Lijnders confident Liverpool ace who lost the ball 15x on Sunday will soon ‘come back to his best’
Pep Lijnders has backed one Liverpool player to ‘come back to his best’ in the near future, following a recent dip in form.
Dominik Szoboszlai instantly won over the Kop with energetic performances and sensational goals at the start of the season, but some of his displays this month have been a pale shadow of what we’d come to expect from the 23-year-old.
The Reds’ assistant manager was asked about the Hungary captain this afternoon during his press conference ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham on Wednesday night.
Lijnders stated (via Liverpool Echo): “He’s 22 [sic], he’s so young. We’re really happy that he’s made an impact already. We know what he’s capable of. The only way to come back to the standard he has is to work hard.
“He has this character that he wants to show and be important for the team. As long as he has that, he will come back to his best.”
The 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday saw Szoboszlai give perhaps the worst performance of his largely impressive Liverpool career to date, frequently culpable of playing sloppy, overhit passes and coughing up possession with surprising ease.
Indeed, he lost the ball 15 times at Anfield and failed to land a shot on target or find a teammate with any of his five crosses before he was substituted on the hour mark (Sofascore).
Unfortunately, his goal against Sheffield United a fortnight ago – his first since the end of September (Transfermarkt) – hasn’t yet been the catalyst for further strikes, or a telling impact in the final third.
In Szoboszlai’s defence, he’s one of only two players (along with Mo Salah) to feature in – and indeed start – all 17 of Liverpool’s Premier League games so far this season (WhoScored), so it’d be natural if maybe he was feeling the effects of fatigue.
As Lijnders said, the £120,000-per-week Hungarian has done plenty right already since his summer move from RB Leipzig and is more than young enough to rediscover his mojo and show us that the best is yet to come from a player who’s simply box-office when at his optimum level.
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