Slot tells Klopp signing his ‘numbers need to go up’ amid underwhelming Liverpool returns
Arne Slot has told one of Jurgen Klopp’s final Liverpool signings, Dominik Szoboszlai, that his “numbers need to go up” as he is not as involved as he should be in scoring goals.
Szoboszlai was one of four midfielders signed at Anfield last summer. The four players were the last signings made by Klopp at Liverpool, before he announced he was leaving mid-way through the campaign.
He bagged three Premier League goals last season, playing in one of the more advanced midfield roles in the Reds side.
New boss Slot feels those numbers need to improve, given where Szoboszlai plays.
“I think something that we have to work on with him is that he’s also even more involved in scoring goals and creating chances for us,” he said in a press conference.
“Last season he scored three [in the league] if I remember correctly and for an attacking-midfielder at Liverpool his numbers need to go up.”
He does, though, feel the midfielder is helping the Reds in other capacities.
“He’s played all four of them now and every players feels more important when he plays than when he’s not playing, but every squad member has his role and during a season all of them will play a lot, because we play a lot of games,” Slot added.
“But he’s been important for us, especially until now in our work when we don’t have the ball. He’s been outstanding in his pressing game.
“But I’m really happy with the way he’s done until now and I’m 100 per cent sure that if he plays in a team with so much quality around him, with the quality he has he will in the end score more goals for us as well.”
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Szoboszlai has not reached the level he showed at RB Leipzig while playing with Liverpool. In his final campaign there, he bagged 10 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.
He has seven goals and six assists with the Reds in a full season and four games, so he’s not a million miles away from where he was in Germany, but there is some ground to make up.
More goals from the midfield would be ideal for Slot, easing some of the pressure on Mohamed Salah to be the main man, after his fast start, with six goal contributions already.
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