Farewell to the old and welcome the new ones immediately. Can Flynnon make Liverpool forget Arnold?

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Yan Yu

For Liverpool fans, Friday's day was a bit unpleasant. Some fans will be sad again because Arnold "can't wait" to defect to Real Madrid, while others may angrily scold "The traitor is so eager to surrender to the enemy." But now, everyone should be happy. One reason is that various British media released news: Real Madrid paid to take Arnold one month in advance, so after talking for a long time, "it took so many years in vain" finally got a little economic compensation. The second is more important. Real Madrid has just officially announced that Liverpool has confirmed the joining of the new player.

It is said that "But when you see a new person laughing, how can you hear the old person crying?" Flynnon has come, and he still has to miss Arnold? Of course, it still takes time to test how much energy the 24-year-old Dutch wing from Leverkusen can bring to Liverpool.

have shortcomings? No problem

First of all, it can be basically clear, this should be considered a "value-for-money deal". Regardless of Flynnon's next performance, his transfer value determines that Liverpool will not lose too much - 35 million euros, about 29.5 million pounds, such a figure will even remind people of McAllister. Two years ago, Liverpool spent only 35 million (although it was pound) of basic transfer fees (other floating bonuses) to poach his current midfield core.

One of the main reasons why McCa was able to join the company at a low price was that the Argentine always belonged to the Red Army, and the buyout clause in the contract with former boss Brighton meant to be tilted towards Liverpool. This time, Flynnon joined the team, which was also a "no thought-provoking decision". In Anfield, there were Slotte, Van Deck, Heraffenberg and Hackpool and other compatriots. Which Dutch player would not feel that he had a bright future? In addition, in the Old Testament between Flynnon and Leverkusen, there is also a buyout clause, with the amount being 35 million euros.

Someone here may ask: Since the buyout amount is not high, why are no other balls competing with Liverpool? The "heart belongs to each other" mentioned above is on the one hand, and on the other hand, Flynnon is indeed not a perfect player and needs a suitable environment to match. At present, there are many high-quality defenders in the Netherlands, and Dumfries and Flynnon are two brave players on the right. But even though Dumfries is almost a thigh-level player in the national team, the Inter Milan full-back rarely has real scandals with Premier League giants. Why? One of the reasons may be that Dumfries' ball-bearing skills are relatively average and are "obvious flaws". Similarly, Flynnon also has a problem of "the defensive model is too small".

Usually, full-backs do not need to be too tall and powerful, but in the Premier League, where central defenders play on the wing in recent years, 1.72 meters still seems a little too short, and Flynnon is not the kind of very "luxury" player, which naturally makes people worry about his ability to confront the Premier League. In fact, most of the time, you can't call it a "right back." In the Bundesliga, Flynnon's main position is the right wingback in the 3421 formation. In the Dutch national team, he is not a matchup substitute for Dumfries. The two can coexist, and coach Ronald Koeman will regard Flynnon as a winger or midfielder.

Since that's the case, is Slott going to play as a three-century defender? Or maybe he actually bought Salah's substitute? You can guess this, but Flynnon is definitely the corresponding reinforcement for Arnold's departure. The answer to the question of whether he can play as a right-back is definitely "yes", but it only requires some corresponding adaptation. In this way, many Liverpool fans have actually done their psychological construction: Arnold had no defense, so how bad could he be if he replaced Flynnon? British media from all walks of life have basically expressed positive views: with the large coverage of right-center defender Konath and the overall tactical control of the situation, the new Red Army players may not need to face the opponent's forwards frequently.

In addition to the possible tactical tilt and protection (as before against Arnold), Flynnon's own defensive talent should not be ignored. This is a very diligent player with strong running ability, so it should not be a problem for various pursuits and defenses. In this regard, we can compare the number of times Flynnon and Arnold were dribbled and broke through per game. The 2024-25 league data comparison was 0.4 to 1.7, while the Champions League was 0.8 to 1.6. Flynnon was obviously much better. Although the two people have different positions, roles and styles, and the direct comparison is not completely fair, it can be used as a reference at least.

The power is sufficient and the power is worth developing. After talking about the "shortcomings", Flynnon has many strengths. The strong running ability mentioned just now is a very important one. According to statistics, the Dutch completed 1021 sprints in the 33 Bundesliga games in the 2024-25 season (25 starts and 8 substitutes), 2116 intensive runs (also known as high-intensity interval runs), with a total running distance of 259.6 kilometers, with an average running distance of more than 10 kilometers per 90 minutes, and the maximum sprint speed reached 36.34 kilometers per hour. Regarding Flynnon's talent, Hitzelsberg, who had played in the Premier League for many years, commented: "In my opinion, his speed at the start-up on the spot and those first steps was really amazing."

Obviously, Liverpool got another supercar. With Salah's age and speed being lower than before, this supplement is exactly what Liverpool needs. Flynnon can provide quick support for Pharaoh, and we can even imagine that when Salah leaves the team at the end of the year for the African Cup, the Dutch can temporarily shoulder the main responsibility of the right offense. After all, the team is not the only right-back of Flynn Pont. The youth training young player Bradley is also a capable material. The latter, whose offense and defense are more balanced, can be competitive with Flynn Pont, and the possibility of cooperation.

In the past, people said that Arnold had super strong assists, and his long pass skill also made him the defender with the most assists in Premier League history.. Flynnon doesn't have that much data sent from a long range, but as a player who can play for wingers and often quickly enters the opponent's penalty area, he doesn't have to worry about his attack power at all. If you don’t believe it, look at the data. In the past season, Flynnon has contributed 5 goals and 9 assists in all club competitions, including 5 goals and 5 assists in the Bundesliga and 3 assists in the Champions League. In the four and a half seasons at Leverkusen, the Dutchman's total data was 30 goals and 44 assists in 190 games. The most brilliant 2023-24 season, he contributed 14 goals and 12 assists.

So there is no need to doubt Flynnpoon's strength, so will there be problems with adapting? As mentioned earlier, Liverpool has the "Dutch Gang" and is suitable for integration. In addition, Flynnon himself is not unfamiliar with the UK and the Premier League. He moved to the UK from the Netherlands with his family at the age of 7, and almost entered Liverpool's football school. It was only because he was very close to Manchester City that he became a Blue Moon apprentice when he was less than 10 years old. It was not until he was bought by the Celtics of the Scottish Premier League for 300,000 pounds in 2019. In the 2019-20 season, Flynn Pon was named the team's Rookie of the Year by the Celtics. Half a year later, in the winter window of 2021, he embarked on another evolutionary journey and joined Leverkusen for about 10 million pounds.