Liverpool’s midfield have been instrumental to the side’s great start to the season.
Ryan Gravenberch has emerged as a shining star under new manager Arne Slot and Alexis Mac Allister is back in the form he was signed for. Dominik Szoboszlai, however, has had a touch of a lower-key start to the season in a more advanced role.
Links have been flying around between the club and Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, which brings into question the club’s long-term thoughts on the Hungarian. Now, they’re reportedly eyeing another German wonderkid.
Read more: Arne Slot has made Liverpool star ‘unbelievable’ after ‘outstanding’ improvement
Liverpool look to Germany
BILD’s Christian Folk is reporting that Freiburg starlet Merlin Röhl is being eyed by the Reds, with scouts already having watched him. The under-21’s star largely played as a centre-midfielder last season but got significant time in an advanced midfield position as well as out wide. This speaks to both the youngster’s versatility and a player still trying to find his best position. He’s played exclusively in an attacking midfielder or second striker role so far in this young season.
Between Wirtz and Röhl, then, there appear to be increasing questions regarding Szoboszlai. He has by no means had a bad start to the season; the midweek League Cup tie against West Ham was the only game he hasn’t started so far. He bagged the essential third goal in the 3-1 Champions League win at Milan and assisted Mo Salah for the third in the 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
But they’re not the most convincing of goal involvements. His links the play nicely for his goal against Milan, playing Cody Gakpo into space and then following the run, knocking the ball home with his knee. Again, he finds space well for his assist against Man United and plays absolutely the correct pass to Salah – albeit it a touch behind him, so the Egyptian has to slightly readjust to beat Andre Onana at the near post, making the difficult look extraordinarily easy as he usually does. However, both of these came when Liverpool were already winning and playing a side chasing the game, committing men higher up the pitch and thus leaving themselves more obviously exposed in transition.
What does Szoboszlai do?
Looking at the rest of Liverpool’s chances this season cuts a perplexing figure for the Hungarian. He should technically have an assist for Liverpool’s second against Ipswich on the opening day, playing a cute ball to force left-back Leif Davis into just putting Salah in on goal. He wins the ball back well to start the Mac Allister-Diaz-Salah link up for the second against Brentford. For the first against Man United he tries – and fails – to head the ball into the net, almost putting off Luis Diaz from achieving this. But other than this he is largely ambling around, occupying the edge of the box in scenarios where the ball carrier is already in a much more dangerous position. It’s often when he’s not touching the ball that Liverpool appear their most dangerous.
And it’s difficult to know if this is by design. If his role as a more advanced midfielder in the centre-right half-space is to drag players away from Salah and Trent or if his relative lack of ball time and production is from average positioning and average decision-making.
Comparing the three men
A look at his underlying numbers compared to the two rumoured replacements – Röhl and Wirtz – paints an interesting picture. Röhl matches up very similarly to Szoboszlai in many areas, whilst Wirtz really does cement his status as one of the most exciting players in the world at current. Szoboszlai plays more progressive passes and has more progressive carries – 3.83 to 2.22 and 2.98 to 2.78 per 90, respectively – but Röhl receives more progressive passes at his 5 to the Hungarian’s 4.47 (Wirtz is at 9.25 passes, 7 carries and 14.5 receptions per 90).
Shot-creating actions, largely important for an advanced midfield role, tell a similar story. Röhl currently achieves 3.89 SCAs per-90 whilst Szoboszlai tallies 4.04, and Wirtz streaks away with 9. Szoboszlai also falls behind on take-on per-90, with 1.06 attempts to Röhl’s 1.67 and Wirtz’s 6.25.
Defensively, Szobszlai achieves 0.85 tackles per 90, whilst Röhl manages 1.67 and Wirtz 1.75. These statistics speak to just what different kind of a player Florian Wirtz is to Szoboszlai: he is much more ball-dominant, more willing to receive and more likely to make something happen when he does. His five goal involvements in the league so far this season also indicate that. Röhl, meanwhile, occupies a similar profile to the Liverpool man, albeit whilst trying to find what his natural position actually is. If Liverpool were to sign Wirtz it would be a drastic shift from how Szoboszlai operates in the team, almost certainly leading to the ball being played through central areas more commonly.
Closer Threats
And it’s not just outsiders that Szoboszlai should consider, either. He’s under pressure from both Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott for minutes in this position. Elliott was set to get more starts before his untimely injury earlier in the month, and Jones has looked comfortable after coming back from his setback, registering an assist in Liverpool’s 5-1 drubbing of West Ham this week. Diogo Jota also occupied the more advanced midfield role in that same League Cup tie, bagging two goals before being substituted. Italy manager Luciano Spaletti has also discussed new signing Federico Chiesa’s ability to play a ‘second striker’ role if necessary. If Arne Slot does become unhappy with Szoboszlai’s play he has ample options already in-house that he can turn to.
Despite all of this, Dominik Szoboszlai is still a very good football player. His contributions to Liverpool’s great start to the season shouldn’t be diminished and it’s important to look at factors beyond just goals and assists to judge a player. The role is clearly his to lose right now and it’s worth keeping an eye on how he maneuvers through his season to see what his long-term future at the club will be.
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