Some players have it but most do not. Dominik Szoboszlai is one of those who does. Even before last season had reached full collapse for the Reds it was clear to supporters and pundits that one player was giving everything and often the brightest light in otherwise dim team performances. Our number 8 isn’t new to leading though as he has been Hungry’s national team captain since the age of 22. Setting a new record for the youngest national team captain in the European Championship at Euro 24 at 23
years 234 days old. The best part of it is that Szoboszlai trains and plays as a leader regardless of whether he is wearing the armband or not. This is the attitude that Mohamed Salah demanded before he left and on the first day back Szoboszlai posted a photograph of himself in the gym with the word “Back” and tagged Mo. So what did our number eight do during his appearance against Sunderland yesterday while wearing the captain’s armband for the first time? He led the players with vocal commands, pointing to where passes should be made, aggressively pressing from the front then dropping deeper into midfield to trigger plays, assisting Lewis Koumas’s goal and of course scoring with a rocket on the half volley after he chested the ball down. Not bad for his first 45 minutes of the opening match of the pre-season tour. I admit that I have a bias towards Dominik as he was a player I had been following before he became a Red. He had a certain something much like the much loved Roberto Firmino. Even without that bias I truly believe we are going to witness Dominik become one of the world’s very top midfielders this season now he has the new contract signed and a new coach in Andoni Iraola who’s style demands positive high energy football. He will not be played as a RB (unless the RB curse hits again) because it seems already that Iraola sees him as an anchor of this squad and vital engine to drive the play in matches.
So I for one will be preparing for many more commanding performances and a hopefully increasing tally of goals, whether rockets or tap-ins, and assists because everything else is there already.
