Jeremie Frimpong has said he owes Neil Lennon plenty as he set himself a jovial goal of avoiding a red card against Aberdeen today.
Lennon put his faith in Frimpong last season when he signed him from Manchester City’s academy and thrust him into the Parkhead first-team before 2019 was out. Now, the Dutch youngster has made 35 appearances for the Hoops and managed nine direct goal contributions (Transfermarkt).
Today, he’ll likely start against Aberdeen in our re-arranged Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. On his last outing to the national stadium, the right-back found himself red-carded after giving away a penalty to Rangers and seemingly handing them the initiative. But in the end, Celtic ended up toppling their rivals and secured the Betfred Cup.
No surprises then that Frimpong’s main goal today is to simply stay on the pitch! In all seriousness, the right-back disclosed a key Lennon message as he looked forward to this afternoon’s crunch clash.
As quoted by the Daily Record, the former Man City starlet said: “Lennon has been there for me since the start of my professional career. He gave me a chance at Celtic and put his trust in me. The manager just tells me to go out and play. That helps me too. He has been a huge part of my career so far.
“This time at Hampden, I want to stay on the pitch! But I got my hands on the trophy against Rangers so the ending was good – even if that moment was bad. Every time I’ve been to that stadium, I’ve won so that has to be good memories.
“In terms of our formation, I do the same thing in either so I don’t mind. But I feel like when we go with a back three, and I’m wing-back, it’s more secure as there is someone to step in if I’m not there.”
Frimpong’s pace will be key today
If there’s one thing you know for certain that you’re going to get from Frimpong, it’s sheer raw pace. Whether he puts in a top performance or an average one, Jeremie will always be darting up and down that right wing as quickly as he can.
And that’s going to be absolutely key today against Aberdeen’s Andrew Considine. The Dons star, recently capped by Scotland, is a decent player. He is what he is. But he’s proven so often in the past that he absolutely hates when pacey wide-men have a run at him.
Considine feels like the likely choice to play left-back for Aberdeen today. In their eyes, he’s a Mr Reliable-type figure, whilst Derek McInnes has often featured Jonny Hayes in a more central position this season.
Frimpong vs Considine is going to be one of the individual battles that catch the supporters’ eyes as one that should reap plenty of rewards for us. Considering decent work down the right played a part in all three of our goals at Pittodrie last weekend, the evidence is there to back it up.
The one question mark to Frimpong’s game these days is his final ball of course. With only three assists in 16 appearances this season, he could do with bulking up on that number. However, his assist for Mohamed Elyounoussi’s second goal in Lille on Thursday night is hopefully an indication that he’s learning in that regard.
But whether Frimpong shines or not at Hampden this afternoon, so long as he’s on the winning side then it doesn’t really matter who’s bagging the goals or assists.
In other news, we discuss why Neil Lennon would be providing a telling confession by dropping Vasilis Barkas.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
