Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have revolutionised the full-back game within the Premier League.
The pairing has defined an era for Liverpool, personifying the high-pressing, attacking style that former manager Jürgen Klopp adored.
However, the time has now come for new pastures.
Trent leaves for Real Madrid on a free transfer, and whilst Robertson is still playing for the Reds, the exceptional self-set levels of past years are no longer being met to the same extent.
To fill the void left by Trent and begin Robertson’s outward transition, Arne Slot has looked towards fellow Dutchman Jeremie Frimpong and Hungarian Milos Kerkez.
The duo look set to arrive from Bayer Leverkusen and AFC Bournemouth, respectively.
This player analysis will examine Jermie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez style of play and consider how they may alter or improve the EPL Champions playing style going into the 2025/2026 Premier League Season.
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Liverpool Full-Back Use 2024/2025
Despite being the top scorers in the league season, Liverpool have been relatively conservative in using full-backs in attack.
As shown above, Arne Slot tactics keep Liverpool’s full-back pairing deeper and narrower than the league average.
This is even more interesting when you consider that Liverpool plays much higher up the pitch than the average side, as they face more low blocks and deeper defences.
In my opinion, Arne Slot requires this style to maintain defensive control and stability.
Slot has likened himself to a ‘control freak’ in the past and may not trust either of his current full-backs to be able to track back in time.
Trent’s shortcomings in defensive transitions have been well-documented, and Robertson has also struggled at times, having lost pace, which is expected at 31 years old.
Asking these to play high and aggressively leaves them susceptible to counterattacks and direct wing play.
On the other hand, it could also suit Alexander-Arnold’s long-passing ability.
He thrives on building play from deep and has an unbelievable ability to split defences.
Slot is very adept at altering his style to suit his players, but this does not mean the current style is his preferred one.
Below, we will examine the two players coming in and how they may more effectively suit ‘Slot Ball’.
Milos Kerkez Scouting Report
Milos Kerkez is still rumoured at the time of writing, but all sources suggest that this transfer will be completed in the next few weeks.
Kerkez is a highly tenacious left-back who offers constant speed and energy down his side of the field.
At just 21 years of age, he arrives with the hunger of a youngster but with the experience of a veteran.
Kerkez has over 150 senior appearances, including 23 caps for his country.
Kerkez likes to be involved in all stages of the game, from build-up to the final third.
To many, this is a challenge, but he easily manages to get forward and track back when needed due to his top fitness levels and brilliant work ethic.
The touch map below is from the season’s final game, highlighting his involvement in all zones of the pitch.
Milos Kerkez Touch Map Vs Leicester City
One of Kerkez’s main strengths is his ability to carry the ball.
Very few full-backs are better than Kerkez at progressing play and creating transitions from safe possession into dangerous attacks.
For reference, he averages 7.3 progressive carries per game.
His sharp ball striking and impressive technical ability complement this ability.
In his first year at Bournemouth, Kerkez struggled to show his end product as well as he had in the Eredivisie.
This year, we have seen much more of this potential, finishing with seven goal contributions in the league.
Below is an excellent example of his ability going forward.
It showcases his talent at running with the ball, before finishing clinically and demonstrating his great ball-striking potential.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 2, 2025
In addition to scoring, Kerkez is also an excellent creator.
He loves to overlap, push down the line, and seeks to forge opportunities through his crossing.
This year, he averaged 0.97 chances created per 90.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 2, 2025
Milos Kerkez Defensive Attributes
Defensively, Kerkez playing style is very aggressive and has a front-footed approach.
He looks to press his opponent urgently, utilising his speed and agility and does not give his opponent any time on the ball.
He is very eager and also very successful in winning back possession, as shown in his data.
In the 2024/2025 league season, he won possession 4.55 times per 90 and completed 1.2 interceptions.
He dispossessed 63.2% of dribblers, ranking him in the 73rd percentile compared to full-backs in the top five divisions.
As a youngster, he still has weaknesses that occasionally manifest in this area of his game.
Aerodynamically, he can be weak at times and does not win enough of his duels as of right now.
He can also be slightly susceptible to being out of position.
However, this is more due to the enormous demands of his role at Bournemouth, his lack of concentration, and his limited tactical knowledge.
Jeremie Frimpong Scouting Report
Jeremie Frimpong has a unique profile that can provide versatility and attacking dynamism to the Liverpool right-hand side.
His most overwhelming attribute is, by far, his lightning pace and agility.
Much like Kerkez, Frimpong is extremely tenacious and has abundant energy.
He is also extraordinarily fast and uses this to his advantage when carrying the ball up the field, which is arguably his biggest strength.
If isolated against his opposition defender, Frimpong is excellent at slowing him down to the point where he is almost stationary.
He then uses his agility to suddenly come to life, dropping his shoulder and knocking the ball past his man.
He completed 4.11 progressive carries per 90 this season, and 1.48 were into the penalty area.
If this alone is not enough, he is also composed in the final third and makes impressive decisions.
He can whip in a cross along the six-yard box, but when required, he can cut the ball back precisely to his teammate arriving in the box.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 2, 2025
Because of his composure and dribbling ability, Frimpong thrives best high up the pitch.
This season, he managed an impressive five goals and 12 assists.
The season prior, he contributed to 24 goals in 47 games in all competitions.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 2, 2025
The clip above shows his talent perfectly.
He uses his rapid burst of pace to get away from defenders before calmly finishing with a very neat and accurate shot past the keeper.
These qualities give Slot another huge positive that he lacked last season: flexibility.
