Andros Townsend was unimpressed with one Liverpool player who was in action for his country on Saturday.
Having missed out on Euro 2020 due to injury, Dominik Szoboszlai became the youngest captain in the tournament’s history as he led out Hungary for their Euro 2024 group opener against Switzerland.
Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, his side began the competition with a 1-3 defeat, and the Luton Town winger was critical of the Reds midfielder during the match.
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Speaking on co-commentary for ITV Sport, Townsend said: “When you’ve got a player like Szoboszlai, he’s your talisman, he’s your captain, he’s your leader, he’s your best player.
“You need his energy. You feed off his energy. You need him to be positive. You can’t have him throwing his arms up, walking around the pitch with a face on him.”
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It was a very frustrating afternoon for Szoboszlai in Cologne as Hungary fell to an insipid defeat, with the team lethargic and the captain’s irritation clearly visible on several occasions during the game.
One moment during the second half where he miscontrolled a pass from a teammate and the ball duly rolled out harmlessly for a throw-in appeared to sum up his day, but it wasn’t all bad from the 23-year-old.
As per Sofascore, he was his team’s highest-rated player as he won four of his five duels, made three clearances, executed two key passes and recorded six accurate long balls out of seven attempted, with those positive numbers slightly offset by him losing possession 12 times.
He also claimed an assist as he provided an inch-perfect cross for Barnabas Varga to plant a header past Yann Sommer and halve the deficit for Hungary before they conceded again in second half stoppage time.
Szoboszlai had his moments yesterday despite Townsend’s unflattering assessment, and we’re sure there’s a lot more to come from Liverpool’s number 8 at Euro 2024 over the next few days and possibly weeks.
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