Dominik Szoboszlai claimed the Premier League title last fall. While Wataru Endo and Ryan Grafenbrech settled into a new environment and Alexis McAllister had to play in an unfamiliar deep role in midfield, it was the Hungarian who featured the most from the players bought last summer.
But as fall turned to winter, and the schedule became tougher, the 23-year-old's game began to change more and more. He was injured in January, and after returning in March he was unable to return to his level since the beginning of the season.
In an interview with MLSZ TV, he admitted that his form has not been good recently, and noted that the good start may have led to people having too high expectations of him.
– The good start gave me a boost, but perhaps I added the list higher than necessary, because there were matches in which I did not give my best, he says.
The midfielder seems to have realized that there has been some criticism, among other things, on social media.
– When you don't play well, you are the worst player on the field in the eyes of some, but this is not a problem. We go through everything as a team.
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The Hungarian, who has a background at Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig, says there is a big difference in the pace of the English Premier League compared to the German Bundesliga.
– Things are moving faster here in the English Premier League. You don't have as much time to think as in the Bundesliga.
– Here you have to know what you have to do before you receive the ball. If you hesitate, you're out of luck. “If I'm in midfield and I have a lot of players around me, I have to have an overview of where everyone is,” he adds.
Szoboszlai, who will go to the European Nations Cup as Hungary's captain this summer, says he learned a lot as a young man when he impressed in Austria.
“It's about not trying anything too ambitious, but playing passes and passing the ball to teammates who are in better positions, and at the same time being part of the pressure, in attack, in defense and contributing to goals and goal-scoring passes,” says Szoboszlai.
In total, he played 43 games in his first season with the Reds, scoring seven goals and four assists.
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