Hungary Boss Rossi: “Szobo Further Back Didn’t Work Out”

Liverpool FC’s Dominik Szoboszlai had himself quite the day against Lithuania, converting a penalty and providing the assist for the equaliser from a corner to help Hungary rescue a point in their Euro 2024 qualifier.

The full story of the game is interesting. Hungary boss Marco Rossi, who has spoken about Szobo’s technical qualities and ability to play as a deep-lying playmaker in the past, did just that in the first half, deploying him as a six to dictate tempo and play. However, the team struggled and were down 2-0 by half-time. After the break, Big Dom was moved into his usual attacking-midfield position, where he helped his team claw back a point. Speaking after the game, Rossi spoke about his initial tactical plan:

“My idea was for Szoboszlai to play football further back, but it didn’t work out.”

“It’s as if we missed the first half completely, we left a large area for the opponent, who took advantage of it.”

“The changes made during the break worked, the picture of the match completely changed, we broke through the opponent’s defense several times, so we had a lot of chances.”

“But the Lithuanian goalkeeper defended brilliantly, so we didn’t manage to win.”

Of course, the Hungarian midfielder has filled in rather adeptly in a deeper midfield position quite a few times already, thanks to the Reds’ unusual string of red cards so far this season. However, his best position probably remains in the more advanced midfield areas.