Andoni Iraola looks on from the dugout, with Dominik Szoboszlai inset
(Photos by Justin Setterfield and David Balogh/Getty Images)
A former captain of the Hungary national team has criticised Andoni Iraola for his treatment of Dominik Szoboszlai amid an injury concern to the Liverpool midfielder.
The 26-year-old sprained his knee in the first half of the 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace last weekend but continued playing until the 69th minute until he was replaced by Trey Nyoni.
The Reds’ head coach made a thinly-veiled plea afterwards for our number 8 to not feature for his country during this international window, with the Hungarian FA subsequently stating that they’ll defer any decision on his involvement against Georgia and Northern Ireland for as long as possible.
Hungarian pundit slams Iraola over his use of Szoboszlai
In quotes published by the print edition of Blikk (via Sport Witness), ex-Hungary goalkeeper Janos Csank blasted Iraola for not substituting Szoboszlai at half-time in the win over Palace.
The 80-year-old raged: “I was really annoyed. Szoboszlai went down on the pitch in the first half, and at half-time I was certain he wouldn’t come back on for the second half. Then I saw him standing there on the pitch, with black tape on his leg, his knee.
“Then the manager starts sobbing that he is injured. He should have been substituted straight away; they were leading 1-0. Half-time comes and then he sends him back on injured with his knee bandaged?! I’m losing my mind! I just don’t get it.”
Dominik Szoboszlai goes off injured during Liverpool's win over Brentford in October
Dominik Szoboszlai goes off injured during Liverpool's win over Brentford in October
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Iraola wouldn’t have used Szoboszlai recklessly
As head coach of Liverpool, the club to whom Szoboszlai is contracted, Iraola is well within his rights to utilise the player as he sees fit, and any decision to send him back out for the second half would surely have been taken in consultation with the medical staff.
We admit that, if that had happened on international duty, we’d be pleading for Marco Rossi to exercise caution and substitute the 26-year-old immediately. Every stakeholder will inevitably shout the loudest in favour of their best interests.
In a similar vein, Reds supporters will hope that the midfielder isn’t deemed fit enough to play for his country in the coming week and instead recover for the Manchester United game the following Sunday, whereas he’ll be striving to prove his fitness in time to face Georgia on Saturday.
Szoboszlai has almost always been available during his three-and-a-bit years as a Liverpool player, although he’s had an injury-hit few weeks of late, having only recently overcome a thigh problem which resurfaced during the win at Brentford last month.
Everyone of a Reds persuasion will face a nervous wait over the next week or so to see whether Iraola will have any fresh injury worries once our season resumes in 10 days’ time. Fingers crossed that everyone on international duty gets back to Merseyside unscathed.