Neil Jones has voiced his satisfaction with Dominik Szoboszlai’s ability to strike the ground running in his first few weeks at Liverpool.
The Hungary international put up an outstanding display as Jurgen Klopp’s side thrashed Bournemouth 3-1 at Anfield on Saturday.
When we were reduced to 10 men following Alexis Mac Allister’s severe dismissal, our new No. 8 appeared to cover every single blade of glass and came to life.
“Not to bring Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into the equation again, but someone did mention to me that Liverpool haven’t really had a player like Dominik Szoboszlai since Oxlade-Chamberlain was enjoying his short-lived purple patch prior to his unfortunate injury at Roma,” Jones told Empire of the Kop. “More specifically, when he was driving from midfield, shooting from outside the box, and possessed real physical power.” Of course, keep in mind that Szoboszlai is only two games into the season – remember how excited fans were about Keita’s signing after his first couple of games? That being said, what sticks out for me is the combination of talent and slick on-the-fly work combined with a natural desire to work hard, not to mention strength and brawn. He has a lot going for him!
“He does a lot of his work on the right side; if you look at his touches and heatmaps, he is very much in the Jordan Henderson position as a midfielder, if you want to call it that, but he plays in a completely different way.” He’s content to have the ball with his back to play one-touch to link and carry the ball. Jurgen Klopp was impressed by how he reacted when Liverpool was reduced to ten men and the surviving players on the field were asked to put in more effort – it felt like he became stronger! It was like he stepped up and said ‘okay, this is me then – I’m going to have to do the work of two people’.
“He really took the fight to Bournemouth, was involved in the third goal, and kept getting Liverpool to, around, and in dangerous positions in the box.” Doesn’t it speak to his character? He is Hungary’s captain for a reason. He’s only 22 years old. Liverpool appears to have signed a player who checks a lot of boxes. He has the appearance of a Liverpool player, but he is also the type of player that the audience can relate to and love since he isn’t afraid to get his hands filthy. Szoboszlai isn’t a luxury player who sits about waiting for the ball to come to him; he wants to go and win it back, battle for it, and carry it toward the enemy.”
Last season, our midfield suffered greatly, and there was a distinct lack of fire and intensity in many of our performances.
Szoboszlai, on the other hand, brings both of those qualities to our engine room, and his performance against the Cherries demonstrated exactly why Klopp was anxious to sign him.
He earned a penalty for us with some nice footwork inside the box, and he also played a key role in our third goal, as his powerful effort from beyond the area was only parried out to Diogo Jota, who hammered in from close range.
We needed the former RB Leipzig player this season as we strive to compete on all four fronts, and we can’t wait to watch him shine even more.