Frimpong Dropped, Timber Returns: Don't Call Him a Failure – The Role Is the Verdict

The UEFA registration sheet closed the 23-man Netherlands squad for the November 2026 Nations League window. Jeremie Frimpong was not on it. Jurrien Timber was – fresh from his recovery period. The English media immediately built the story of a "£29.5 million Liverpool signing turning into a flop." But I have spent seven years watching football from the dark corners of the industry, and I see a different case in that list: a system is strangling a talented player while the public puts all the blame on the man. Since Xavi took over the Netherlands, the rebuild has moved faster than any regime before it. The debut match ended 1-1 against Germany and exposed a team in transition: good on the ball, but short of sharpness in the final third. Xavi needs points, not experiments. In that context, calling up Timber – a defender with positional discipline and good reading of the game – is a clear tactical signal. Frimpong, once expected to become the main attacking right-back for both Liverpool and the Netherlands, was dropped from the plan in the very first camp of the new era. I noticed early what the crowd missed: Frimpong is not a declining player, he is a precise product of the Leverkusen system – and when that system disappeared, every number collapsed with it. I spent that summer rewatching Leverkusen's matches under Xabi Alonso. When the lights went off and nobody was looking at the scoreboard, I found what every sports bulletin skipped: Frimpong is a weapon built specifically for the space behind the opponent's defense. Alonso never asked him to defend in the classic way. He gave him the entire right flank, letting him receive the ball near the touchline, wait for the center-back to be pulled wide, and then cross. In the historic Bundesliga title season, Frimpong scored 14 goals and added 10 assists – numbers of a forward, not a full-back. The Netherlands has always been proud of producing explosive attacking full-backs, but the Xavi era is rewriting that rule. Timber is not the kind of defender who charges forward like thunder; he is the type who reads the game like a center-back, drops in to cover at the right moment, and rarely leaves his position. That contrast explains why Frimpong was left out, even though he was born to run the wing in a high-pressing team. Xavi, a disciple of Johan Cruyff carrying Barcelona's possession doctrine into the national team, is prioritizing safety over explosion. In the modern era of the Nations League – where every match counts and there are no friendlies for experimentation – a new coach will pick Timber over Frimpong nine times out of ten. That is not a character verdict. That is the calculation of a manager under result pressure. Look at Timber again. He is the type of player fans usually ignore because he does not score beautiful goals or dribble past opponents. But he is the hero in the dark – the one who reads the opponent's intentions, cleans dangerous space, and keeps the defensive line from being exposed. When he recovered, Xavi gave him a spot immediately, without waiting for full fitness. That shows the Netherlands under Xavi is no longer a place for exciting experiments. It is a place to win through solidity. And solidity, in Xavi's eyes, never comes from a full-back who runs forward tirelessly but never tracks back. At Liverpool, Frimpong's role changed completely. The Liverpool manager uses him as a right-back in a back four – he must cover the flank, drop back in transition, and duel with wingers in his own third. Losing the corridor, losing the space, losing the freedom to push high, Frimpong became a different player: 0 goals and 1 assist in his entire first season, with only 3 starts in the first 5 Premier League games of this campaign. People say he lost his form. I say nothing was lost – I only see a system that took away everything that once produced those 14-10 numbers. The market speaks louder than the roar of the crowd. Liverpool activated the £29.5 million release clause to bring him from Leverkusen. It is not a huge figure, but it carried huge expectations because the media attached the label "heir to Trent Alexander-Arnold." Who created that label? Liverpool's recruiters, not Frimpong. He is simply a player suited to a specific role – and that role was changed without anyone taking responsibility. At 25, Frimpong is still in the peak window of a full-back's career, still valuable enough to sell or loan if Liverpool decides quickly. But if they keep him in a role that makes him harmless, the winter transfer window will be the last chance to rescue the value of that £29.5 million asset. A signature on a contract is only a moment; the real game begins when it is placed in the wrong position. In this context, Frimpong's agent has certainly started making calls. That is the law of the industry: when a player has no starting spot, the agent looks for an exit. A loan to a mid-tier European club – where he starts every week – would save not only his career but also Liverpool's asset value. A loan move in winter or next summer is the most rational outcome for all parties. Meanwhile, the Netherlands still has other options: Denzel Dumfries remains a physically powerful right-back, Timber drops deeper like a center-back, and Xavi could even use an inverted right midfielder there. Frimpong lost his place not because nobody needs him – but because nobody needs him in the role they want. The media impact on Frimpong right now is more dangerous than tactics. The "flop" label is forming in the English press, and once it becomes a sticker, a player spends months trying to peel it off. Every lost ball is magnified, every bench appearance becomes "evidence" of failure. But who remembers that last season, when Liverpool used him as a right-back in a big match, the team won and he quietly did his defensive job? Nobody. Because we prefer the one-dimensional story: an expensive player who does not score is a bad signing. The truth is more complex – but truth always starts from the small details the crowd refuses to read. One possibility I must accept: I am looking at this through the lens of sympathy for a misunderstood player. Maybe Frimpong is only good in a narrow role, and has been found out at the highest level. Liverpool tracked him for years before making the decision, and they surely saw those limits. Also, Timber could return without reaching top form, forcing Xavi to recall Frimpong in the next window – in that case I will admit the omission was only temporary. But I still remember the Leipzig lesson of 2026, when I wrote that Nagelsmann should bench Timo Werner from the knockout stage – everyone called me crazy, then Werner disappeared in the semifinal against PSG. I was right about the result, but I almost missed that Werner was also a victim of being forced into a central striker role when he only thrived with space behind. The same mistake, repeated twice, is a sign of a systematic problem in how we judge wide players. My prediction can be tested within the next eight matches. If Frimpong starts three consecutive games at Liverpool before the end-of-year break, he will be named in the Netherlands squad for the Greece fixture in the next round. If he keeps sitting on the bench, the January window will explode with loan talk – and that may be the rescue for both sides. I bet with myself that the hottest twist is the truth: Frimpong never lost his talent, he only lost the system that made him. Turn on the lights where nobody looks, and you will see the story has been told wrong from the beginning. So between a player condemned by public opinion and a system staying silent, who are we really judging?