Frimpong in a hurry to prove his Euro credentials
After blistering start at Parkehad full-back
JEREMIE Frimpong has been a man in a hurry since his arrival at Celtic. Quick to force a rethink from potential squad player to first-team starter, quick to offer a trademark catchphrase and quick to make an impression, the 19-year-old was unwilling to take a back seat upon his arrival in Glasgow last summer from Manchester City.
As such, there was an element of frustration as Celtic enjoyed their best ever return in a European group stage as they topped their Europa League group with 13 points, setting a Scottish record in the process, with Frimpong’s role little more than a willing spectator.
If the enthusiasm from Frimpong could be heard all the way in Rome as Celtic beat a Lazio side who are currently offering a compelling case to be viewed as Serie A title challengers, it goes without saying that he would rather be front and centre now as Neil Lennon’s side embark on a quest to go beyond the last-32.
It is a measure of Frimpong’s progress at the club that he is seen as a potential starter for the first leg of the knockout tie against Copenhagen in Denmark on Thursday evening. Left off of the club’s initial European squad list back in August, Frimpong was added when progression was sealed.
Having paid close attention to the way that Celtic swatted aside Lazio, Rennes and Cluj in the group stage, Frimpong has maintained that the Parkhead side should be confident against any side in European competition.
“You shouldn’t fear anyone anyway,” he said. “You just go and play. Anything can happen, but we are doing well so we just need to keep it going. Every game we play, we want to win.
“It’s been fun to watch [the Europa League campaign]. The matches have been really intense. I like them like that. My favourite was Lazio away. I wasn’t there but I watched it on TV. I was on the edge of my seat. It was a great match.
“I thought the team played really well in that game and took their chances.”
Since the winter break Lennon has experimented with a back three but the expectancy is that he will revert to a four at the back ahead of the game against Copengahen. That could mean that Frimpong goes back into the team following his return to fitness – although he has also offered Lennon an alternative option by insisting that he is happy to play on the opposite flank. With Greg Taylor injured at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon, that might give Lennon a degree something to consider.
“I play on the right and left,” he said. “Left-back, right-back, I’ve played there. I want to get on the pitch as fast as I can. I’ve been waiting for this day so I’m ready. I don’t know if the system will change. I just have to work hard in training. That’s all I can do.”
In any case, Frimpong has insisted that he will look to tweak his game to cope with the rigours of Scottish football. His time in the treatment room came after he was stretchered off at Rugby Park following a fairly brutal challenge from Kilmarnock’s Alan Power with Frimpong admitting that it still irks him that the challenge did not merit any kind of sanction.
“At first, I thought it was going to be bad but it wasn’t as bad,” he said. “It was just a minor injury. It was just that I got a fright. You know what: I’ve looked back at it and his legs were up. If my foot had been planted on the floor, that would have been really bad.
“As he came to the challenge, my leg was lifted up a little bit. That’s why it wasn’t as bad. He did win the ball but it was a hard, hard tackle. [I thought there would have been] at least a card. The referee didn’t do anything. It was over the top, but what can you do? There were two minutes to go and we were winning. I don’t know what went through his head.
“I knew Scottish football would be tough like this so you’ve got to be ready for it. I just didn’t expect it to come like that. If you’re on the pitch, you can’t be soft. You have to change your style of play. If you have to go in hard, you have to go in hard.”
I’ve been waiting for this day so I’m ready