Dominic Szoboszlai's Versatility Key for Liverpool's Defense
Andoni Iraola is ready to lean on Dominic Szoboszlai’s versatility once again – even if it means asking Liverpool’s reigning player of the year to line up at right-back.
The Hungarian was one of Liverpool’s standout performers last season, racking up 25 goal contributions across 53 games, a haul made even more impressive by the number of minutes he logged out of position. When injuries bit and systems shifted, Szoboszlai often found himself shunted to right-back and simply got on with it.
He may have to do the same again.
Szoboszlai the stop-gap – again
Liverpool’s summer ended with a glaring gap. The club failed to land specialist cover in the full-back areas, and the early weeks of the season have already exposed the issue. Jeremie Frimpong, asked to operate on the right of the defence in the opening two games, struggled under pressure. Liverpool even tried a late move on deadline day, testing Chelsea’s resolve with an attempt to bring in a solution. The answer from Stamford Bridge was swift and firm: no deal.
So Iraola is turning back to what he knows works. Or at least, what he knows can function.
“I haven’t found any situation where a player has said he doesn’t want to play in a position,” he said in Thursday’s press conference, offering a glimpse into those conversations with Szoboszlai without revealing every detail.
“We have discussions, but everyone wants to help. If we have to play Dom as a right winger, as a right-back or a midfielder, he wants to help the team first.
“We have some injuries now, and we need the versatility of the players, players like Dom. Even in the game, they have to change positions.”
It is a manager’s dream and a squad planner’s warning rolled into one. Szoboszlai can cover. He can excel. But the fact Liverpool are again contemplating their best attacking midfielder as a makeshift full-back underlines how thin the options are.
No complaints over transfer business
Publicly at least, Iraola is not pushing back against the club’s transfer strategy. After the big-money arrival of Bradley Barcola for £123m, Liverpool chose not to add further senior signings to the first team. No late full-back. No extra midfielder.
“I’m very happy with the signings we made,” Iraola insisted. “Do I want more signings? At the end, the club has decided those signings we have done are the ones that will improve our team.
“There were other options we decided not to take for different reasons, sometimes sporting or economic; the deal didn’t make sense in the market. But I’m happy now.
“We have a lot of quality in the team. The moment is for the players to give it all they have.”
The message is clear: the window is shut, the debate is over. The solutions have to come from within.
Versatility or vulnerability?
The right side of Liverpool’s defence is where the tension lies. Conor Bradley’s absence has left a hole that the squad has to plug on the fly.
“The challenge in the squad now is we don’t have Conor there at right-back. That’s why I value Dom at right-back, as he can play there,” Iraola said.
“Versatility in the player helps us go through the moments when we have injuries.
“In midfield we have good numbers. Now it’s a matter of getting the right calls from myself.”
That last line lingers. Iraola knows the pieces are there; it is on him to arrange them. He spoke of “finding now the best combinations” and pointed to a demanding run of fixtures as the proving ground.
“We are going through a period now where we will play a lot of games, and we’ll have a chance to see the options we have and the combinations we have. It’s a matter of coaching.”
So the plan, at least in the short term, is flexibility. Square pegs will keep meeting round holes. Szoboszlai may start in midfield and finish at right-back. Others will be shuffled, repurposed, tested.
Injuries biting early
All of this is driven by the injury list. Liverpool are still waiting on several senior players, and the calendar is not pausing to let them catch their breath.
“The closest one [to playing again] is Joe [Gomez]. He will start training with us next week,” Iraola confirmed.
“Next one is [Giovanni] Leoni; he could be training during the break with the group. Conor [Bradley] is next, and, especially Hugo, longer.”
Gomez’s return will help. Bradley’s, even more so. Until then, Iraola will ask his stars to stretch themselves for the cause.
And if that means the club’s most productive midfielder spends another spell patrolling the right flank, Liverpool will once again discover just how far Dominic Szoboszlai’s versatility can carry them in a season that already looks like a test of depth as much as quality.
