Szoboszlai Takes on Right-Back Role Again for Liverpool

Andoni Iraola is ready to roll the Dominic Szoboszlai dice at right-back again.

Liverpool’s manager has admitted he is prepared to redeploy last season’s standout performer in defence, as injuries bite and a quiet summer in the full-back market leaves the squad stretched.

Szoboszlai, the makeshift right-back… again

Szoboszlai was Liverpool’s player of the year last season, delivering 25 goal contributions – 13 goals and 12 assists – across 53 games. Those numbers look even more impressive when you remember how often he was shunted out of his natural role and asked to plug gaps at right-back.

That experiment might not be over.

With Conor Bradley sidelined and Jeremie Frimpong exposed in the opening two games when used on the flank, Liverpool explored a late move on deadline day to patch up the position. A discreet approach to Chelsea was quickly shut down by the London club, leaving Iraola to look inwards for solutions.

So the conversation with Szoboszlai has already happened.

“I haven’t found any situation where a player has said he doesn’t want to play in a position,” Iraola said on Thursday, choosing his words carefully but making his stance clear.

“We have discussions, but everyone wants to help. If we have to play Dom as a right winger, as a right-back or a midfielder, he wants to help the team first.

“We have some injuries now, and we need the versatility of the players, players like Dom. Even in the game, they have to change positions.”

The message is blunt: expect more of the same. Szoboszlai will go where the team needs him.

No full-back signing, no complaints

Liverpool’s only major first-team addition after the £123m arrival of Bradley Barcola never came. No late full-back. No extra midfielder. No extra defender.

Iraola, though, isn’t pointing fingers at the recruitment team.

“I’m very happy with the signings we made,” he insisted. “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 subtext is obvious: the window is shut, this is the group, and any gaps will be filled by players already in the building.

Right-back headache, midfield puzzle

The most obvious gap is at right-back.

“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,” Iraola 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.

“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.”

So while the midfield looks stocked, the domino effect of using Szoboszlai deeper could still reshape Iraola’s selections higher up the pitch. Square pegs in round holes are not a temporary quirk; they are about to become a theme.

Injuries biting early

The injury list explains a lot of this tactical juggling.

“With injuries already biting hard at Anfield,” as Iraola put it, Liverpool are waiting on several key players to return before the picture clears.

“The closest one [to playing again] is Joe [Gomez]. He will start training with us next week.

“Next one is [Giovanni] Leoni; he could be training during the break with the group. Conor [Bradley] is next, and, especially Hugo, longer.”

Until then, Iraola will lean heavily on adaptability. And that means Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s most productive player last season, may once again find himself sprinting down the touchline not as a creator-in-chief, but as an emergency right-back.

How long can a title-chasing side live off versatility before it has to pay for specialists?