Dominik Szoboszlai has been a much-valued first team player for Liverpool this season and Arne Slot was forced to share why he’s been wrong of late.
Ahead of facing Bournemouth, our head coach was met with quotes from the midfielder where he had stated that he may have ‘set the bar too high’ in his debut season and responded with:
“If he said what you said then I will talk to him today or tomorrow and say at this club you can never set the bar too high because that’s impossible.
“The bar at this club is on the highest standard and this is where you have to get to.
“Probably he meant that he played some really good games and in football it is impossible [to maintain totally] because if you play 60 games of a certain level, you can go a bit lower – that’s normal – but not too far.
“Then we are talking about consistency. This season he has been very consistent in his work-rate, which is the main thing in football that is underestimated sometimes.
“I’ve just highlighted why Bournemouth are doing so well, I think it is one of the reasons why we do so well also.
“He is not only working hard, if he works hard the intensity he can run at, the intensity he can play duels with, is of the highest standards, even of this level we are playing at.
“That’s what, for me, stands out with him compared to many others – the ability for him to run in a certain intensity and keep on running.
“I think what he is improving in recent weeks or recent months is that he is more and more involved in dangerous attacks and sometimes giving assists and goals.
“In the last game, he was involved in two goals. That is something he deserves because he is putting so much work in and his technique is outstanding.
“I have always felt that it’s a matter of time before he would score goals and give assists because his shot, his touch on the ball… yes, he should set the standards high because he is a player that can definitely reach those standards.”
It was a clear message from the Dutchman that combined a disappointment that his player would think he had set the bar too high at Anfield and that he can certainly reach these levels more often.
Dominik Szoboszlai can be one of Liverpool’s best players
The 46-year-old has already said that he thinks that our No.8 is ‘underestimated’ and that’s because he knows how important his tireless running is for the team.
Our Hungarian midfielder’s goal scoring output may not be as high as his peers across the division in the same position but it’s clear what he adds to our side.
The 24-year-old is another player whose importance is perhaps more telling once he is missing from the team and we certainly are lucky to have him in the squad.
With whispers of the captain of his nation being ‘the next Gerrard’ when he first started shining in Jurgen Klopp’s side, these heights haven’t quite been hit yet.
However, there’s certainly time on the side of the former RB Leipzig man to build a legacy at Anfield and become one of our great midfielders.
What better time to start adding to his already impressive collection of strong performances than against Andoni Iraola’s injury-hit Bournemouth this weekend.
You can watch Slot’s comments on Szoboszlai via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
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