’s right back in this one.