Geitosten @TJokern - Twitter Profile

I’ve slept on it and I woke up even more convinced that Dominik Szoboszlai cannot be a midfielder for us in big games or tough away fixtures. He just plays within himself. He has all the ability and the attributes but he lacks the will to actually *do* things. It’s a bit hard to explain. It’s not as simple as saying “he can’t pass” because we all know he can pass excellently. It’s not as simple as saying “he can’t dribble” because we can all see he has super nimble footwork and the body mechanics of a winger. It’s not as simple as saying “he can’t press or help out defensively” because we can all see he has loads of energy and runs around a lot. But putting it all together and using all of his abilities to impose himself on a game and take charge of situations…he just consistently falls flat when he’s got the responsibility of being that key midfielder. He’s rarely ever the one, in open play, who actually sets the standards in midfield. He almost always plays better when another player has done something to get the fans going and suddenly he wants to show he has ability to and he starts showing his quality. It’s like he’s incapable of being his 100% best self unless he’s trying to impress someone else. That’s why I called him an “actor” yesterday. He doesn’t feel like a footballer. He’s like an actor who has been hired to be a great footballer. He doesn’t have the “feel” for a game unless he’s been told how to feel. I look at someone like Pedri and he always has a feel for the game. He has less standout attributes than Szoboszlai. He’s not as quick, he doesn’t have as devastating a shot, he doesn’t have Dom’s set piece quality, he’s not as strong or as tall as Dom. But Pedri has a feeling for the game. He’s so tapped into the flow of the game that he’s so aware of how to control every situation and make positive situations happen, no matter who else is on the field. Szoboszlai just doesn’t have that. He reacts to the game state rather than creates the game state. And that’s not good enough to be one of the two midfielders in our team. Effectively he’s a vacuous player. He’s an extra NPC but when you’re one of two CMs you can’t be an NPC. I said it yesterday but at least Gravenberch creates positive momentum with his turns and his dribbling. He looks to connect, he looks to impose his game. Maybe he isn’t a 6 and it’s an impossible task for him to show his quality going forward and then expect him to teleport back in front of the defensive line if he loses the ball. But Szoboszlai literally gives us *nothing* sometimes. Whole games just go by where he huffs and puffs but he never blows the house down.

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