Frimpong can play right-back, right wing-back, right midfield, or right wing, or he could even play on the left wing.
This will enable Slot to not only give key players, such as Mohamed Salah, a rest but also allow him to rotate shapes and systems mid-game.
This could make Liverpool a much more unpredictable and versatile side to face.
Jeremie Frimpong Defensive Attributes
Defensively, there are still question marks over Frimpong’s ability.
As he plays as a wing-back for Leverkusen, his defensive role is much different to the traditional full-back role we expect to see him in at Anfield.
However, his statistics do not make for excellent reading.
When being dribbled at, Frimpong makes a successful challenge just 47% of the time.
He wins 30% of his aerial duels and averages less than one tackle per game.
If he is to thrive in the Premier League, defending against top wingers is one element he will have to take more responsibility for.
Even the lower teams possess top-class wingers, and there truly is no easy game in England’s top flight.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 2, 2025
One element Liverpool fans will be grateful for is his mentality and commitment to his defensive work.
Even when beaten, Frimpong is unwilling to concede defeat and continues to hassle the opposition until they are dispossessed.
Whilst he may not always succeed in this, he ensures they are under pressure when executing their action, which is never an easy feat.
The only area he excels in is high-pressing, which will be very well received by the famous Kop.
His speed and dynamism, combined with an exceptional work rate, make him a very effective chaser of the ball, which will surely serve him well in Slots football.
Jeremie Frimpong Vs Trent Alexander-Arnold
Despite being similar in terms of attacking contributions, Frimpong has a very different profile from the departing Alexander-Arnold.
Trent is a much better passer of the ball and is much more progressive in this regard.
Frimpong is a much better carrier.
As a result, Alexander-Arnold is suited to a deeper role with time on the ball, whereas Frimpong is much more suited to being high and wide.
Statistics are invaluable for highlighting the difference between the two footballers.
Trent averages 8.83 progressive passes per 90, but just 1.94 progressive carries.
On the other hand, Frimpong averages just 2.0 progressive passes per 90, but 4.11 progressive carries.
Both rank very highly for shot-creating actions, with Frimpong just edging this by 0.05 per 90 with 0.43 overall.
However, as described, these shot-creating actions come from very different methods.
Arne Slots Full-Back Tactics 2025/2026
Despite an unexpectedly brilliant season, the knock-out games against PSG and Newcastle United showed weaknesses in Liverpool’s game.
At times, Liverpool appeared much less fluid than their opposition and lacked the same energy and speed in their play.
Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are nearly unstoppable attackers in their own right, but when Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi joined them, they became even more insurmountable.
Heading into the 2025/2026 season, I believe we will see Slot use his full-backs in a much more progressive and risk-taking way to try to emulate this.
Liverpool In-Possession Changes
Liverpool are purchasing two footballers who thrive in ball carrying and progression through the thirds, so there is no doubt that we will see this utilised more.
Michael Edwards and company are very smart in transfer windows and would not have purchased the players if they did not fit the manager’s desired system.
Looking back at Slot’s Feyenoord‘s side, he preferred his full-backs to be progressive through short passing and carrying.
In the 2023/2024 season, 5.6% of Quincy Hartman‘s passes were long, and 7.6% of Lutsharel Geertruida‘s were.
In this same period, 15.3% of Alexander-Arnold’s passes were long balls.
Therefore, we should expect to see Liverpool’s 2025/2026 full-backs make fewer passes from deep but instead join the attack via short interlinking passes and carry through the thirds.
Slot aims to achieve this via inverted movement into central channels in build-up.
Speaking this year, Slot described how inverted positioning allows for shorter passing, increasing the speed of build-up and improving fluidity.
These positions can be seen below.
Once in the attacking phases, we should see the full-backs’ movements become more fluid; however, we would expect more deep touchline runs and overlapping movements than we did last season.
Slot is tactically strict but is also flexible to suit his players’ needs.
Salah loves to invert, cutting onto his strong foot to shoot.
This naturally draws defenders, leaving space out wide down the channels, which Frimpong should love to exploit.
As shown above, Salah’s inversion and Frimpong’s speed could complement each other perfectly, giving defenders a significant decision on which way to commit.
Alexander-Arnolds’s natural run is inverted, but next season, we will see more line running from Frimpong in the final third and could see assists from these zones.
The left-wing situation remains undecided, but Kerkez will undoubtedly be given attacking freedom, and we can also expect to see more overlaps this year.
Slot uses his full-backs as the side’s main crossing outlets, with Alexander-Arnold and Robertson making the most crosses this season.
This will greatly suit Kerkez, and we can likely expect a decent assist contribution by the end of the season.
Liverpool Defensive Changes
The new arrivals will undoubtedly offer Liverpool more aggression in their press, giving Liverpool better chances at regaining possession sooner.
Frimpong and Kerkez thrive in the press. Both of their styles are marked by aggression and energy.
As shown below, Robertson continues to make these efforts but is no longer as effective as he was in his prime.
He can sometimes be beaten too easily, which has sometimes cost Liverpool goals in big games.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) June 3, 2025
Tactically, we would not expect a mass change in this sector, but more emphasis and freedom will be given to the press, which will likely improve Slot’s aim of control.
Conclusion
To summarise the above, Liverpool fans should be excited about their summer signings joining the team.
They may lose Alexander-Arnold’s passing range, but what will replace it is speed, dynamism, energy, and unbelievable work rates.
Both full-backs are capable of contributing to goals and will give the Kop the attacking football that gets them going.
