Liverpool FC’s personnel problems are growing after Jeremie Frimpong’s injury. Do the Reds now have to react?
It was a sight that caused almost pure panic at Liverpool FC. After only four minutes, Jeremie Frimpong went down in the Champions League match against Qarabag Agdam, grimacing in pain, before having to leave the field directly with a thigh injury.
“It’s a muscular injury, but I don’t know how long he’ll be out,” reported Reds coach Arne Slot after the still dominant 6-0 victory on Wednesday evening. For Frimpong, a cursed debut season in Liverpool thus continues. This is the third time the Dutchman has had to break with thigh problems since his move from Bayer Leverkusen, consequently missing 18 games for club and national team.
Jeremie Frimpong has to be substituted due to injury in the Champions League and adds to Liverpool’s worries
Frimpong increases Liverpool’s worries
But the worries are not only great for Frimpong; in Liverpool, they currently extend to the entire defense. Right-back Conor Bradley and center-back Giovanni Leoni will miss the rest of the season due to knee injuries, while Joe Gomez continues to suffer from hip problems. In addition, Ibrahima Konaté was recently released after his father passed away, and coach Slot told TNT Sports that his protégé was going through a “very sad” time.
Because of these personnel shortages, the English press is already speaking of a problem that Slot, according to the Daily Mail , “is likely to cause headaches in the coming days.”
While Gomez and Konaté could return as early as Saturday against Newcastle United (from 9 pm in the LIVE TICKER), the situation is nevertheless “extremely worrying – especially for a team that missed out on signing England international defender Marc Guéhi this month.”
The tabloid further wrote: “And it is precisely this lack of defensive reinforcements that forms the counterbalance that curbs any ambitious notion of actually conquering Europe’s crown this season.”
Gravenberch in central defense? Liverpool running out of options
Even a glance at the lineup against Qarabag on Wednesday caused raised eyebrows. Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch suddenly had to fill the central defensive role next to captain Virgil van Dijk in the Champions League.
Following the injuries to Frimpong and Bradley, the actually much more offensively oriented Dominik Szoboszlai is likely to return to the right-back position in the future, which he frequently occupied at the beginning of the season. In addition, Endo, who was substituted for Frimpong on Wednesday, should be an option for the defense according to Slot, even if the Dutchman’s choice against Qarabag fell on Gravenberch.
With Milos Kerkez and Andrew Robertson, the Reds currently only have two natural left-backs and one regular center-back in the person of Virgil van Dijk available. Does Liverpool now have to make another move in the final stages of the winter transfer window? Slot already showed skepticism at the pre-match press conference.
Winter transfers? “Are we even in a position to change that?”
“Are we even in a position to change that? Can we increase the squad with the money available and the opportunities we have?” the coach asked and said: “Perhaps we are missing one or two players in terms of depth compared to last season. If you then add three long-term injuries, that’s suddenly a lot.”
Furthermore, Slot even put forward the bold theory that Liverpool might only have become champions last season because they met eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16. “As you know, they beat us – and we subsequently had a whole week each time to prepare for the next game,” suspected the 47-year-old.
However, there was special praise for Van Dijk, who seems to be Liverpool’s last pillar in defense. “Tomorrow there will be no trained center-back in central defense. I can only use a midfielder there because no center-backs are available. Apart from Virgil, who is one of the players I give great compliments for being constantly fit,” Slot praised before the game. “To be ready again and again to play another 90 minutes at his age should by no means be taken for granted.”