Bradley and Frimpong: Who's Giving Mo The Ball?

Much is changing within the Liverpool team. Mohamed Salah's relationship with the right-back has always been one of the most important connections.

“It's going to be a question I'm going to ask a lot this season. Who's giving Mo the ball?”

Dan Kennett, Distance Covered Podcast

The Distance Covered podcast is really good, even the episodes which feature guests other than me. Hard to believe, I know. There will always be several insightful, thought-provoking points made on Liverpool issues you may not have considered.

Josh Williams discussed the Reds’ 4-2 win over Bournemouth with Dan Kennett in the most recent episode. The latter commented on new right-back Jeremie Frimpong having little on-pitch relationship with Mohamed Salah.

“The only player who was giving the ball to Salah [against Bournemouth] was [Dominik] Szoboszlai,” Dan said. “I think he had 11 pass combinations to Salah (he did). [Florian] Wirtz only had five. And [Hugo] Ekitike, I think, had two (it was one). And Frimpong had two.”

The final pass from right-back to right-forward occurred with just 4:22 on the clock. While it enabled Salah to create the first big chance of the league campaign, for Virgil van Dijk, Frimpong’s pass didn’t help him (as you can see here).

It means the duo played for approximately 55 minutes prior to the former Leverkusen man’s substitution without him passing to Salah. Three of the four passes from the Egyptian to the Reds’ summer acquisition went backwards too.

They’re not screaming ‘lethal attacking combination’ yet. Frimpong’s injury means they won’t become one in the immediate future either.

The pairing linked up more often at Wembley, with a six-four pass count in Salah’s favour across the 10 they exchanged during the Community Shield. Is that enough? Perhaps the fact Frimpong only made 19 passes against Bournemouth is the more telling issue, rather than how many of them reached the man stationed in front of him. It’s a very low tally for a Liverpool defender.

Comparing Frimpong’s data with anything Trent Alexander-Arnold achieved with Salah is pointless. Not only has he left (did you notice?) but the Reds’ tactical plan for his position has changed.

A look at Conor Bradley’s relationship with Liverpool’s number 11 is far more worthwhile. As noted in the summer, Frimpong’s data was very similar to Bradley’s when he played at right-back rather than wing-back in the Bundesliga:

The Aggregate: Why Liverpool Need Jeremie Frimpong to Step Back in Time

The Northern Irishman doesn’t have a wealth of playing experience with Salah. They have shared the pitch for 1,568 minutes in all competitions, a shade over 1,000 in the Premier League. It remains enough for us to have several clips of interest to review.