Topic: Welcome Dominik Szoboszlai

[GreatEx]

It's funny how when we kept winning despite playing a bunch of kids no one outside the club had heard of, Klopp was praised for creating an environment where everyone understood the system at all levels, meaning academy kids could make a seamless transition to the top, but one bad result and suddenly Klopp is a rigid dinosaur who doesn't know how to use his players.

[LiverBirdKop]

Been disappointed that he hasn't improved since arriving. Not giving up on him obviously, but I honestly thought he looked like one of those players on the verge of stardom. Thought he'd become a star under Jurgen. I don't see that at all anymore. Still only 23 and not in his ideal position so plenty of time to become a very good player.

[Agent99]

He's lost at sea after spending a third of the season as a water-carrier RCM covering a bunch of donkeys on the right side and trent/bradley bombing forward. He's goosed now and deserves a run in the final third of the pitch without as much running to do next season.

Who are these donkeys?

[Sat on the bar]

Lots of ability, but a luxury at the same time. Not one who is gonna win a tackle and lead vocally which is fine, but it puts a lot of extra work on the lads playing in the middle with him. All I heard about and seen of him before he landed was how great his shooting was. He showed that early doors (Villa, Leicester) but for some reason, doesn’t seem to want to pull the trigger in recent times. Been far too guilty of late trying to play little intricate passes or trying to thread it through the eye of a needle. Needs to stop trying to over simplify the game and get back to doing the simple things.

[spider-neil]

Who are these donkeys?

Yes, who are these donkeys? Bradley? Salah?

[lionel_messias]

Been disappointed that he hasn't improved since arriving. Not giving up on him obviously, but I honestly thought he looked like one of those players on the verge of stardom. Thought he'd become a star under Jurgen. I don't see that at all anymore. Still only 23 and not in his ideal position so plenty of time to become a very good player.

Well done for writing him off at 23 and in his first season here.
Maybe get back to EA Sports FC and give your joypads a whirl.

Or lets see how does under a new coach?

[Egyptian36]

Well done for writing him off at 23 and in his first season here.
Maybe get back to EA Sports FC and give your joypads a whirl.

Or lets see how does under a new coach?

How is he writing him off when he is saying not giving up on him and still only 23 and not in his ideal position so plenty of time to become a very good player ?

[LiverBirdKop]

Well done for writing him off at 23 and in his first season here.
Maybe get back to EA Sports FC and give your joypads a whirl.

Or lets see how does under a new coach?

You need to work on your reading comprehension. 

[Fromola]

He's been overused in the wrong positions. Klopp has done him as dirty as he did Gakpo but we won't be having this conversation till next season.

He's lost at sea after spending a third of the season as a water-carrier RCM covering a bunch of donkeys on the right side and trent/bradley bombing forward. He's goosed now and deserves a run in the final third of the pitch without as much running to do next season.

He's the best attacking midfielder we have in the team and will show it next season. Not worried about him. It's not a miracle he smashes it for Hungary every time he plays for them.

No use judging him this season because he's been utilised as the main presser when we're carrying too many who don't or lads who are just slow.

He would have slotted seamlessly into the machine we had a few years ago, now we're asking him to be the engine of the team, rather than focus on his quality.

[AndyMuller]

Mad if he is starting again today, Elliott needs to be ahead of him at this point.

[red mongoose]

This is some real Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of shit since the turn of the year. Who is this and what have you done with Dom?

[AndyMuller]

He’s shit. A right winger playing centre mid who has a good 2 months and that was it.

[Redley]

He’s been absolutely horrendous since like September

[MonsLibpool]

Just hasn't been playing well in months.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

He’s shit. A right winger playing centre mid who has a good 2 months and that was it.

Nah come off it. He's been well below par for a while but his engine made a difference after coming on. He's put the ball on a plate for Jota with one of his trademark runs in that "De Bruyne zone". That run caused them more problems than anything else today bar Diaz and Robbo for 10 mins in the first half.

It's frustrating that him and Elliott both prefer that right side of midfield because along with Mac they're the only midfielders we have who can open up a defence. To start neither of them today was another shocking selection by the manager.

