Arne Slot urged to end Dominik Szoboszlai tactic and fix Liverpool's balance

Dominik Szoboszlai has been Liverpool's outstanding performer this season. But his brilliance has created more dilemmas for Arne Slot, whose latest tactic is not working.

Dominik Szoboszlai's role in the Liverpool side has been questioned. (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Dominik Szoboszlai looked like he might be fighting for his Liverpool future at the beginning of the season. As the most attack-minded of the midfield starters from the previous campaign, he arguably looked lke the most plausible candidate to make way for Florian Wirtz in the starting line-up.

Instead, Szoboszlai has become Liverpool's most important player, and it's not even particularly close. It's rather a shame that the Steven Gerrard comparisons have extended to the Hungarian being surrounded by apparently mediocre teammates, but he has taken on the responsibility, dragging Arne Slot's side in the direction of some kind of respectability.

He was once again on the scoresheet against Tottenham, scoring his fourth direct free kick of the Premier League campaign to move within one of a record held by David Beckham. But it was not enough, as Liverpool slumped to the nadir of a season already littered with lows.

Nobody would dare hold Szoboszlai remotely responsible. But the specifics of his role in the side are starting to come under scrutiny.

The 25-year-old was pressed into emergency action at right-back earlier in the campaign. Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez have all had fitness injuries, and there have been windows where none have been available for selection.

The trouble is that Szoboszlai was so good on the right side of defense, it gave Slot an unexpected dilemma. And he has spent much of the rest of the season there.

The line-up against Tottenham was particuarly striking. Frimpong was back in the lineup, but Szoboszlai continued at right-back anyway, with the summer arrival from Bayer Leverkusen playing at right wing in place of Mohamed Salah. File that under sentences you didn't expect to read at the start of the season.

It arguably worked up to a point. Frimpong offered something different to Salah with his pace and directness, while Szoboszlai wasn't ever glaringly at fault from a defensive standpoint.

But as the game wore on, and the nerves at Anfield grew in the absence of a second Liverpool goal, there was a growing need for some midfield control. And Micah Richards believes the time has come for Slot to restore Szoboszlai to midfield in order to try and wrestle back that grip on games.

Micah Richards has questioned why Szoboszlai is not back in midfield. (Image: Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images)

"The balance in midfield when Szoboszlai doesn’t play in there is not the same," Richards said on The Rest is Football. "It misses that energy.

"It’s not only what he does going forward... [it's] the amount of times he works back and has that energy in midfield and keeps them going. Mac Allister at the moment is struggling off the ball.

"On the ball, neat and tidy, but he’s getting overrun in midfield, and they need to look at that. Liverpool are a better side when Szoboszlai is in midfield because of his energy."

It's hard to argue with the pundit. While Liverpool fans know better than most that top players can certainly influence the game from a right-back base, it's increasingly hard to justify keeping Szoboszlai there while the midfield is getting overrun.

Because make no mistake: this Spurs midfield should not have been able to get any joy against Liverpool. It was without Joao Palhinha, Yves Bissouma, Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Lucas Bergvall.

The fact that the Reds could not get on top of the contest is testament to what Richards is saying. Mac Allister, for all his strengths, does not appear to have the legs to offer much by way of protection at the moment.

Alexis Mac Allister is struggling in the Liverpool midfield.(Image: Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

We are most of the way through the season now, and Slot is nowhere closer to getting his midfield balance right. While he has been able to blame injuries at times, he now has something approaching a full complement.

Moving Szoboszlai back will not be a complete fix. There's still a delicate mix to be struck with Wirtz, who is a willing defensive worker, but is somewhat wasted when dragged into the melee of the battle for the center.

But Richards' suggestion is at least somewhere for Slot to start. He's beginning to flail around for a life raft, and trusting his future to Szoboszlai might well be the manager's best bet.