Sobo: My ability without the ball is my strength. Playing as a deep midfielder has many benefits.

Hupu News November 09 Before the Premier League match against Manchester City, Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai accepted an exclusive interview with TNT Sports. This time it was about the tactical level.

Liverpool's stable midfield trio may be one of the reasons why your team won the championship last year. The midfield of you, Ryan Hrafenberch and Alexis McAllister, I think could form the cornerstone of any team that goes to it.

Yeah, we joined the team two years ago. I don’t think we knew each other at first, but we quickly became familiar with each other. Myka and I had played under Jurgen (Klopp) before, and Ryan, obviously, got his chance when the manager came in and he showed his quality and then got even more playing time than both of us. But we really enjoyed playing together.

You will adjust your position depending on your partner, right? Alexis was clearly capable of playing the No. 10 position when he was with Argentina and Brighton; and Ryan, I remember he also played the No. 10 position when he was in the youth academy. So it's interesting that the three of you find your niche because you all have different strengths, right?

That’s right. But I think that's what's great about it - like you said, Ryan Macca and I can both play the 8, the 6, the 10. So even if we move around the floor and switch positions, I know what I have to do at the 6 or the 8, and both of them are comfortable in different positions.

Is your performance without the ball one of your most outstanding strengths?

I think so. In addition, it can be said that the key is to understand this matter from another angle. Of course, training hard is essential.

But I guess when you were a kid, you were the kind of player who played as a No. 10 or a winger, focusing on shooting and creating chances, right? After playing for a Champions League team, did you slowly realize that performance without the ball is almost as important as goals and assists?

Luckily, I grew up in Salzburg, Austria, and then went to Red Bull Leipzig. In Leipzig you get used to this style of play and if you don't do it you're out. It doesn't matter how strong you are in controlling the ball. If you don't participate in defense, you won't be able to gain a foothold.

My previous coaches all paid great attention to this point - only by defending well can you take advantage of your other strengths. Because some players may not perform well enough without the ball, or they may still be deficient in running, pressing, etc. So these are the first things you need to learn, and then other abilities will fall into place.

Did you also play midfielder when you were a kid? Would you rather cut in from the left and shoot with your right foot, or cross from the right?

When I was young, we used the 6th position and two 8th positions, and I was one of the 8th positions. Left or right, it doesn't matter. Obviously every right-footed player likes to play on the left because he can cut inside and shoot, so that's normal. But as you said before, if you play in the No. 10 position, there is already a defensive player behind you when you receive the ball, so you cannot turn around and shoot.

Everyone asked me to shoot more last season, and I said I wanted to, because shooting is also something I like to do. But I was too far forward and there were always defensive players behind me, so I had no chance to shoot.

But if I am positioned further back, I can receive passes from Virgil, Ibrahimovic (Ibrahima Konate) or even others. From 25 or 30 meters away, the opponent may not rush to grab the ball. At this time, I can shoot a few times. After I shoot a few times, the opponent will come up to block it, and then I can send a long pass.

I think this is the beauty of playing this position - if you receive Virgil's pass, you can move in a wide range or pass to the 10th position; if you are positioned further forward, your passing, crossing ability and vision will become very deadly.

Here you can attack in series, shoot, and cross. Everything on the field is within my field of vision. I can see some opportunities that Virgil or Ibrahimovic may not see. Of course they can send long passes and wide-range transfers, but a pass like this that is knocked back and then picked up to the other side requires vision like mine. I want to have the ball as much as possible.

Sacrifice for the team can be one of the hardest things for a player to do. Even for a talented player like Florian, it takes time to find his role at Liverpool, doesn't it?

Of course. It would be a lie if I said there was no pressure on us, but they have had enough time to adapt. But as a team we have to find a solution. So-and-so may play well on his own, or everyone may have a great individual performance, but if they can't perform as a team, it means nothing.