Liverpool struck gold on “machine” who’s worth more than Salah & Gakpo

Let’s take it again to August – when Liverpool held off a spirited Ipswich City facet to assert a 2-0 victory on the highway and begin the Arne Slot period on robust footing.

Liverpool oozed high quality and slickness after the interval however had been stodgy and incoherent over the primary 45. For Anfield’s new tactical warden, the jury was nonetheless out.

However Liverpool have thrived, confidently in pole place to win the Premier League for the primary time since 2019/20 (Jurgen Klopp‘s lone triumph), having additionally reached the final 16 of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup closing, set for mid-March towards harmful Newcastle United.

That first victory towards Ipswich stated so much about how Liverpool would form up below their new coach, however it did not portend the unimaginable efforts which have cushioned the fallout from Klopp’s shock step-down.

The likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have been on the high of their video games, fronting the cost, however Slot has additionally triumphed in taking the less-prominent (however nonetheless necessary) members of the group and pushing them towards greener pastures.

Cody Gakpo is among the many greatest winners in that regard, just lately awarded Liverpool’s Participant of the Month award for January.

Liverpool’s January Participant of the Month

Final season, Gakpo performed an necessary function for Klopp’s Liverpool, filling in throughout quite a few roles to fight the damage points that finally unravelled the multi-front cost towards the top of the marketing campaign.

This was a blessing and a curse for a ahead who was unable to craft a run of true consistency in his finest function. Below Slot, there have been no such issues, with Gakpo invariably deployed off the left flank.

With 16 targets and 5 assists from 35 matches, the 25-year-old has matched final 12 months’s tally having performed roughly 1,000 fewer minutes throughout all competitions. Correspondent David Lynch summed it up properly: “He has been reinvigorated by Arne Slot simplifying his function.”

Gakpo attracts on the facility of Anfield’s roaring crowd to provide his most interesting outcomes, scoring in seven successive dwelling video games, however he is proved to be a title-winning power for a Liverpool facet that has been overly reliant on Mohamed Salah at instances in recent times.

Having claimed four goals and an assist in January, the £120k-per-week ace was awarded the Participant of the Month award in consequence.

The character of the Netherlands star’s function implies that he takes the limelight greater than others, however he isn’t the one late Klopp signing to have gone from energy to energy this season.

Slot’s affect on Liverpool’s midfield

Slot was at all times going to want a high-octane and technical engine to cost his group. It was irritating on the time, however it’s maybe a testomony each to Klopp’s imaginative and prescient and Slot’s wherewithal that he made do with the items at his disposal – botched bid for Martin Zubimendi however.

Alexis Mac Allister is an industrious and dynamic a part of the group as soon as once more, having thrived for many of his debut marketing campaign. Ryan Gravenberch is sure to gather the ‘most improved’ trophy at Liverpool’s end-of-season award ceremony, however he is reaping the plaudits for his efforts.

Solely two weeks in the past, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher revealed that he is nonetheless not satisfied by Dominik Szoboszlai, who Klopp signed from RB Leipzig last summer for £60m to start a much-needed rebuild.

Szoboszlai began the 2023/24 marketing campaign with such vim that he drew comparisons to Steven Gerrard for his all-action presence in and across the centre circle.

Nevertheless, he petered out because the 12 months dragged on, however has seemingly discovered his toes below new administration, excelling because the unsung hero in a multi-title-chasing group.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s enhancements in ‘Slot-ball’

Klopp ran out of endurance with the ebb and circulate of Szoboszlai’s ranges final time period and restricted him to a bit-part function over the closing months of the 2023/24 time period, with the midfielder starting only one of the final six top-flight matches after beforehand being hooked at half-time as Liverpool misplaced at dwelling to Crystal Palace.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. He confirmed many tremendous qualities. Reporter Bence Bocsak even hailed him for his suitability within the Merseyside outfit. “He’s a urgent machine. Excellent for Klopp.”

Properly, it is beginning to appear to be Slot’s soccer is definitely the place it is at for the Hungary captain. Szoboszlai performs with unbridled enthusiasm, mixing his vitality and technical qualities to a powerful impact. You possibly can see under that his ball-playing metrics particularly have been straightened out this season.

Within the Premier League this season, Szoboszlai’s refined shift right into a extra managed function – with retained vitality ranges – is certainly emblematic of the modifications enforced by Slot.

Successfully, the 24-year-old has been calmed down, structured right into a extra disciplined No. 10 function, much less raging bull, extra athletic and suave matador.

He lopes and drives, chasing down misplaced causes and showcasing his intelligent actions by selecting on the proper opponent, thus creating house for his fellow forwards in crimson.

Oh, he is received his detractors, certain, however Szoboszlai is likely one of the enterprise, with Transfermarkt at the moment marking his transfer value at £63m, that means that he is at the moment value greater than the fast-improving Gakpo (£50m) and certainly Salah – who is worth £46m when not contemplating his contract scenario.

This goes to point out that he is a top-class midfielder with lots nonetheless to present. You might argue that at 24, his prime years are very a lot in entrance of him, and that market worth may proceed to mushroom up.

Slot-ball has restored Liverpool’s perception that they’ll conquer soccer’s greatest prizes. The brand new system’s in full swing, so polished that you would be able to hear it squeak.

Szoboszlai may not be probably the most medical attacking midfielder within the enterprise, however he is indispensable, the facilitator who supplies forwards resembling Gakpo and Salah with the house and assist to shoot, and to attain, and to assert win after win after win.

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