Arne Slot does not trust one of his expensive new toys enough to start him, according to Alan Shearer.
Liverpool have endured a bruising last fortnight, losing all three of their games and having some of their weaknesses exposed for all to see.
The Reds are only a point off Premier League leaders Arsenal but after they spent almost half a billion pounds on transfers, the expectations are through the roof.
Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez, and Jeremie Frimpong have all had underwhelming starts, but Shearer has singled out the latter.
He thinks Slot’s lack of faith in the £29.5million star has ed to the team’s balance being ‘all over the place’ of Dominik Szoboszlai has had to deputise.
‘Slot doesn’t trust Frimpong yet at right-back,’ Shearer told Betfair.
Arne Slot ‘doesn’t trust’ Jeremie Frimpong despite spending £29.5m on him, says Alan Shearer
Slot has some problems to fix after three defeats on the spin, with Liverpool slipping to second
Shearer believes that it is only ‘a matter of time’ before Slot gets Liverpool ‘firing’ again
‘He doesn’t trust Conor Bradley hence the reason he played Szoboszlai there. Gomez was on the bench, and he put Gravenberch at centre-back instead and I guess the balance is all over the place at the moment. It’s not just Mo Salah, it’s down the left and right side.
‘Arne Slot is a brilliant coach so it’s a matter of time before they do get firing. Now’s the time for other clubs to try and build a lead because it was only recently that Arsenal were five points behind Liverpool.
‘Two games later, they’re a point ahead. Things can move pretty quickly, and Liverpool will get better, as will Salah.’
Frimpong’s only Premier League start to date came on the first day of the season in the 4-2 win over Bournemouth. He missed the wins against Newcastle and Arsenal with a hamstring injury but has since been on the bench for league action.
After being the kings of late goals this campaign, Liverpool were themselves slain by last-gasp goals against Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
Towards the end of September, Eddie Nketiah netted in the 97th minute – his fourth goal against Liverpool in total – to give Crystal Palace a treasured win at Selhurst Park.
Last weekend, it was Estevao Willian’s moment to shine as he came off the bench to tap in a 95th-minute winner for Chelsea, causing Stamford Bridge to erupt and Enzo Maresca to go sprinting down the touchline a la Jose Mourinho.
Liverpool have looked vulnerable in transition and failure to sort that out has given Arsenal the chance to overtake them. They have beat Newcastle and West Ham in the same time.
Shearer thinks Arsenal ‘have’ to win the Premier League after finishing second for three years in a row and spending lots of money
And Shearer has laid down the Gunners: they must win the Premier League this time. No trophy for participation.
‘It has to be Arsenal’s year to win the Premier League,’ he told Betfair.
‘They’ve spent an absolute fortune, finished second for the last three years so we know, and Arteta knows that the eyes will be on him and he has to win the Premier League this year. When you spend the amount of money that they have, second is no good.
‘They’re strong, have had a really tough start and they’ve come through it. That’s great credit to Mikel Arteta. If you look at the substitutes bench from last season against West Ham in February, compared to now, there’s only two players on that bench from what there was last weekend.
‘The big difference is that, when Martin Odegaard went off, he was replaced by Martin Zubimendi. That’s the difference.’