[Cozzymoto]

Just hasn't been playing well in months.

Aside from the first 2 months he’s been sitting a passenger for half a year.

[MosDefKop]

The way Szoboszlai's form has fallen of a cliff makes me wonder if there is something going on in his personal life.

I am far from giving up on him. I believe he is a fundamentally quality player.  I suspect he will benefit from a more conventional coach who will give him a clearer structure to work in.
He is young so should come again.

[Djimigotamedal]

His decision making and I guess football intelligence is very poor at the moment, the goal given away against Atalanta and then today he played a pass back to Ali that almost got cut out from nearly a throw in position. Just constantly think what is he doing? Guess he’s just low on confidence but it’s showing a lot

[kvarmeismydad]

He needs to win his challenges and keep it simple. Be an actual midfielder. Its as if we've put a not wanting to get injured version of Nunez in midfield.

[6BigCups]

The drop off from him has been incredible.

[JackWard33]

The drop off from him has been incredible.

Young player, first season in the league with way more games in the season under the most intensive playing style possible with a manger who ran him the ground in the first half of the season … then a significant injury
He’ll be grand next season

[RyanBabel19]

Has looked tired for some time but the first half of the season displayed a bit of what he can do

Think he needs to take better care of the ball but I also think he’s better as an AM rather than the role being asked of him. Not really worried about him long term, he’s young and the quality is there, just needs to be switched on a bit more, seems to mess up too many short passes

[lindylou100]

Whilst he's skillful, he doesn't look like he's got the engine in him to consistently cope with the intensity and speed of this league. often times he needs to be subbed at 70 minutes after looking dead on his feet.

I'd like to see him do a full preseason and see how he does next season, maybe this is and adjustment period.

[PaleBlueDot]

It's pretty simple why after a blinding start things have gone downhill for Szoboszlai. He's been misused by Klopp more than anyone else in the team (yes more than Gakpo).

Having watched the Buli last season Szoboszlai was one of the best attacking talents in the league. He carried his form into the start of this season until Klopp figured out he has some engine on him and decided to shove him into RCM and cover a LOT of ground covering for the Salah/inverted full-back system.

Szoboszlai played 50 odd games for club and country last season. He only played 3 of those in central midfield.. He had 33 G/A for club and country from playing as part of the front 3...primarily in an attacking midfield position even if he would start on the right or left of the striker.

He has one of the best shots in the league and will be the biggest beneficiary of playing the LW/LAM position under Amorim...no longer having to run like a dog all game. I am not worried at all and I think a lot of our fans need to have a bit of perspective on his time here and what he's been asked to do.

[Coolie High]

He has one of the best shots in the league but his best total in his career is 6 goals…

[PaleBlueDot]

He has one of the best shots in the league but his best total in his career is 6 goals…

In the league yes, in all comps its always more. He was 21 at the start of last season. 22 at the start of this. He needs to be given the opportunity in attacking mid for an extended period and watch him fly.

Remember Countinho being lightweight then all of a sudden you're fecked if you leave him outside the box with space? He might not have as insane dribbling but that shooting will come in strong 100%.

[Knight]

It's pretty simple why after a blinding start things have gone downhill for Szoboszlai. He's been misused by Klopp more than anyone else in the team (yes more than Gakpo).

Having watched the Buli last season Szoboszlai was one of the best attacking talents in the league. He carried his form into the start of this season until Klopp figured out he has some engine on him and decided to shove him into RCM and cover a LOT of ground covering for the Salah/inverted full-back system.

Szoboszlai played 50 odd games for club and country last season. He only played 3 of those in central midfield.. He had 33 G/A for club and country from playing as part of the front 3...primarily in an attacking midfield position even if he would start on the right or left of the striker.

He has one of the best shots in the league and will be the biggest beneficiary of playing the LW/LAM position under Amorim...no longer having to run like a dog all game. I am not worried at all and I think a lot of our fans need to have a bit of perspective on his time here and what he's been asked to do.

