Jurgen Klopp shifted his midfield setup for the visit of Brighton on Sunday, with the Liverpool manager perfectly describing Dominik Szoboszlai‘s tweaked role.
For the first time, Klopp came away from a meeting with Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton with the victory, having lost two and drawn two in their previous four clashes.
In his own words, it was Liverpool’s “best performance against Roberto’s Brighton,” telling reporters in his post-match press conference that there was “more possession, better possession.”
That was partly due to a difference in how Klopp set up his midfield, with Alexis Mac Allister often deeper alongside Wataru Endo and Szoboszlai further forward.
Speaking in his press conference, the manager labelled Szoboszlai his “chaos creator.”
“Wataru and Macca [were] in the right spaces and Dom was the surprising act there, the chaser, the chaos creator,” Klopp explained.
“And that worked really well I thought. They had possession but not the possession they wanted and that helps.”
He elaborated further in his interview with LFCTV, saying: “Against the ball, we were really calm.
“[We] set the trigger in the right moment, really compact, incredible game from the boys.
“The centre, with Macca and Wataru, really good; Dom, like a fireball, jumping out there and creating the chaos. I liked that a lot.”
Szoboszlai attracted criticism in the early stages of Sunday’s 2-1 victory, including audible frustration from the Anfield crowd, but clearly grew into the game.
His role in Mohamed Salah‘s winner was vital, with a crisp pass across to Mac Allister, who took one touch and threaded it through for the Egyptian to finish.
Per FotMob, only Mac Allister (five) and Conor Bradley (four) created more chances than the Hungarian (three), who was influential on and off the ball.
It was interesting that this came on the back of an international break that saw Szoboszlai play almost as a right-back for his country.
His tactical versatility is an underrated trait, and while Mac Allister rightly came away with the plaudits for his display against his former side, the No. 8 was also vital.
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