Ronald Koeman gives forthright explanation for leaving Jeremie Frimpong out of World Cup squad
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Ronald Koeman has given a typically fortright explanation as to why he omitted Jeremie Frimpong from the Netherlands squad for the upcoming World Cup.On Wednesday, the former Everton boss confirmed his 26-man pick for the tournament in North America, with three Liverpool players included in Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch. ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYThe Oranje head coach has previous for speaking candidly about his players (as the Reds’ number 38 discovered in March), and when quizzed about the 25-year-old’s omission from the World Cup squad, the reply got straight to the point.Koeman explains why Frimpong didn’t make World Cup squadOn Frimpong not making the cut, Koeman explained (via Voetbal International): “It is the pattern of this season that he has been injured regularly.
Against Ecuador [in March] he came on as a substitute and was taken off again very quickly.“That is a physical issue, but I also chose someone else as right winger – [Crysencio] Summerville. “I like those kinds of players, players who are reliable in their game.
He can also play very well on the right side, but he is particularly good in his work ethic.”Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustA setback for Frimpong, but it’s given him a point to proveWhilst bluntly stating that Frimpong’s injury troubles this season ultimately counted against him in terms of World Cup selection, Koeman also seemed to hint at Summerville being ahead in the pecking order even if the Liverpool man hadn’t been plagued by fitness issues.The abortive 14-minute substitute appearance against Ecuador seems to have been the moment which sealed the 25-year-old’s fate, an untimely setback in his final international appearance before the squad for the tournament in North America was selected.The Athletic‘s Gregg Evans wrote that missing out on the World Cup ‘will feel like another cruel blow’ for the ex-Bayer Leverkusen right-back ‘who has had a season to forget’, and unfortunately his first campaign at Anfield was far from ideal.Frimpong has suffered three separate hamstring injuries in the last nine months, while his performances on the pitch have come in for criticism from the likes of Jan Molby and Alan Shearer, with questions over his positional sense and a subdued output in terms of goal contributions.It’s certainly a significant setback for Liverpool’s number 30, but hopefully he can use it as motivation to silence his critics by starring at Anfield next season whilst also winning back Koeman’s trust, and at least he’ll have some downtime during the summer now that he isn’t travelling to North America.