Dominik Szoboszlai makes Liverpool 'pressure' admission in clear message to teammates

Liverpool is feeling the pressure at the moment, but midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai is taking it all in his stride, and has plotted a way to get the team back to its best

Dominik Szoboszlai has issued a rallying cry amid Liverpool's ongoing difficulties(Image: Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dominik Szoboszlai is a much-needed feel-good story from Liverpool's 2025/26 season so far. There's plenty of doom and gloom, but the midfielder has firmly arrived as a genuinely world-class midfielder.

The Hungarian star's influence in the team has been steadily growing for some time. But as others have waned, Szoboszlai has shone brighter than ever, establishing his credentials as the beating heart of the next-generation Liverpool team.

There is still much to play for this season, as Arne Slot was at pains to point out recently. But even if the campaign is reduced to one of laying future foundations, it is somewhat reassuring to know that Liverpool has identified its next talisman.

Given this disparity between individual and collective performances, Szoboszlai would be within his rights to pass the buck to his teammates. But he is donning the mantle of leadership both on and off the pitch, and has recgonized the importance of working as a collective to turn things around for Liverpool.

"If you want to play for the biggest clubs in the world, you are going to have pressure, if you are winning or losing," Szoboszlai told Sky Sports. "We have to handle this together - the players, staff, everybody.

"Biggest thing to fix? It is not my job to say! We have so many people in the club to find solutions.

"Every player will have a couple of things that they are thinking, but we keep that to ourselves. In the end, we will stick together, speak as a group and grow together: we are Liverpool, the champions of England."

Szoboszlai is becoming a rallying figure in the Liverpool dressing room(Image: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

There's just the right balance of humility and defiance in these remarks. Liverpool needs some introspection, with standards having clearly slipped, but it cannot afford to totally surrender the arrogance and edge that come with being champion.

Without speaking out of turn, Szoboszlai is sending a clear message to his teammates. It is a call to set aside personal egos and rediscover what worked so well last season.

"We are trying to get back where we belong, and I don't just mean in the league position," Szoboszlai continued. "We would like to play the same football as last season.

"Other teams saw us and felt us last season, so they try to hurt us in every way they can. If you want to fight for everything, you have to find a solution."

Of course, this is easier said than done. Liverpool would be a good chunk of the way there if everyone matched the commitment of the 25-year-old, but there are clearly a whole host of interconnected issues at play.

One of those is the status of Mohamed Salah. His form is an obvious difference compared to last season, and his subsequent loss of a near-guaranteed starting berth has placed him on a collision course with Slot.

Mohamed Salah has been one of the causes of friction in the Liverpool camp this season(Image: Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Szoboszlai actually addressed that head-on elsewhere in the interview, striking the fine balance between supporting Salah and calling for unity. But his rallying cry was very much addressed to everyone, rather than any specific individual.

After all, even with hindsight, Liverpool's summer business still doesn't look inherently flawed in spite of all the struggles. Fundamentally, Richard Hughes has put together a group of personnel that should be capable of not only competing but dominating.

Some of that will come with time, as the bedding-in process continues and Alexander Isak returns from injury. But for the here and now, this group is too good to be toiling this much, and Liverpool is too big a club to write off vast swathes of time to "transitions".

That's what Szoboszlai is getting at. If his teammates can respond to his cry, performances and results will follow; any who cannot will soon find that they are unlikely to form as big a part of the club's future as the exemplary number eight.