Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has questioned Arne Slot’s post-match comments after the Reds’ defeat to Crystal Palace, particularly regarding the Dutch coach’s decision to highlight Jeremie Frimpong’s role in the decisive goal. Nicol firmly believes the blame lies elsewhere, suggesting Milos Kerkez should have been the one held accountable instead. He argued that pointing fingers at Frimpong was unfair, especially considering the circumstances that led to the Palace winner.
Nicol explained that he struggled to understand Slot’s assessment, noting that it only seemed logical the manager was referring to Frimpong’s positioning. According to him, when the ball was played into the air, Frimpong instinctively moved forward a couple of steps, which may have caught the eye of the coach. However, Nicol insisted that this wasn’t the true source of the problem and certainly shouldn’t have been treated as the decisive error in that moment.
Instead, he placed responsibility on Kerkez, who, just moments earlier, had cleared the ball poorly with his right foot, sending it straight to the halfway line and gifting Palace the chance to launch their attack. In Nicol’s eyes, this clearance opened the door for Palace and created the situation that eventually led to the goal. By focusing on Frimpong, Nicol feels Slot overlooked the more critical mistake that set the chain of events in motion.
Furthermore, Nicol reminded that Frimpong’s role under Slot has always been to push forward whenever possible. He stressed that the right-back was likely encouraged throughout the game to take risks and advance up the pitch, which explains his movement before tracking back. While Frimpong did eventually recover, the damage had already been done because Kerkez’s clearance had handed possession back to the opposition in a dangerous area. For Nicol, if Slot wanted to hold anyone accountable, the spotlight should have been directed at Kerkez, not Frimpong.
Would you like me to make this sound more like a news article style report or more like a fan opinion piece?ot’s post-match comments after the Reds’ defeat to Crystal Palace, particularly regarding the Dutch coach’s decision to highlight Jeremie Frimpong’s role in the decisive goal. Nicol firmly believes the blame lies elsewhere, suggesting Milos Kerkez should have been the one held accountable instead. He argued that pointing fingers at Frimpong was unfair, especially considering the circumstances that led to the Palace winner.
Nicol explained that he struggled to understand Slot’s assessment, noting that it only seemed logical the manager was referring to Frimpong’s positioning. According to him, when the ball was played into the air, Frimpong instinctively moved forward a couple of steps, which may have caught the eye of the coach. However, Nicol insisted that this wasn’t the true source of the problem and certainly shouldn’t have been treated as the decisive error in that moment.
Instead, he placed responsibility on Kerkez, who, just moments earlier, had cleared the ball poorly with his right foot, sending it straight to the halfway line and gifting Palace the chance to launch their attack. In Nicol’s eyes, this clearance opened the door for Palace and created the situation that eventually led to the goal. By focusing on Frimpong, Nicol feels Slot overlooked the more critical mistake that set the chain of events in motion.
Furthermore, Nicol reminded that Frimpong’s role under Slot has always been to push forward whenever possible. He stressed that the right-back was likely encouraged throughout the game to take risks and advance up the pitch, which explains his movement before tracking back. While Frimpong did eventually recover, the damage had already been done because Kerkez’s clearance had handed possession back to the opposition in a dangerous area. For Nicol, if Slot wanted to hold anyone accountable, the spotlight should have been directed at Kerkez, not Frimpong.