There were two key questions around Liverpool’s midfield rebuild this summer: which players would comprise it, and which formation was the club buying for?
More specifically, would Jurgen Klopp return to his traditional 4-3-3 system or continue with the 3-box-3 set-up in which Liverpool ended the season.
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The addition of Dominik Szoboszlai appears to have provided more clarity because the 22-year-old looks extremely well suited to the right-sided No.10 role of the box midfield.
You can already picture how Liverpool could set up in such a system, with Alexis Mac Allister – the other big arrival of the summer so far – operating alongside him.
It is no surprise manager Jurgen Klopp is such a fan. He profiles as the exact type of player Liverpool target: young (22), moving into the prime of his career, with plenty of experience domestically and internationally, and the right characteristics such as leadership and maturity.
Playing in a box midfield will not be new to Szoboszlai as he operated on the right side of Marco Rose’s 4-2-2-2 for Leipzig in 2022-23.
One of the key reasons Liverpool were interested in the Hungary international is his ability to slot into different roles in different systems. He can operate as a No 8, No 10 and on both flanks, but he is naturally an attacking midfielder.
Liverpool’s scouting team have been keen observers over a number of years and the belief is he can add pace and craft in the final third as a false nine, wide midfielder and No 10, which is viewed as his best position.
“To be honest, for me it doesn’t matter — I want to be on the pitch,” he said in his first interview with club media. “But of course everybody has their own position. Of course, attacking midfielder as a 10. I can play on both 10s, left, right, on the sides also. Just I want to play.”
After the addition of Mac Allister last month to fill the left-sided No 10 role and the continued links to Nice’s Khephren Thuram and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who profile more as No 6s, the right-sided No 10 position remained an area to address.
Jordan Henderson was shoehorned into that position to end the season but it is a role that does not naturally suit his strengths.
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The England international was an important presence because of his leadership and tactical understanding — that helped, given Liverpool were learning the system as they went along.
However, his lack of creativity and goal contributions was more noticeable in a more advanced midfield role. According to FBref, seven of Henderson’s top eight games for touches in the attacking third came following the switch in system.
GO DEEPER
Dominik Szoboszlai: The versatile technician who could be perfect for Liverpool
Henderson did not score and delivered just three assists in 43 appearances in all competitions, which pales next to Szoboszlai’s 10 goals and 13 assists in 46 appearances. That is not to criticise Henderson, who played deeper than the No 10 role for most of the season, but it is not the England international’s game.
Henderson has been a key cog in Liverpool’s right-hand side triangle alongside Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool’s right-sided No 8 has always been higher than the left-sided No 8 but even more so in the box midfield.
The new system has changed the positional rotation between the three players and has required the central midfielder to fill in as the widest of those three more often, with Alexander-Arnold playing narrower.
The graphic below shows Henderson’s touch map from the final 10 games of last season and highlights how often the 33-year-old drifted wide to receive the ball.
Despite Szoboszlai frequently playing as a right midfielder in a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-3-1 for Leipzig last season, you wouldn’t label him as an out-and-out winger. Rather, he is a creative attacking midfielder who pulls wide — a crucial part of the brief for the right-sided No 10 role in a box midfield.
In this example against Ottensen, Szoboszlai picked up the ball on the right flank and darted past the closest defender.
He drove into the box, and got to the byline before supplying a simple cutback to his teammate.
Similarly, as Leipzig broke forward, Szoboszlai retained the team’s width…
… and ran on to a pass down the right channel to again provide a cutback for a simple tap-in.
Not only is crossing a key part of his creativity, but he displays his intelligence by repeatedly being able to pick the right delivery and teammate.
Across the last two seasons, Szoboszlai created 161 chances, a RB Leipzig team high, and 99 of them were from open play — with Christopher Nkunku, now at Chelsea, the only teammates who registered more (132) from open play.
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Szoboszlai also produced the fifth-highest xG assisted figure in the Bundesliga (7.72), of which 5.97 came from open play.
He averaged 5.5 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes — the two offensive actions directly leading to a shot, such as passes, take-ons and drawing fouls — which was the highest in the Leipzig squad and significantly higher than any of Liverpool’s players in the Premier League last season with Harvey Elliott (4.19), Salah (3.83) and Alexander-Arnold (3.82) making up the top three.
He is adept at finding pockets of space, and then being able to shift the ball quickly, or carry the ball forward. He excels in transition moments, which is ideal for Liverpool’s system, and his technical quality allows him to show off his quick feet and weight of pass.
In this example, Szoboszlai received possession and turned, driving at the opposition defence.
He waited for the perfect moment, holding off defenders, and slid Nkunku in.
The Frenchman finished off the move with a delicate chip.
In another example, he was patient and stayed in the space he was in as the ball was played into striker Andre Silva.
The Portuguese striker moved the ball to Szoboszlai, who drew the full-back towards him…
…and he slipped in right-back Mohamed Simakan.
You can almost imagine the same move but replacing Silva and Simakan with Cody Gakpo and Salah.
Alongside the creativity is his well-known long-distance shooting, which will be beneficial against deep-lying teams. Wary opponents could be drawn out of position if they have to close him down, opening up passing lanes around the box.
Szoboszlai’s high pressing and defensive metrics have improved as he has gained more experience and he should fit into Liverpool’s counter-pressing philosophy, even if some allowance should be made for the intensity of the Premier League and Klopp’s notoriously demanding system.
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The absence of Henderson, who is a reliable defensive presence on the right, raises questions about the protection in the right channel ahead of the right centre-back, Ibrahima Konate. Henderson is excellent at plugging gaps; Szoboszlai will need to deploy his athleticism to do the same and allow Salah and Alexander-Arnold the freedom to perform.
That will surely be a key issue for Liverpool to address in their pre-season training camp in Germany next week. For the time being, though, their midfield puzzle is getting closer to completion and they now have two young exciting footballers for Klopp to mould to fit his vision of the club’s new era.
(Top photo: Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)