Gary Neville was left unimpressed by Liverpool full-back Jeremie Frimpong this weekend, with the Sky Sports pundit making a comparison to Trent Alexander-Arnold
Gary Neville on his Sky Sports podcast.
Gary Neville on his Sky Sports podcast.(Image: Sky Sports // YouTube)
Gary Neville has criticized the Liverpool right-back Jeremie Frimpong and suggested that he is worse than Trent Alexander-Arnold at both attacking and defending.
Frimpong struggled as the Reds dropped points for the second successive game at the start of the new season, with Alexander Isak and Victor Munoz netting in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. That followed the same scoreline up at Newcastle.
The Dutch international, signed for around $40 million (£29 million) just over a year ago, was left out of the Netherlands squad for the World Cup, and is yet to look fully settled after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen.
"We used to criticize Trent Alexander-Arnold for his defensive work," Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
"To put this into context, Trent Alexander-Arnold is a lot better defender than Frimpong, and he used to contribute 15-20 assists in a season. I don't think Frimpong will."
In addition to Frimpong, Neville was also critical of Milos Kerkez on the opposite flank, who didn't have the best of games against Nottingham Forest. He was replaced by Kostas Tsimikas in the second half.
Liverpool defender Jeremie Frimpong is shown a yellow card by referee Stuart Attwell during the Premier League match at Newcastle United on August 23 2026
Liverpool defender Jeremie Frimpong is shown a yellow card by referee Stuart Attwell during the Premier League match at Newcastle United on August 23 2026 (Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
"The most bizarre is that they haven't signed a full-back, left back and a right back," Neville continued. "Kerkez and Frimpong look like the ideal wing-backs in a back five. It looks like a squad that could play a back three.
"If they're going to play a back four, and Kerkez and Frimpong are going to play full-back, and they're not going to sign a holding midfielder, Liverpool are going to concede a lot of goals.
"With the two goals against Nottingham Forest, the right back is nowhere to be seen on the first one and on the second one, he lets the runner go from a throw-in when he should just mark him and go with him all the way. He's got no natural instinct of how to defend.
"Kerkez doesn't look like he's settled. At one point last season I thought he looked like an academy player playing at left-back for Liverpool and he's not — he's a very good player but they can't play with those two at full back and expect not to concede goals.
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"I'm not sure what's going on there in respect of their recruitment. I don't think they have the numbers in defense and I think they're leaving Andoni Iraola well short."
Liverpool still has time remaining in the transfer window, but the priority is bringing in another attacker alongside Bradley Barcola. A right winger has been a must for some time.
Frimpong filled in for Mohamed Salah on the wing at times last season but was ineffective, and will be required at full-back regardless for the foreseeable future because Conor Bradley is still sidelined.
Liverpool.com says: There is an argument that Dominik Szoboszlai is the best available player to play right-back for Iraola at the moment, which is not an ideal situation. There are bigger priorities, but that plays into the idea that the current roster is imbalanced.