Liverpool’s midfield have veered from the maligned to the magnificent. Some of the issues in Andoni Iraola’s start to life at Anfield have come in the centre of the park, but some of the highlights have been provided by the men deployed there.
Dominik Szoboszlai added to his compendium of glorious goals on Wednesday, a half-volley from 30 yards against Tottenham. “I was thinking, ‘why not?’” he said, with a certain understatement. “So I just took a shot and hit it quite well.”
Four days earlier, though, Liverpool had been lacklustre against Fulham. Szoboszlai won only one of his 10 duels that day. Against Atletico Madrid, they had initially struggled in midfield but triumphed with a wonder goal from a midfielder, in Alexis Mac Allister.
The opener at St James’ Park had featured two Newcastle goals when Liverpool’s midfield partnership of Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were caught upfield as the ball was lost, but a draw was rescued by the Hungarian’s 99th-minute penalty. Iraola has noted he has goalscoring midfielders and so far they have delivered five of Liverpool’s 11 goals this season.
Szoboszlai feels the men in the middle have been misunderstood; or at least their roles have been. Iraola’s formation is often described as 4-2-3-1, sometimes as 4-1-4-1. Szoboszlai insists it does not have two holding midfielders.
“You guys see a little bit different because we play with one [No] 6, one [No] 8 and one [No] 10,” he explained. “So the [No] 6 and the [No] 8 are not next to each other, the [No] 8 is a little bit higher and the [No] 6 is a little bit deeper and the [No] 10 is a little bit even higher [than the No 8] so it is not two next to each other.”
Often used as the No 8, he has a licence to get forward. It is certainly what he likes to do and, with 16 goals since the start of last season, something he excels at, but the accusation is that Szoboszlai can lack positional discipline.
After the stalemate with Fulham, his defensive efforts were faulted. Szoboszlai claimed it was news to him. “Was there criticism?” he asked. “I don’t know, I didn’t see but thanks for telling me.”
Nevertheless, he gestured to his ear when he scored against Tottenham. He insisted it was not a pointed rejoinder to his doubters. “Just for myself,” he said. “I just decided before the game and I just did it.”
There was nevertheless a message. Szoboszlai’s best is so good that it can generate high expectations. His fitness record indicates that he always plays. He argued he cannot always play brilliantly.
“We are also humans so we can have bad games, we can have bad days and I think never ever was [there] a player who played every game of his life [well],” he said. “It’s always balance. There will be games where we are not playing at our best as a team, personally me or somebody else, but, trust me, it is always leave the past and then [move on to] the next one.”
Liverpool, too, are amid a search for balance. Szoboszlai forms part of the conundrum. He has a skill-set that equips him to occupy half of the outfield positions in Iraola’s side. While the Basque has Florian Wirtz as a specialist No 10, Szoboszlai was a title winner in that position and seems Iraola’s second choice to operate off the main striker.
When Mohamed Salah was dropped last autumn, it was Szoboszlai who was shunted to the right wing. He won Liverpool’s player-of-the-year award for a campaign when he was often, and increasingly to his annoyance, at right-back. He finished the draw with Nottingham Forest there.
“Last week against Fulham I was a No 8,” he said. “I have been No 2 as well, I have been No 6, No 8, No 10, No 7.” The sense is that his preference is for the role reflected by his shirt number – 8 – but Szoboszlai sounded diplomatic. “I just want to be on the pitch,” he said.
Maybe, though, he is at his best in particular parts of it. In Iraola’s thinking, the defensive midfield role appears to be between Gravenberch and Mac Allister, with Liverpool looking far better with the Argentinian in the side. Szoboszlai’s credentials for the deeper role may have been dented by his display against Fulham.
He can be sardonic and he can be spiky and, after being informed of his statistics on Saturday, remembered them. “Maybe I am not at the best in the [No] 6 position because I win one of the 10 duels,” he said. “Maybe the next game I am going to win eight out of 10, so I am then a good [No] 6?”
