Arne Slot has responded to Dominik Szoboszlai‘s claim that he had failed to reach his own standards last season, naming one area he is at “the highest standard.”
Szoboszlai has grown in importance at Liverpool this season, with there now a wider acceptance that the No. 8 is fundamental to how Slot’s midfield operates.
The 24-year-old’s role under Jurgen Klopp was often compared to that of Jordan Henderson, as a workhorse, but both he and his new head coach are insistent that goals and assists are required too.
He opened the scoring in last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Ipswich and was rested for the midweek trip to PSV Eindhoven as an acknowledgement of his key role in the remainder of the campaign.
Put to him before the trip to Bournemouth that Szoboszlai felt he fell short of his standards last season, Slot laughed off his midfielder’s humility.
“If he said what you said, then I will talk to him today or tomorrow and say ‘at this club you can never set the bar too high’,” he told reporters.
“Because that’s impossible; the bar at this club is at the highest standards and this is where you have to get to.
“But probably he meant that he played some really good games and in football it’s impossible [to keep that up], because if you play 60 games of a certain level, you can always go a bit lower, that’s normal, but not too far.
“Then we are talking about consistency.”
There had been some question marks over Szoboszlai’s consistency in the final third, but underlying numbers from FBref outline that his contributions are worth a goal or assist every other game this season, at 0.5 combined xG and xAG.
What makes him so important to Slot’s system remains the legwork he puts in off the ball, an area which the Dutchman believes is of “the highest standard” in football.
“This season he’s been very consistent in his work rate, which is the main thing in football that’s underestimated sometimes, but it’s one of the reasons why we do so well,” Slot continued.
“But he’s not only working hard. If he works hard the intensity he can run at, the intensity he can play duels in, is of the highest standard even of this level we are playing at.
“So that’s what, for me, stands out for him compared to many others, the ability for him to run in a certain intensity and keep on running.
“And I think what he is improving in recent weeks or months is that he’s more and more involved in dangerous attacks, and sometimes assists and goals.
“The last game, he was involved in two goals. That is something he deserves, because he’s putting so much work in and his technique is also outstanding.
“I’ve always felt that it’s a matter of time before he would score goals, give assists, because his shot, his touch on the ball…
“He should set the standards high, because he’s a player that can definitely reach those standards.”
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