Following an excellent display at right-back in the Reds’ 1-0 win over Arsenal, Arne Slot spoke incredibly highly of Dominik Szoboszlai‘s traits as a Liverpool player.
Above all, supporters want to see hard work. Combine that with real quality, and you get a player who becomes indispensable to a successful Liverpool manager.
Before the season started, some thought Szoboszlai’s place could come under threat due to the signing of fellow midfielder Florian Wirtz.
With excellent form at the start of the campaign, though, the Hungarian has proved he is a vital cog in this Liverpool team.
“I don’t think he changed at all in the last few games compared to what he did last season,” Slot said of his No. 8 who deputised at right-back against Newcastle and Arsenal.
“He’s always been the player that I think, he understands what a Liverpool player should look like. If you wear this shirt, you should give everything no matter in what position you play.
“As a midfielder, he is always the first one to track back, to press high and today I don’t think he did anything wrong.
“Unbelievable game from him in a position he probably played only two or three times in his life, so tells you a lot about the mentality he has.
“But he played really well as he played so many times so well as an attacking midfielder also.”
Of course, Szoboszlai doesn’t just bring an incredible work rate, he clearly also has supreme technical ability, as evidenced by some of his long-range passes and brilliant free-kick against Arsenal.
His dead-ball winner from 30 yards at Anfield was the first direct free-kick scored by a Liverpool player not named Phil Coutinho or Trent Alexander-Arnold since 2016, when James Milner scored in a 6-0 win over Aston Villa.
“Luckily, since we started the season, we could practise some free-kicks,” Szoboszlai told Sky Sports.
“I felt this was a little bit further. I was like, ‘I’ll take a risk’.
“I was confident in myself so I tried it. Finally! It was a long time ago [I last scored one], when you practise all the time. To be honest, I should mention Trent because, as you know, he was taking the free-kicks because obviously he has an unbelievable shot.
“But finally I could have my chance and did it.”