I don’t think it’s quite true to say he’s been shunted into a RCM position. He was picking the ball up against Utd (in the league game) in plenty of ‘attacking midfield’ positions. He’s been our most advanced and attacking 8 for most of the season. I do think the lack of athleticism from Mac and Endo has meant we’ve perhaps needed Szoboslai’s legs more but the above is too binary.

[PaleBlueDot]

I don’t think it’s quite true to say he’s been shunted into a RCM position. He was picking the ball up against Utd (in the league game) in plenty of ‘attacking midfield’ positions. He’s been our most advanced and attacking 8 for most of the season. I do think the lack of athleticism from Mac and Endo has meant we’ve perhaps needed Szoboslai’s legs more but the above is too binary.

Just not true sorry. He started off like that sure, which is why he was killing it...but he has played most games in RCM this season, and done an incredible amount of off the ball work.

He does not get the freedom that maybe an Elliot would have in those attacking positions without having defensive responsibilities.

[lionel_messias]

Just not true sorry. He started off like that sure, which is why he was killing it...but he has played most games in RCM this season, and done an incredible amount of off the ball work.

He does not get the freedom that maybe an Elliot would have in those attacking positions without having defensive responsibilities.

I think he needs to get forward with freedom. He is 23 years old and maybe he should just be allowed to bang goals in like he does for his national side?

We having trouble enough scoring goals, I'm still scratching my head since my trip to Anfield Sunday.

Maybe we just allow this fella to arrive around the box and start leathering the thing!!!!

[Knight]

Just not true sorry. He started off like that sure, which is why he was killing it...but he has played most games in RCM this season, and done an incredible amount of off the ball work.

He does not get the freedom that maybe an Elliot would have in those attacking positions without having defensive responsibilities.

Yeah you're wrong, sorry. He's obviously played as the right sided 8 so in that sense he plays from the right but then he was always coming into play as one of the 8s, rather than a wide forward and it's not misusing him to play him as a 8, that's the only 'use' of him possible in a Klopp Liverpool team. But the reality is he's got very comparable attacking stats as Elliott and Elliott has picked up lots of his league minutes from a right forward position, not as an 8. He's in the 98th percentile for progressive passes received, 94th percentile for touches in the attacking box and 97th percentile for shot creating actions, which is MILES ahead of every other Liverpool midfielder except for Elliott (who, again, has played lots of PL minutes from the right forward position). And he's scoring goals at a better rate than every other Liverpool midfielder, including Elliott, too. When you watch him he's the most likely of our midfielders to make off the ball runs beyond the opposition too And then off the ball he's not doing a great deal aside from interceptions, which he's pretty great at. He's nearly always been the most attacking midfielder we've had on the pitch. .That's just the reality of it.

[PaleBlueDot]

Yeah you're wrong, sorry. He's obviously played as the right sided 8 so in that sense he plays from the right but then he was always coming into play as one of the 8s, rather than a wide forward and it's not misusing him to play him as a 8, that's the only 'use' of him possible in a Klopp Liverpool team. But the reality is he's got very comparable attacking stats as Elliott and Elliott has picked up lots of his league minutes from a right forward position, not as an 8. He's in the 98th percentile for progressive passes received, 94th percentile for touches in the attacking box and 97th percentile for shot creating actions, which is MILES ahead of every other Liverpool midfielder except for Elliott (who, again, has played lots of PL minutes from the right forward position). And he's scoring goals at a better rate than every other Liverpool midfielder, including Elliott, too. When you watch him he's the most likely of our midfielders to make off the ball runs beyond the opposition too And then off the ball he's not doing a great deal aside from interceptions, which he's pretty great at. He's nearly always been the most attacking midfielder we've had on the pitch. .That's just the reality of it.

Playing as a right sided 8 in this Klopp team is absolutely not the same as an attacking midfielder or a drifting inside forward? Do you think he does the same thing as Salah or Diaz when we don't have the ball?

You're bringing these attacking stats in that I expect him to have because he is a good footballer but it doesn't paint the whole picture of the off the ball work he's been doing all season that you're ignoring. This is a first in his career to be working that hard off the ball and it's clearly affected his attacking ability. The lad is goosed everytime he is in an attacking position coz he runs like a donkey all game. I watched him play last season and it's not the same.

