Fans were delighted by the signing of Dominik Szoboszlai when he first arrived at the club. They were even more over the moon after his first few performances in a red shirt. At the time, Anfield was filled with Szoboszlai mania.
And rightly so, the new Liverpool number eight had dazzled with performances that saw earn the Player of the Match award voted by Liverpool fans three times in his first seven games in the Premier League.
Since then, things have started to take a bit of a sideways turn. Szoboszlai mania has died down in the stands and on social media. That’s partly due to the Hungarian being sidelined with a hamstring injury, which has seen him miss a considerable amount of games in January and February.
But there is also another, slightly more insidious factor, that has caused the Szoboszlai mania to die down.
What fans have gotten wrong about Dominik Szoboszlai
A section of the club’s supporters have started to turn on Dominik Szoboszlai recently in the insidious realm of social media. They have pervaded an idea that the Hungarian has under performed in a Liverpool shirt recently. However, that cannot be further from the truth.
Szoboszlai has scored three goals in his last six games for Liverpool, and has five goal contributions in his last seven matches, of which only four were starts. That is not a player in bad form at all. That is a midfielder thriving in his element.
But it’s not just his goal contributions that prove Szoboszlai’s value. His underlying numbers would also suggest that he has been Liverpool’s best players over the course of the season. As per FBref, only Trent Alexander-Arnold (5.0 xA and 61 key passes) and Mohamed Salah (7.7 xA and 59 key passes) have accumulated more xA and more key passes than Szoboszlai (4.6 xA and 42 key passes) in all competitions for Liverpool this season.
The Hungarian has also made the most progressive carries (64) into the oppositions’ final third out of any Liverpool player and the most carries into the opposition’s penalty area (15) out of Liverpool’s midfielders. On top of that, he also averages the most recoveries (7.0 per 90) out of Liverpool’s midfielders.
So not only is he contributing with goals and assists, he is also the engine and heartbeat of this Liverpool midfield. He recovers the ball more time than any of Liverpool’s other midfielders – something that is essential in Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing system. And he is also able to progress the ball into dangerous territories with runs from midfield into the opposition’s half.
That is why Liverpool fans who have been critical of Szoboszlai recently are completely wrong. The Hungarian is one of the club’s most important players. It was telling that Liverpool struggled more against United after he was subbed off this weekend.