stood out due to hCoaches saw Dominik Szoboszlai as a player with a “big future,” and according to Jesse Marsch, the Hungarian is “belief,” “commitment,” and “talent.”
Despite only being 22 years old, Liverpool’s No. 8 has already made 227 senior club games and 34 international appearances, the latter of which he currently captains.
Marsch, a former manager of Leeds, was hired as the head coach of Red Bull Salzburg only four years ago; Szoboszlai had only joined the team a year before.
The American midfielder had only turned 18 when he arrived in Austria and had already made 20 appearances for Salzburg, but he still remembers his initial impressions.
“Germany and Austria are somewhat different from one another, yet the word ‘demütig’ in German indicates humble. And in German, they don’t like arrogance, so saying something like, “He should stay humble,” is insulting.
“However, I’m unique; I’m American! I was therefore drawn to him right away.
He was still a child, a little immature, and in need of instruction on how to use his confidence to his advantage as a player.
“But I watched him play the year before, I really liked him, and I thought he had a big future with how I was going to move the team forward.”
Marsch and Szoboszlai collaborated at Salzburg for 18 months before moving to sister.
practically every practice and game, as well as numerous individual video sessions, were with him.
We would sit down, and I would speak with him because, with young, gifted players like him, everything is about assisting them in realizing their potential and fostering an accelerated learning curve.
Once students begin to grasp the precise nature of what is required, they experience what I refer to as “the click,” at which point they immediately take off.
And take off he has, with Szoboszlai’s early performances at Liverpool having already won over the public’s affection for his hard ethic and undeniable talent, among other qualities.
The 22-year-old’s career trajectory is not surprising to Marsch, who has closely followed his former player.
