Szoboszlai's Versatility: Liverpool's Unexpected Right-Back Solution
Andoni Iraola is ready to roll the dice again.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s reigning player of the year and creative heartbeat, could once more find himself lining up at right-back as the new manager wrestles with a stretched squad and a summer window that left his full-back options thin.
Szoboszlai, the solution in an unexpected place
Szoboszlai was Liverpool’s standout performer last season, delivering 25 goal contributions – 13 goals and 12 assists – in 53 appearances. Those numbers were impressive enough. The context made them even more striking: he often produced them while playing out of position, shunted to right-back when injuries and absences piled up.
That experiment may not be over.
With Jeremie Frimpong exposed defensively in the opening two games of the campaign and a late attempt to raid Chelsea for cover blocked on deadline day, Iraola has been forced to look inward for answers. The most reliable one, again, wears the No. 8.
“We have discussions, but everyone wants to help,” Iraola said on Thursday. “If we have to play Dom as a right winger, as a right-back or a midfielder, he wants to help the team first.”
No complaint from the Hungarian. No hint of reluctance from his manager.
“I haven’t found any situation where a player has said he doesn’t want to play in a position,” Iraola added, making it clear that flexibility is no longer a bonus at Liverpool – it’s a requirement.
Full-back gaps and a manager unfazed by a quiet window
Liverpool’s failure to land another senior full-back has already been felt. Conor Bradley is out, Frimpong has struggled, and the club’s late move to address the issue was swiftly shut down by Chelsea.
The end result: no new right-back, no last-minute fix.
Iraola, though, refused to grumble about the market or the club’s strategy.
“I’m very happy with the signings we made,” he said. “Do I want more signings? At the end, the club has decided those signings we have done are the ones that will improve our team.
“There were other options we decided not to take for different reasons, sometimes sporting or economic; the deal didn’t make sense in the market. But I’m happy now.
“We have a lot of quality in the team. The moment is for the players to give it all they have.”
The message was blunt: the squad is what it is. The answers must come from within.
Versatility or vulnerability?
Right-back is not the only concern. The midfield is deep in numbers, but the balance is still a puzzle Iraola is trying to solve.
“The challenge in the squad now is we don’t have Conor there at right-back. That’s why I value Dom at right-back, as he can play there,” he said. “Versatility in the player helps us go through the moments when we have injuries.
“In midfield we have good numbers. Now it’s a matter of getting the right calls from myself.”
He knows this next stretch will define more than just his team sheet.
“I’m finding now the best combinations, and we are going through a period now where we will play a lot of games, and we’ll have a chance to see the options we have and the combinations we have. It’s a matter of coaching.”
For now, that “matter of coaching” includes dropping one of Europe’s most productive attacking midfielders into a defensive role when required. Square pegs, round holes – and a manager backing his ability to make it work.
Injuries bite as fixture list looms
Injuries have already forced Liverpool into improvisation. Several senior players are sidelined, and Iraola is bracing for more weeks of patchwork line-ups.
“The closest one [to playing again] is Joe [Gomez]. He will start training with us next week,” he confirmed.
“Next one is [Giovanni] Leoni; he could be training during the break with the group. Conor [Bradley] is next, and, especially Hugo, longer.”
The timeline is clear. The solutions, less so.
Until those names return, Liverpool will lean heavily on players willing to move, adapt and sacrifice. Szoboszlai sits at the front of that queue, a star midfielder who might once again find himself tracking wingers instead of terrorising defenders.
If Iraola’s bet pays off, Liverpool ride out the storm. If it doesn’t, the decision to gamble on versatility over reinforcements will be questioned all the way through the season.
