Ask any Liverpool supporter who their best player has been during a terrible season so far and their answer will be the same.
Dominik Szoboszlai has been a revelation this term, putting every one of his teammates to shame and becoming a sole shining light in an otherwise dismal group.
Szoboszlai underlined his importance to Liverpool once again on Wednesday, scoring their only goal – and being their only semi-decent performer during a pathetic 4-1 loss against PSV Eindhoven.
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Arne Slot following Liverpool v Nottingham Forest - Premier League
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And yet, the Hungarian was seemingly not seen as being a part of Arne Slot‘s best XI after a summer of heavy spending.
Despite a solid season during the title-winning campaign of 2024/25, Szoboszlai was set to be replaced by Florian Wirtz as Slot’s most advanced midfielder. The No. 8’s continued good form this season has shone a light on what a terrible plan that was.
Dominik Szoboszlai puts Liverpool decision-makers to shame
There was some logic in the decision to add Wirtz as a creative number 10 this season. However, it is yet to pay any kind of dividend.
That has meant Wirtz either dropping out of the team or being shunted out to left-hand side, allowing Slot to field his midfield three from last term.
Dominik Szoboszlai applauds after Liverpool's UEFA Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven.
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
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On paper though, the Liverpool head coach had seemingly planned to regularly play Wirtz in front of a midfield two of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister. Injury to Mac Allister in pre-season put paid to this, meaning Szoboszlai got the chance to stake his claim.
From there, the Hungary captain has become arguably the first name on any Liverpool team sheet right now.
But the fact he has been so good, and was not even supposed to be a regular starter, only serves to highlight the lack of any kind of cohesive planning from Slot and Richard Hughes.
Liverpool’s summer business looked slightly difficult to decipher at the time, but bad form from those brought in – and good performances from Szoboszlai in particular – have made it look even worse.
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Slot and Hughes may, of course, argue that it had been their plan all along to keep Szoboszlai in the team and simply drop him back into a more natural No. 8 role.
But given the importance of the double pivot of Gravenberch and Mac Allister last season, it feels unlikely that they had been plotting to change that.
Given how good Szoboszlai has been, they will now have to. Quite what that means for Liverpool’s midfield make-up moving forward remains to be seen.
What it has done is throw up a headache for Slot that he perhaps had not counted on having. If Szoboszlai had quietly retreated to the bench he would be able to get a clearer picture of his best XI.
The former RB Leipzig man has always been good enough to be a starter at Liverpool, though, calling into question exactly why the Reds’ bosses were seemingly aiming to shunt him down the pecking order. The planning can be seen as muddled at best and self-destructive at worst. Either way, Liverpool have been left looking foolish.
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