Ian Wright has changed his mind about Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai, going from not really knowing what he contributes to thinking he is brilliant.
The Hungarian has been in good form of late, notably against Manchester City on Sunday when he scored and assisted a goal in the 2-0 win.
The 24-year-old has been a regular in the team that is sitting 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League and has impressed on their way to the last 16 of the Champions League.
However, Wright wasn’t convinced by Szoboszlai earlier this season, saying on Stick to Football in October: ‘No-one expected this from [Ryan] Gravenberch, and then Curtis Jones, he’s gone supernova.
‘Szoboszlai, I’m not seeing that, in his performances… I think the form of Gravenberch and Curtis Jones is really taking it to another place.’
Things have changed now and the former England striker has been impressed with what the Hungary international is bringing to the table.
‘Szoboszlai has kicked in,’ the Arsenal legend said on Wrighty’s House.
‘I remember not even two months I was saying: “I can’t see it, I don’t know what he’s doing at the minute I don’t know what he does.”
‘But you look at him now and that’s an eight-and-a-half. He’s brilliant!’
Wright has continued to be impressed by Ryan Gravenberch at the base of midfield, with the Dutchman an unexpected solution after Liverpool missed out on signing Martin Zubimendi over the summer.
‘I think that Graveneberch has just worked out so well for them, when you talk about the start of the season with the Zubimendi talk,’ he said.
‘What he’s done, he’s just come in and completely closed off that position for himself. He’s untouchable in there.’
Szoboszlai has credited Liverpool boss Arne Slot for an improvement in his form this season, thanks to the manager pushing him a little bit further forward.
‘It’s different. Last year I was playing as an eight and I think more as a defensive part of the game than offensively,’ he said earlier this month.
‘This time I am a little bit more offensively than defensively and I’m still doing the work for the defence part.
‘He [Slot] changed my game a lot and I improved I think a lot under him because he was going in on a certain point that I was never thinking about to be improved. I still can improve for sure and I’m working on it every day.’
Slot suggested Szoboszlai had been underrated earlier in the season, praising his immense work-rate.
‘In my opinion, he is a bit underestimated,’ said Slot of his midfield star. ‘Not by me, but he doesn’t always get the credits for the fact he is very important for this team, because his work-rate is un-be-lievable.
‘He just keeps on running with the highest intensity, and that is so important for a team that wants to compete for something.’