Topic: Dominik Szoboszlai

[spider-neil]

Dom's problem is we're playing him too far away from the opposition penalty area. For his previous club and for his country he  is much more involved with the build up of attacks. At his previous club he was a forward.

[mullyred94]

Still counts as running.

Only about 15% of the time mate

[LFCEmpire]

Only about 15% of the time mate

60% of the time, it works every time.

[Jookie]

Same position as Gravenberch, Jones, Elliott, Konate, Nunez, Gakpo and others. Literally same position on the pitch as some as well.

Szoboszlai, similar to those above, has shown enough promise and is at an age where it’s easy to see how he could improve and be a real asset in future years.

Equally he’s shown enough areas for improvement that cast doubt on whether he’ll reach his full potential.


It’s not unusual for a younger player to be in this position at a top club. The challenge we have is that Szoboszlai is one of a number of players in the same situation in the squad. There’s also about 4 players who play in the same position who have the same question marks about turning potential into a consistently high performer.


It’s an interesting one for the new manager to handle. Can you carry 4 or 5 players in the same position who are at similar stages of their career arc and require consistent selection to progress?

[rocco]

Looked world class potential when he started … just need Slot to figure out how to get back to that .

[MonsLibpool]

It's his first season anyway. Very talented players and hopefully he can show more consistently next season.

Physically,  he needs to be more willing to make tackles. That's something he could improve on.

There's something there to work with.

[Giono]

From what I've read about Slot, Dom may be destined to play wide right for us rather than in midfield. My guess is that he'd thrive there.

[exiledintheUSA]

60% of the time, it works every time.

Sex Panther should be Dom's new nickname.

[Coolie High]

Same position as Gravenberch, Jones, Elliott, Konate, Nunez, Gakpo and others. Literally same position on the pitch as some as well.

Szoboszlai, similar to those above, has shown enough promise and is at an age where it’s easy to see how he could improve and be a real asset in future years.

Equally he’s shown enough areas for improvement that cast doubt on whether he’ll reach his full potential.


It’s not unusual for a younger player to be in this position at a top club. The challenge we have is that Szoboszlai is one of a number of players in the same situation in the squad. There’s also about 4 players who play in the same position who have the same question marks about turning potential into a consistently high performer.


It’s an interesting one for the new manager to handle. Can you carry 4 or 5 players in the same position who are at similar stages of their career arc and require consistent selection to progress?

I don’t think you can I said this at the start of the summer, would have made sense to buy another DM, rather than another young attacking midfielder in Gravenberch to compete with Jones Elliott Szoboszlai and Clark.

[nellyp]

I can't help but think he needs to be further forward. I agree that he plays better for country and last club, but he was (and is for country) more of a forward player. he scores for Hungary a lot, and is their shining star. it is sooo difficult that we have so many midfielders who want to get forward

[LFCEmpire]

Sex Panther should be Dom's new nickname.

Great idea. 

[RedG13]

Dom's problem is we're playing him too far away from the opposition penalty area. For his previous club and for his country he  is much more involved with the build up of attacks. At his previous club he was a forward.

He played consistently in the right hand half space that where he played a bunch for Liverpool offensively. Defensively he had cover Midfield more then the wing

[Bjornar]

It became very obvious last season that we needed athleticism in central midfield. That's why we signed an athletic player in Szoboszlai and played him in central midfield, not somewhere else. It's not like it's some big mystery why that became his role in our setup. I think it's worked, for the most part, though he's going through a difficult period now.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Szobo about to become the youngest player to captain at the Euros. A proud moment for the young man.

[MonsLibpool]

Very good performance and a fantastic assist.

[careful on these streets, I've heard stories]

Where did he play? Seems like he much deeper in the second half

[Zlen]

Where did he play? Seems like he much deeper in the second half

Played all over. Struggled to do much because Hungary couldn’t get the ball upfield for 60 minutes. One time he got a ball in a decent position - assist. Hard to say if he was good or not, Hungary in general are pretty crap so he immediately stands out but is also badly crippled by his team.

[In the Name of Klopp]

Very good performance and a fantastic assist.

In what match? Surely not against the Swiss. He was one of the worst Hungarians on the pitch 

[RedSamba]

Very good performance and a fantastic assist.

Bang average bar the assist. Not sure which game you were watching

[WhereAngelsPlay]

They were all poor on the 1st half, I'd say Dom was one of their best in the 2nd.

