Last season, Dominik Szoboszlai could do no wrong at Liverpool, and he was perhaps the only member of Arne Slot's squad who stood proud at the end of the season.
After two promising seasons, the Hungarian went from strength to strength as Liverpool stumbled, the shining light whose powerful, tenacious, emphatic performances might have proved the difference as Slot's side staggered over the line with Champions League status intact.
szoboszlai-liverpool (3)
szoboszlai-liverpool (3)
Now, Andoni Iraola is trying to shake his Liverpool side back into form, and though Szoboszlai isn't quite performing to the same talismanic standard as last year, he remains the focal point of this team - especially in the middle of the park.
Why Szoboszlai is still Liverpool's most important midfielder
Richard Hughes has been replaced by Julian Ward as Liverpool's sporting director, and the newbie, back in the seat he held during 2022/23, will be tasked with finding a few midfielders to catapult the Reds back into the ascendancy in the Premier League.
Szoboszlai will not lose his place. Even though it's been a testing start to the season for the 25-year-old, he remains "Liverpool's best player by far", according to pundit Jamie Carragher, and he needs ball-playing facilitators around him in the engine room.
Against Tottenham during Liverpool's Carabao Cup win, his thunderous half-volley from outside the area secured passage to the next round on Merseyside.
He needs someone to help control games beside him. Alexis Mac Allister still hasn't recovered the same form that characterised his first two terms at the club, and Ryan Gravenberch has been well out of sorts so far under Iraola.
Szoboszlai has made it clear that he sees himself as a centre-midfielder, and not a right-back, but he may need to be open to playing a variety of roles once again this season, with Iraola left without the requisite parts to call this squad a complete outfit.
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Szoboszlai's 25/26 Season at Liverpool by Position
Position
Attacking midfield
Central midfield
Right winger
Right-back
Centre-forward
Liverpool need to improve, and some of the strugglers need to step up and support Szoboszlai, who now looks like the superstar FSG thought they were landing when they paid £60m to RB Leipzig for his signature back in 2023.
However, not all of Liverpool's recent signings have struggled to adapt, with Iraola's new Junior Kroupi already looking like Liverpool's best bit of business in a long while.
Iraola's new Kroupi has overtaken Szoboszlai at Liverpool
Kroupi, 20, is one of the most talented young forwards in Europe, rising to prominence for Iraola's Bournemouth last season, scoring 13 Premier League goals across only 21 starts.
eli-junior-kroupi-bournemouth
You might think it's the injured Hugo Ekitike who is the perfect emulation of the sharpshooting attacker at Liverpool, but in fact, it's Jeremy Jacquet who is quickly emerging as Kroupi 2.0 in an Iraola system.
Journalist Bence Bocsak believes Jacquet is "aleady one of the best defenders in the Premier League", and it's hard to dispute that argument after such an excellent start to his new journey.
The French centre-half has made a sensational start to life in England, thriving after joining from Rennes for £60m. That's the same fee that Liverpool paid for Szoboszlai, willing to spend a bit more on untapped potential when it's clear that the player in question boasts the quality to grow into a superstar. Already, he looks like a fantastic signing of the same vein as the Hungary skipper.
Even Liverpool might not have expected Jacquet to enjoy such an immediate impact, though, having won 76% of his duels alongside Virgil van Dijk and kept three successive clean sheets in the Premier League, showcasing throughout remarkable mobility and athleticism.
jacquet-liverpool
The loss of Ibrahima Konate at the end of his contract last season felt damaging for Liverpool, but Jacquet feels like an upgrade on the Real Madrid defender, who has been a mixed bag in Spain thus far. Like Kroupi with the Cherries last season, Jacquet has acclimatised immediately in England, and he could now be a difference-maker in Iraola's outfit.
The new manager was prized before arriving at Anfield for his attacking dynamism and aggression when on the ball. Thus far, Liverpool's forwards are struggling to hit the right notes, but it's pleasing to note that Iraola has leant into his defence's might and physicality, setting that base before building on firmer defensive ground than Liverpool supporters have observed over the past few years.
Konate-Liverpool
Jacquet has world-class potential, and despite his young age and inexperience, is already becoming a mainstay for Iraola. In that, he is surely the best signing the club have made for some time, perhaps since Szoboszlai.