Crazy that you think he's not doing a great deal off the ball aside from interceptions. But then again when there is a narrative against a player his positives often get diminished.

I think he needs to get forward with freedom. He is 23 years old and maybe he should just be allowed to bang goals in like he does for his national side?

We having trouble enough scoring goals, I'm still scratching my head since my trip to Anfield Sunday.

Maybe we just allow this fella to arrive around the box and start leathering the thing!!!!

Exactly what I am saying. It's not a coincidence he plays a blinder for Hungary every game. He has the freedom to.

[Knight]

Playing as a right sided 8 in this Klopp team is absolutely not the same as an attacking midfielder or a drifting inside forward? Do you think he does the same thing as Salah or Diaz when we don't have the ball?

You're bringing these attacking stats in that I expect him to have because he is a good footballer but it doesn't paint the whole picture of the off the ball work he's been doing all season that you're ignoring. This is a first in his career to be working that hard off the ball and it's clearly affected his attacking ability. The lad is goosed everytime he is in an attacking position coz he runs like a donkey all game. I watched him play last season and it's not the same.

Crazy that you think he's not doing a great deal off the ball aside from interceptions. But then again when there is a narrative against a player his positives often get diminished.

Exactly what I am saying. It's not a coincidence he plays a blinder for Hungary every game. He has the freedom to.

Obviously he's not doing what Diaz or Salah do. But then they're not attacking midfielders for us, you realise that right? Did you think he was going to come in and play as a wide forward for us? If so that's really on you and totally wrong expectations. As for the attacking stats - yes I just showed he's an attacking midfielder for us. He's putting up elite level attacking stats for a midfielder, because he's our attacking midfielder...
As for not doing much off the ball, he's running around a lot and pressing  a lot (again, welcome to a Klopp team, they're all expected to do this), but he's not doing much in terms of tackles, blocks etc. That is, the things that our defensive midfielders do more of.

As for the Hungary comparison - yeah no top level footballer will get the freedom for their club that they get for their nation. That's just not how top level football works. Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal all ask a lot of all their outfield players off the ball. No one gets a free pass. International football is almost a different sport in some ways these days, the comparison is irrelevant. Especially when the player in question is head and shoulders above most of his teammates, like Szoboslai is for Hungary.

[PaleBlueDot]

Obviously he's not doing what Diaz or Salah do. But then they're not attacking midfielders for us, you realise that right? Did you think he was going to come in and play as a wide forward for us? If so that's really on you and totally wrong expectations. As for the attacking stats - yes I just showed he's an attacking midfielder for us. He's putting up elite level attacking stats for a midfielder, because he's our attacking midfielder...
As for not doing much off the ball, he's running around a lot and pressing  a lot (again, welcome to a Klopp team, they're all expected to do this), but he's not doing much in terms of tackles, blocks etc. That is, the things that our defensive midfielders do more of.

As for the Hungary comparison - yeah no top level footballer will get the freedom for their club that they get for their nation. That's just not how top level football works. Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal all ask a lot of all their outfield players off the ball. No one gets a free pass. International football is almost a different sport in some ways these days, the comparison is irrelevant. Especially when the player in question is head and shoulders above most of his teammates, like Szoboslai is for Hungary.

We must have different definitions of an attacking midfielder because an 8 is a box to box like Gerrard was...this is his first season ever in this role and I'm arguing Szoboszlai's best position is in the 10 like a Coutinho where he has been playing much of his career (or off one of the sides is he wasn't). Because he is that mould of player. Coutinho, Maddison, Odegaard...midfield three but not in the trenches as much. Yes, he is not as silky as them technically but can be just as effective. Has the pace to drive, knows when to release ahead and can pick the right pass and a ridiculous shot to boot. He suffers from being tall and athletic and being able to run ridiculous amounts so he's asked to do this role.