[MonsLibpool]

Bang average bar the assist. Not sure which game you were watching

Agree to disagree I guess.

https://xcancel.com/AnythingLFC_/status/1802005194797948989

"Bang average"🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Egyptian36]

Don't know how you guys managed to watch the game. Couldn't watch for 10 minutes extremely boring two average teams

[Bread]

Wouldn't be singling out Szobo for criticism from that Hungary game. Delivered the only bit of quality in what was a pretty turgid team performance.

[Eeyore]

Everyone keeps on peddling the same claim without showing any evidence for this giant terrible thing we've asked him to do for us.

Here's some data...

By the end of the 1st half of this season he wasn't even in the top 10 players for distance run across the Premier League.

His total distance run was 199.6 km

James Ward-Prowse had run 224 km for West Ham in first and the 10th most was Conor Gallagher of Chelsea at 206.3.

Even rat face at Man Utd had run more than Szobi at 213.7 km.

What exactly is he doing that is so abnormal for a football player, let alone a young fit athlete and that is somehow having a sudden and severe impact on his form? 

If it were such a serious detriment to his body it would have been picked up by the sports science team in his blood work that would have shown a slow rate of recovery.  Which in any event would have meant we'd adjust the amount of time he'd be playing or how frequently we played him.

Recall also that before he signed for us, he suffered a similarly abrupt loss of form that saw him lose his place in the RB Leipzig team for a period of time.  Was that also because they asked him to run too much?

Perhaps the answer is as simple as he's a young player that still has a lot of inconsistency in his game?

Kilometres aren't always equal though. Someone like Ward Prowse is doing easy kms shuffling from side to side plugging gaps in a low block. That is completely different to playing in a counter pressing side where you kms are largely high intensity sprints either pressing the opposition or high intensity recovery runs when we turnover possession.

[MonsLibpool]

Captain Szobo!

[fancy lad]

All good.  Except for the part where the commentator said he’s been practicing away from the rest of the team due to injury.

[TtotheVizzo]

He has looked very subdued for Hungary, would make sense if he's nursing a bit of an injury, doesn't seem to be running anywhere near as much as he did for us.

Also can't really understand his role in their system. He's their best player but he is shunted out wide in the vain hope that he can stick a cross in to the far post (which did get them a goal against Switzerland tbf).

Hope they don't qualify and he can get a proper rest and come back as early as possible for Slot to get a good look at him.

[Vinay]

He looked underwhelming for Hungary in the Euros. Maybe the whole team is weak. I hope he can have a good rest over the summer and then we take it from there.

[RyanBabel19]

The fake shot and little shimmy into their box between 2 scotland players was sublime

[Zlen]

Not sure what the complaints are really. Hungary are a pretty limited team and from what I saw yesterday against Scotland he was playing effectively two roles, both coming down as a deep playmaker to get Hungary up the pitch and then once closer to the goal he would be the one to speed up the attack and play the final pass. Does look tired, but he worked so hard for his team.

[lionel_messias]

He looked underwhelming for Hungary in the Euros. Maybe the whole team is weak. I hope he can have a good rest over the summer and then we take it from there.

Man of the Match versus Scotland, in a poor game. Did not look subdued to me.

[Bennett]

Man of the Match versus Scotland, in a poor game. Did not look subdued to me.

I didn't watch yesterday but he was also Hungary's best player in the game against Germany.

[Boaty McBoatface]

Thought he looked fine. Didn't pull up any trees, but was central to most of Hungary's attacking moves.

[deano2727]

Pretty poor, but then so was almost everyone on the pitch. Hopefully, Hungary don't get through and he can get some extra rest (plus it's one less shite team to watch).

[spider-neil]

He needs a rest.

[SamLad]

He needs a rest.

Hell yeah.  I think his first PL season just about did him in.  Give him a month off, at least.

[farawayred]

He looked underwhelming for Hungary in the Euros. Maybe the whole team is weak. I hope he can have a good rest over the summer and then we take it from there.

The only way that's happening is if Czehia beats Turkey by a goal or Georgia beats Portugal, right? Slim chance...

[lionel_messias]

He's going to be a brilliant player for Arne Slot I think. We just need to manage his physical load,

Can see him ripping up the Champions League next season too...

[killer-heels]

The question will be where he plays. Particularly if we go to a 4-4-2.

[lionel_messias]

The question will be where he plays. Particularly if we go to a 4-4-2.

Would be interesting to see us in 4-4-2 for sure. He seems to play best as an attacking midfielder, often starting wide.

Why do you suggest 442 though, as Slot doesn't play that way?