Liverpool find themselves at a critical crossroads. After a spectacular, triumphant campaign a year prior that saw them crowned Premier League champions, the Reds have suffered a sobering reality check. Arne Slot’s side took a massive step backward, enduring a deeply disappointing campaign that resulted in a fifth-place finish and a total loss of their Champions League status.
Matching the near-flawless standards of a title-winning side is never easy, but for the squad’s new faces, the last 12 months have been a brutal baptism of fire in the unforgiving pressure cooker of Merseyside.
Perhaps no one has felt that weight more acutely than the club’s marquee summer arrival on the right flank. Arriving with a massive reputation for a reported £29.5 million, the 25-year-old defender was handed what many considered an impossible task: replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold, a homegrown creative wizard whose unique genius defined Liverpool’s tactical identity for nearly a decade before his departure.
Instead of a seamless transition, the former Bayer Leverkusen star’s debut season morphed into a tactical and physical nightmare.
The £29.5m man reflects on a testing debut campaign at Anfield
Between struggling with the tactical shift of the Premier League and battling his own body, the Dutch international’s first year on Merseyside never truly got off the ground. Speaking to Sky Sports, the explosive wing-back was remarkably candid about the adversity he has faced, particularly regarding a brutal string of hamstring injuries that repeatedly derailed his momentum and forced him to miss 26 games for club and country.
“Obviously, for me personally, I’ve been injured most of the time, and it’s been new to me because I’m not used to that,” the Netherlands international admitted. “It’s just one of those seasons where personally, for me, I don’t think it was good, but next season is a new season, and hopefully we’ll be better.”
Even when fit enough to make the matchday squad, the pacey wide-man cut a frustrated figure. His performances lacked the blistering, confident output that captivated Europe during his time in Germany, leaving him to navigate heavy criticism from a fanbase accustomed to perfection on the right side.
The Tactical Conundrum: Full-Back, Wing-Back, or Winger?
The Amsterdam-born defender’s struggles cannot be blamed entirely on his medical chart. A glaring issue has been his exact role within Arne Slot’s system.
Under Xabi Alonso in the Bundesliga, the former Celtic youngster flourished as an ultra-attacking wing-back in a back-five system a role that allowed him to bomb forward with defensive insurance behind him.
At Liverpool, that luxury does not exist. Slot’s traditional back-four has exposed the player’s defensive vulnerabilities when deployed at right-back.
To compensate, the Dutch head coach has increasingly utilised the €35m signing as a conventional right winger over the past few months in the absence of Mohamed Salah whilst he was nursing a tight hamstring injury.
Unfortunately, neither position has seemed to extract his best traits. The turbo-charged wide option has looked caught between two stools: lacking the defensive discipline required to play as a Premier League fullback, yet missing the clinical edge needed as an elite winger, finishing the campaign with just two goals and two assists in 35 appearances.
World Cup heartbreak and looking ahead to preseason
The dynamic defender’s underwhelming club form ultimately carried massive international consequences. The final blow to a miserable year arrived when Ronald Koeman shockingly axed the 25-year-old from the Netherlands’ World Cup squad.
It was a devastating reality check for a player who had been a staple of the national team setup since late 2023. Explaining the brutal decision, Koeman cited “several physical problems” and a lack of reliable match fitness.
Taking to Instagram, the Liverpool wing-back put out a statement after the omission:
“It wasn’t meant to be this time, but I’ll be the first one supporting the boys every step of the way this summer,” he wrote.
However, missing out on the tournament does provide a silver lining: a full, uninterrupted preseason.
With the pressure mounting, this summer will give Kopites their first true indication of how Slot intends to salvage his compatriot’s Liverpool career.
The former Manchester City academy graduate knows he is just one name on a long list of underperforming stars who must drastically raise their game if Liverpool are to close the gap on newly crowned champions Arsenal.
Despite the setbacks, the player’s ambition remains firmly intact. Looking ahead to the new campaign, he outlined his vision to replicate the silverware-winning impact he once enjoyed in Germany.
“On a personal level, I want to set my goals high. Goals, assists, help the team win,” he asserted.
ReadLiverpoolFC Verdict
Missing out on the World Cup is a bitter pill for him to swallow, but it might be exactly what his Liverpool career needs. With rumors swirling that Liverpool are actively targeting a new, natural right-back this summer to fix the squad’s balance, the clock is already ticking.
The 25-year-old will return to the AXA Training Centre fresh, motivated, and with a massive point to prove. If he cannot adapt to the tactical demands during preseason, his dream move to Merseyside could be cut short very quickly.