Dominik Szoboszlai responds to 'smaller' Liverpool role as 'difficult' admission made

Dominik Szoboszlai, the Hungarian star who joined Liverpool in a $76m (£60m/€70m) deal from RB Leipzig last summer, has confessed that he needs to step up his game for the Reds next season. Despite a promising start at Anfield, the midfielder's performance level dipped in the latter half of his debut season after a hamstring injury.

With seven goals and four assists from 45 appearances, Szoboszlai acknowledged that his first season with Liverpool was challenging. However, he remains optimistic about his future under new head coach Arne Slot.

"I've just finished a difficult season," the 23-year-old said, via BILD. "But since this was my first in the Premier League, I'm not dissatisfied with my performance, although I definitely want to have a better season next time.

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"I usually think positively, so it didn't bother me that I played a smaller role at Liverpool at the end of the season. At least the chance of injury was lower and I could focus on the European Championship earlier."

Ahead of Hungary's Euro 2024 opener against Switzerland, Szoboszlai also expressed his admiration for Jurgen Klopp, his former manager at Liverpool. "It was an honor for me to be able to train and play under him," Szoboszlai said. "He is a very good coach and an even better person.

"I am very grateful to him for what I learned from him on and off the pitch. Not a single player can say anything bad about him because he always saw only the player and did everything for the team."

Szoboszlai became the youngest captain in European Championship history when he lead Hungary out in its opening Group A game against Switzerland. The Swiss team went ahead with a two-goal lead courtesy of Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer. However, Szoboszlai enabled Hungary to claw back as his superb cross found Barnabas Varga.

Despite that, Breel Embolo secured a 3-1 victory for Switzerland. Upcoming games will see Switzerland face tournament host Germany and Hungary play Andy Robertson's Scotland.

Liverpool.com says: Szoboszlai started really well at Anfield but things ended up tailing off. His quality is clear, though, and he just needs to get back into that confident mood again. With Hungary, he is the only really top player in the team and everything sits on his shoulders but when he returns to play for the Reds, that won't be the case. That should help his form return.