Jamie Carragher explains catalyst for Dominik Szoboszlai form and what Liverpool star needs next
Jamie Carragher has been talking Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been the stand-out player for Liverpool so far this season
Dominik Szoboszlai has been in superb form for Liverpool this season(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Dominik Szoboszlai is developing into the complete midfielder but needs to harness his “football arrogance” to move to the next level. The Hungary captain has been the Reds’ stand-out player this season
Carragher sees similarities with his former team-mate Steven Gerrard in terms of Szoboszlai’s attitude on the pitch but would like the 25-year-old to convert that self-belief into more match-winning contributions.
Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s top performer of the campaign so far despite occupying a number of positions – including right-back – and his last two displays in wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid have seen him run opponents ragged.
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And Carragher believes the arrival of £116m playmaker Florian Wirtz has been a catalyst for the Hungarian.
“His engine is fantastic but it feels like the signing of Wirtz has moved him up a level again,” Carragher, promoting Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation’s Every Minute Matters campaign to equip grassroots football clubs with lifesaving CPR and defibrillation skills, told the PA news agency.
“When people were picking their teams at the start of the season a lot did not have Szoboszlai in.
“Last season he was great in the team almost because of the deficiencies of other players – he couldn’t not be in the team because he was doing the running for (Mohamed) Salah and (Alexis) Mac Allister.
“You want more goals and assists but when he has not been there Liverpool have really suffered.
“In his head he is a central midfielder but he is looking like a complete midfield player: he can get on the ball, he can pass.
“I think he can still have more arrogance, a football arrogance, and that might come. He’s always had that ‘Stevie Gerrard’ arrogance and he needs to take more shots.
“When he came I felt he lacked a bit of confidence but I feel we will see even more improvement as he realises how important he is to this team right now.”
Szoboszlai played a key role in last season’s win at Manchester City, scoring as one of two number 10s, and will be pivotal if they are to succeed again at the Etihad on Sunday.
But Liverpool’s defence, which has kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since September, will also have to stop 18-goal Erling Haaland as the Premier League’s top striker comes up against its best centre-back in Virgil van Dijk.
“I always thought Van Dijk has had the edge in these games but I’ve seen a different Haaland this season, it feels like he has moved up a level,” added Carragher.
“Maybe other bits of his game are improving. He went on a run in midweek (in the Champions League win over former club Borussia Dortmund) and then passed the ball and it wasn’t something I’d seen before, dribbling and beating people.”
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Carragher was at Tranmere on Friday for a training session where grassroots clubs learned lifesaving CPR and defibrillation skills from BHF experts.
Throughout November, Sky Bet and the BHF will host sessions at clubs like Birmingham and Bolton and grassroots sides with their own ground can apply for a free defibrillator through the BHF’s Community Defibrillator Funding Programme, with Sky Bet funding 150 packages this year.
“People get nervous around a defibrillator and what we have got to do is make people confident through the training as it’s not that complicated – when you open a defibrillator it talks you through every step,” said Carragher.
