Why Moving Szoboszlai Could Be Liverpool’s Least-Worst Option

Two games into the new campaign and Liverpool already have a personnel headache nobody saw coming. Jeremie Frimpong’s start at right-back has been shaky enough that a genuinely unusual fix is being floated: shifting Dominik Szoboszlai out of central midfield and into the back four.

The idea surfaced on Anfield Index’s Media Matters podcast, where David Lynch and Dave Davis spent a good chunk of their conversation dissecting why both of Liverpool’s full-back positions have looked so exposed early on. Neither pundit had much good to say about what they’d seen from Frimpong against Nottingham Forest, with Davis in particular unimpressed by his afternoon at the City Ground.

A Deeper Problem Than Midfield Chatter Suggests

Much of the early-season conversation around Liverpool has centred on the midfield, but Lynch made the case that the more damaging issue has actually been happening in wider areas. He pointed to how easily opponents have been able to exploit turnovers and target the full-back positions on the counter, with Frimpong repeatedly caught out by direct balls in behind and diagonals aimed at the space he’d vacated. Forest, he argued, found their best route to goal almost entirely down that flank.

Liverpool’s issues at right-back are not exactly a surprise to those inside the club either, according to Lynch, who suggested there was already some unease about the position before a ball had even been kicked this season. Ronald Araujo and Joe Gomez had been mentioned as potential stopgaps while Conor Bradley continues his recovery, but neither has fully solved the puzzle.

The Case For Szoboszlai

This is where Szoboszlai comes in. Lynch’s argument is straightforward: whatever question marks exist over whether the Hungarian wants to move away from a newly-extended midfield contract, his profile suits the role better than what Liverpool currently have there. He is, in Lynch’s estimation, simply “a far better right-back than Jeremie Frimpong,” both in his positional discipline defensively and in the attacking threat he could offer bombing forward into the box.

There’s a tactical logic to it too. Iraola’s system is built around full-backs getting up the pitch and contributing to the final third, and Szoboszlai’s passing range and eye for a late run could make him a genuine goal threat from a deeper starting position rather than a defensive downgrade. Lynch was adamant this wouldn’t be viewed as some sort of demotion, more a reframing of where his qualities are best used right now.

Not Necessarily A Permanent Fix

Crucially, nobody is suggesting this becomes Szoboszlai’s long-term home. The pundits framed it as a short-term stabiliser, something to lean on until Gomez and Bradley are fully up to speed, rather than a wholesale positional switch. It would also free up space in central midfield for Iraola to experiment, whether that’s bringing Trey Nyoni into the side or pairing Alexis Mac Allister with Ryan Gravenberch in a different shape.

Two matches is a small sample size, and it would be premature to write off Frimpong entirely on this evidence alone. But the early picture has clearly unsettled enough people around the club that alternatives are already being seriously discussed. If Iraola is looking for a way to settle his side down while he works out his best full-back options long-term, moving his newly-contracted midfielder out wide might be the least disruptive route available to him.

A Bolder Call Than It First Looks

None of this happens in a vacuum either. Iraola inherited a squad still finding its identity after a chaotic close to last season, and early stumbles at full-back were always going to draw scrutiny given how much of his approach depends on that area of the pitch functioning well. A makeshift right-back experiment carries obvious risk, not least the disruption to a midfield that has its own settling-in period to get through, but the alternative of persisting with a struggling option carries risk too.

What stands out from Lynch and Davis’s discussion is how little debate there seemed to be over whether Szoboszlai is capable of doing the job, and how much of it centred on whether Liverpool are willing to be bold enough to try it. Two rounds of fixtures is nowhere near enough evidence to make a permanent call on Frimpong’s long-term prospects at the club, but it may already be enough to convince Iraola that a temporary reshuffle is worth the gamble.