Frimpong Emphasizes Finishing as Liverpool Hosts Nottingham Forest
Liverpool step back into Anfield on Saturday lunchtime with one message ringing louder than any other inside Andoni Iraola’s dressing room: finish.
A 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on the opening weekend felt like a missed opportunity. Liverpool carved the chances, controlled long stretches, then needed Dominik Szoboszlai’s ice-cold 99th-minute penalty to escape St. James’ Park with a point.
The late drama rescued them. It didn’t hide the issue.
“Finishing your chances, finishing the actions, because that’s what gets you the result,” Jeremie Frimpong told Liverpoolfc.com, laying bare Iraola’s mantra since that frantic finale on Tyneside.
“You can keep the ball all you want but if you don’t finish then it stays 0-0 or they end up scoring, so [the message has been]: just finish the actions.”
A new era, a new rhythm
Newcastle was Iraola’s first competitive game in charge, the first real look at how his ideas translate under pressure. The patterns were there, the intensity too, but the sharp edges still need honing.
For Frimpong, that learning curve is inevitable.
“It’s normal,” the right-back said. “I think every coach has their own type of system that they want to play and it takes time to adjust and for us to know, and get used to it [to a point] where we’re comfortable with it.
“So, we’re still working on it but I think it’s going the right way.”
Those tweaks are already visible in Frimpong’s own role. Since Iraola walked through the door, the No.30 has been locked in at right-back, not shuttling between roles as he did last season.
“This whole pre-season I played right-back and I’m getting more comfortable there,” he explained. “Last season was a mixture of right wing and right-back, but right now it’s just been right-back. I feel like I’m defending more, I’m recovering more [and] I still attack, of course. But I like it, I’m enjoying it.”
For a player whose previous campaign was disrupted, simply staying on the pitch matters.
“Obviously first of all, [I am enjoying] just being on the pitch because last season [I had] injuries, so just being on the pitch and looking at my teammates and trying to help them out [is good].”
Home comforts, hard questions
Now comes Nottingham Forest. A different kind of test, but one Frimpong has already thought about more than most.
First, there’s Anfield itself.
“This is home, this is where we’re comfortable at, this is where we are at peace,” he said. “So, it’s going to be a tough game, but we’re happy to be home again with all of our fans… when you’re at home with fans like Liverpool’s, it’s amazing.”
The draw at Newcastle still lingers, not as a wound, but as a warning.
“Obviously we would have liked to win against Newcastle but I don't think it’s a bad result coming from St. James’ Park. But we definitely want to win against Forest for sure. It’s going to be a hard battle but we’ll see what happens.”
Frimpong’s scouting mission
If Iraola and his analysts have been poring over clips of Oliver Glasner’s side this week, Frimpong had a head start.
“I’ve watched Forest. They had a pre-season friendly against [Bayer] Leverkusen and I went over to watch them,” he revealed. “They play good football, they are really good.
“I really like how they play. Obviously they play similar to Crystal Palace last season because of the manager, and obviously we had a difficult time with Crystal Palace last season. So, like I said, it’s going to be a tough game, for sure.”
The warning is clear. Forest under Glasner will press, run and ask awkward questions, just as Crystal Palace did. Liverpool, in turn, know the answer cannot simply be possession or territory.
The answer has to be what Iraola keeps repeating behind closed doors.
Finish.
