Szoboszlai Admits Liverpool Reality Check Under Slot
Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has admitted he wakes up thinking about how to fix the team’s problems, insisting the current struggles could make them stronger in the long run. His comments come at a moment when Liverpool sits uncomfortably close to the top four race but far from their usual standards.
Despite being just two points off the Champions League places, Liverpool’s recent form has raised serious questions. Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Anfield against Sunderland was flat and forgettable, offering little momentum after the weekend’s win at West Ham. It did, however, stop a damaging run of nine defeats in 12 matches, even if it proved that Arne Slot’s side still looks like a team searching for answers.
Szoboszlai, speaking after the game, made it clear the squad is not hiding from the problems. “That is what we are trying to do, to get back to winning ways. That is what we are working on every day, trust me,” he said, underlining the intensity of the mood inside the camp.
He revealed that the search for solutions is constant. “When you wake up in the morning, your head is like, ‘Let’s find a solution to win on the weekend or during the week,’” the Hungarian midfielder explained. It is a mindset that reflects both frustration and accountability, a player trying to drag standards back up in a transitional season.
Tactically, Szoboszlai pointed to exactly where opponents are hurting Liverpool. He noted how teams are targeting second balls, long passes, crosses, and set pieces. In simple terms, Slot’s side is being outmuscled and outmaneuvered in the ugliest parts of the game. “Everything has to change a little bit, and then it’s going to be alright,” he said, suggesting small adjustments rather than wholesale panic.
The numbers make the concerns impossible to ignore. The Sunderland draw was Liverpool’s first league draw of the season, yet they have already dropped eight points at Anfield. During their title-winning campaign, they dropped just 11 points at home across the entire season. That drop-off at their traditional fortress is a major warning sign.
Liverpool now sit 11 points behind Arsenal at the top, but crucially only two points away from fourth place. It creates a strange tension. The table says the Champions League spots are within reach. The performances suggest a team nowhere near ready to mount a serious charge.
Szoboszlai did not shy away from that contradiction. “It is something that as a Liverpool player, we shouldn’t be accepting to be in this situation, to draw at home,” he said. While he respected Sunderland’s quality, he was brutally honest about the standards slipping. “If we were in the same situation last year, there is no way we would lose points at home.”
The bigger issue is identity. Liverpool is no longer the relentless pressing machine that overwhelmed teams during their title run. Slot is still shaping the squad in his image, and that transition is costing points. For fans, the uncomfortable question hangs in the air. Is this just a temporary dip, or the start of a longer rebuild?
For now, the focus is firmly internal. “Right now I think we should focus first on us and not on the top four,” Szoboszlai stressed. With a tricky trip to Leeds next, fresh off their win over Chelsea, Liverpool’s response will matter more than any talk of comebacks or miracles.
History shows comebacks are possible in the Premier League. But first, Liverpool have to rediscover themselves. And according to Szoboszlai, that work starts every morning before he even leaves his bed.