View: 93% Dominik Szoboszlai returns to Liverpool from Euro 2024 ahead of pivotal season
Dominik Szoboszlai faded away for Liverpool towards the end of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The Hungary captain started his debut season in England in sensational form and looked a Premier League star in the making.
He, like the rest of the Liverpool side, felt the effects of the long season and crashed out of the title race, FA Cup, and Europa League in the space of a few weeks.
Szoboszlai continued his poor form into Euro 2024 as his country crashed out of the competition in the group stage, with a 1-0 win over Scotland in the final match not enough for qualification to the knockout rounds.
Liverpool need the ‘RB’ Szoboszlai next season
The 23-year-old made his name in the Red Bull Group, starting his career at RB Salzburg before making the move to Germany to play for RB Leipzig.
Liverpool underwent major surgery on the midfield last summer with Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo joining Szoboszlai through the door as all the Reds’ senior midfielders departed the club barring Thiago.
Mason Mount was the man most likely to make the move to Anfield, but Jurgen Klopp opted to activate Szoboszlai’s £60m release clause from RB Leipzig, and Mount made the move to Manchester United (The Mirror, 30 June 2023).
He settled into life in the Premier League quickly and scored his first goal with a fantastic first-time strike against Aston Villa on matchday four.
The goal contributions dried up, but he continued to perform well for Klopp before the hamstring injury he suffered in January sidelined him for 12 games and he returned a shadow of his former self (Transfermarkt).
He ended his debut Premier League season with three goals and two assists in 33 appearances, his lowest return since his debut season at RB Salzburg at 17 years of age (FBref).
That form followed him to the international stage where he managed one assist in three starts, lost possession 18 times, and won just 30 per cent of his duels, he did create three big chances however, but it wasn’t enough as Hungary crashed out of Euro 2024 at the group stage (Sofascore).
Szoboszlai recorded the poorest season of his professional career to date, his 2.57 shots per match was the second highest of his career but only 25 per cent of shots were on target which was the lowest. He also created the lowest goal-creating actions with 0.30 per 90, and lost 34 challenges, the most he has lost in a single season (FBref).
It is a daunting task for any footballer to join the Premier League and immediately set alight the league.
But Liverpool fans have every right to feel underwhelmed with their midfielder given the amount of money spent on him and how he began his Anfield tenure.
He was able to showcase his creative talents during the season and was in the top 95 percentile for chances created, 93 percentile for successful crosses, and 90 percentile for touches in the opposition box (Fotmob).
The Atalanta performance
Szoboszlai returned from injury unable to cope with the demands of being a Liverpool player in a Klopp system.
That was evident for all to see but the Europa League quarter-final tie against Atalanta at Anfield was the most damning.
The Hungarian was brought on in place of Curtis Jones with the Reds 1-0 down and needing a creative spark to get back into the game.
It was a substitution that did more harm than good as he went on to complete 0 per cent of his dribbles, 0 per cent of his duels, lost possession 10 times, and made one error leading to a goal (Sofascore).
His one error was the final nail in the coffin for the Reds, as his misplaced pass allowed Gianluca Scammaca to run through on goal.
Szoboszlai made little effort to track back and atone for his error and Marco Pasalic made it 3-0 on the night.
The match marked his worst performance in a Liverpool shirt to date and is a stark contrast to the man who looked the perfect Klopp player.
Szoboszlai closed down the opposition at every opportunity during the first half of the season but his defensive numbers dwindled too, he averaged just 0.8 tackles, 0.5 interceptions, and gave away 0.8 fouls per match (WhoScored).
He ended the season in the bottom 15 percentile for duels won, 14 percentile for being dribbled past, 52 percentile for interceptions, and 54 percentile for tackles (Fotmob).
Liverpool fans thought they had been sold a dream by Szoboszlai in the first half of the season and were finally seeing the player they spent £60m to sign.
He addressed the concerns during the closing stages of the season and admitted his performances at the start of the season set a high bar.
“Perhaps I set the bar too high, because there were certain matches in which I couldn’t bring out the best in myself,” he said to MLSZ TV (30 April).
“Or times when you don’t play well and in some people’s eyes, you’re the worst player on the pitch. But it’s not a problem, because we get through these things together.”
Szoboslai can be forgiven for enduring a period of transition to life in England, but there is no doubt he must improve next season if he is to establish himself as a main man under Arne Slot.
In other Liverpool news, the Reds have made a new Marc Guehi transfer decision after EURO 2024 finished.
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