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Dominik Szoboszlai struggled at the back end of his debut season and is one of the players Arne Slot can oversee a change of trajectory for as he brings new ideas to the table.
The Hungary captain made an immediate impression at Anfield, earning himself comparisons to a legendary No. 8 with his energy and thunderous striking abilities.
As the season progressed, however, Szoboszlai’s influence waned and the demands of the Premier League caught up with him – ensuring he could not live up to his own expectations.
He admitted in May, “Perhaps I set the bar too high because I think there were certain matches where I couldn’t bring out the best in myself.”
The challenge now then will be to turn a corner, and he has Slot to help with just that. But how can the Dutchman get the best out of the 23-year-old?
Rediscover his mojo
Szoboszlai set the bar incredibly high in his early days at the club, he injected fresh legs into a midfield that looked cut off at its knees the previous season.
Before 2023 was over, he had four goals and two assists and looked the player Liverpool had been crying out for, with his creativity, drive and ability to make things happen giving the team a new dimension.
The second half of the campaign, though, saw him tire from the demands, struggle to bounce back from injury and look half the player he was from the start of the season.
The midfielder ended the campaign starting just two of the Reds’ final eight fixtures, but he had still shown enough, that there is more to come.
Currently on his summer break after adding a further 417 minutes to his playing total across 2023/24 – which concluded with 3,841 for club and country combined – Slot’s first job is to see Szoboszlai rediscover his mojo.
That swagger, the one that gave off the impression he is untouchable, ought to return with adequate rest and downtime, but also in a system that plays to his strengths.
Leaning into the No. 10
In his first press conference as Liverpool’s new head coach, Slot refuted the idea that he played a 4-2-3-1 at Feyenoord, instead explaining his philosophy is fluid.
He explained: “I was hoping if people looked at my team they would not say it is 4-2-3-1 or it is 4-3-3 or whatever formation you want to call it.
“I was hoping they would say there is a lot of freedom when they have the ball to take it in different positions.
“So sometimes it is a 4-2-3-1; sometimes it is a 4-1-4-1; sometimes we do build up with three. So there’s a lot of ‘freedom’ when we have the ball.”
That notion of ‘freedom’ that Slot speaks of is where Szoboszlai can thrive, in an attacking No. 10 position that leans on his attacking instincts and is more in line with his role for Hungary.
At international level, the midfielder has five goals and four assists across his last 10 outings in the position we are speaking of, which will not have gone unnoticed by Slot.
Liverpool are not short on No. 10 options, but pushing the 23-year-old slightly forward would allow him to tap into his attack-minded game, be closer to goal and still harness his pressing ability.
“When we don’t have the ball there is not so much freedom,” Slot expanded. “We want to be really aggressive and there’s only one way, and that’s everybody mostly keeps his position.”
Szoboszlai can be disciplined, and aggressive and can thrive with the freedom to play his natural game, all in a system that encourages creativity and play in the opposition’s half.
Slot’s Feyenoord scored 11 goals in the Eredivisie from high turnovers last season – a leading number across Europe’s top seven leagues – and Szoboszlai can be key in returning similar numbers in 2024/25.
While the Dutchman’s style is a lot less chaotic than Jurgen Klopp‘s, preferring a more methodical approach, that he has two deeper midfielders will give the Hungarian a valuable safety net.
We saw at the back end of last season that he was careless with the ball, a symptom of his mental and physical fatigue, and this will need to be managed by Slot and his staff.
He will continue to be a key cog for Hungary and managing his fitness and game time will be imperative to getting the most out of him for a sustained period, rather than the burst we saw last campaign.
But confidence has already been voiced over Slot’s ability to get the best out of Szoboszlai.
“He will be better”
Szoboszlai will have learnt a lot from his debut campaign at Anfield and while he will again go through a transition phase with Slot, there can be optimism over his new beginnings.
And, interestingly, Slot’s former teammate and coaching colleague, Julian Jenner, backed the 23-year-old to improve under the tutelage of his new head coach.
“I think he will be even better than he is now,” Jenner told journalist Bence Bocsak. “He’s going to have a coach who likes to play in the opponent’s half and be very creative.
“He makes a plan for his central defenders and backline and defensive midfielders to play constantly to [the attacking midfielders], the players free, intelligent, and creative.
“Szoboszlai is a very creative player, you can see already he takes the Hungarian team with his own hands, he does basically everything alone. I think he will be better than he is now.”
Slot has a history of improving players and values his ability to do so, Teun Koopmeiners, Orkun Kokcu, Quinten Timber, Luis Sinisterra and Yankuba Minteh are among them.
Szoboszlai has plenty of gears still to go up into and Slot can play a huge role in seeing him fulfil his potential, and more, at Liverpool.
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