I get that this is Klopp's system and we play a 4-3-3 but my whole point was he is playing out of position and being judged on his new role when it's not best suited to him. I'm not saying Klopp is wrong either but just providing context to perplexed fans wondering why he isn't playing like he was in Sept-Nov.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

Szoboszlai was always going to play that right-sided midfield role for us. The signing didn't make sense otherwise, and I think we saw how well this can work in the early months of the season. Henderson's energy and natural inclination to move towards that flank, but with an even greater engine and far more technical ability.

What I don't understand is why this hasn't allowed Salah to come off the line more often than we have seen this season. Sure, Szob's runs in the "De Bruyne zone" are great, but so are his overlaps. Last season he played as a RM in a 4-2-2-2 for Leipzig and was phenomenal. I think we should have used him in this manner more often, but for whatever reason, Klopp has been completely wedded to 4-3-3 for several years now and very rarely changes it.

[Knight]

We must have different definitions of an attacking midfielder because an 8 is a box to box like Gerrard was...this is his first season ever in this role and I'm arguing Szoboszlai's best position is in the 10 like a Coutinho where he has been playing much of his career (or off one of the sides is he wasn't). Because he is that mould of player. Coutinho, Maddison, Odegaard...midfield three but not in the trenches as much. Yes, he is not as silky as them technically but can be just as effective. Has the pace to drive, knows when to release ahead and can pick the right pass and a ridiculous shot to boot. He suffers from being tall and athletic and being able to run ridiculous amounts so he's asked to do this role.

I get that this is Klopp's system and we play a 4-3-3 but my whole point was he is playing out of position and being judged on his new role when it's not best suited to him. I'm not saying Klopp is wrong either but just providing context to perplexed fans wondering why he isn't playing like he was in Sept-Nov.

Did Szoboslai play as a 10 that much before coming here? I thought he often played in a wide midfield role. Wasn't he more of a cross between our wide forwards and our 8s?

But anyway, barely any attacking midfielders play as 10s these days. Not pure 10s anyway. City's attacking midfielders are often 8s. Certainly Arsenal play a 433 with Odegaard as an 8. His role hasn't changed from Sept-Nov. He's always been our most attacking midfielder. He's always played as our right sided 8. And that has never precluded him from being our most attacking midfielder. It has precluded him from being our 10, but he's never been that and under Klopp never will be. This is where the attacking numbers are so helpful, you don't have to worry about nominal position, you can just look at role and the numbers show his role is to do plenty of attacking midfield play, and his numbers show he doesn't do so much defensive midfield play. As an 8 (box to box) his role is weighed far more towards the attacking side.

[Cpt_Reina]

Think he's another who should be better than he actually is.

Great physical presence. Great athlete. Some outstanding technical qualities, specifically his ball striking, but there's something missing there. He's got all the tools but relatively no idea how to use them.

His vision is close to appalling, never sees anything over his shoulder, wants too long on the ball, sluggish with his decision making and then executes poorly.

He's just kind of a blunt tool at this point, a hammer. Which is fine, there's plenty of occasions where you need a hammer for the job at hand. But we've seen enough by now to know what he doesn't have and that's much by the way of finesse or nous.

Comes across like a player who as he was developing as a kid he matured physically faster than those around him. He was the best in his age group and he played hero football. Didn't get the coaching he needed to develop beyond that so it's going to be hard to add it now.

One to knock the door down rather than pick the lock.

[dai_bonehead]

He's a top talent with a top mentality. He'll be fine.

[lionel_messias]

You need to work on your reading comprehension. 

"Not giving up on him obviously, but I honestly thought he looked like one of those players on the verge of stardom. Thought he'd become a star under Jurgen. I don't see that at all anymore."

In the next 6 games, probably not, no.

[cptrios]

Anyone else get the feeling that Klopp announcing his departure really messed with Szobo mentally? It'll obviously have had a different effect on every player, but maybe he was particularly heart-set on playing under Jurgen for the foreseeable future, and that pulled the rug out from under him.

[kingmonkey007]

Anyone else get the feeling that Klopp announcing his departure really messed with Szobo mentally? It'll obviously have had a different effect on every player, but maybe he was particularly heart-set on playing under Jurgen for the foreseeable future, and that pulled the rug out from under him.

Bit of a reach that