Dominik Szoboszlai hits back at criticism of one thing Liverpool players did at Old Trafford | OneFootball

Dominik Szoboszlai has hit back over criticism of one thing he and a few of his Liverpool teammates were doing prior to the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United last weekend.

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Footage emerged of the Hungarian – along with Curtis Jones, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong – indulging in some keepy-uppy in the tunnel at Old Trafford before the match kicked off, with Don Hutchison among those who were critical of that pre-game activity.

However, the Reds’ number 8 refuted suggestions that the kickabout was disrespectful towards their opponents and that the players weren’t focused on the job in hand.

Szoboszlai hits back over keepy-uppy criticism

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Szoboszlai explained why he felt there was nothing wrong with what the Liverpool players did before the game.

He said: “The thing that people don’t know is that we used to do this before every game throughout the whole of last season, and through this season. We did it every game, and we just don’t want to change it.

“It’s not that we disrespect someone. We just want to get into football. We just want to be with each other. I think it is better to play one-touch and warm-up with a football than sit in the changing room, be on your own, and just don’t talk to each other.

“It was an hour before the game. Trust me, 10 minutes before the game starts, everybody’s ready. It doesn’t matter if we played one-touch or we didn’t.”

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Szoboszlai is right – it’s a storm in a teacup

Szoboszlai makes a very fair point – if it’s been a common ritual over the past two years, then nobody was complaining about it last year when Liverpool roared to the Premier League title.

Even amid this disappointing campaign, had the Reds won at Old Trafford last Sunday, not a word would’ve been said about the keepy-uppy in the tunnel before the game, and it definitely wasn’t the reason why we lost to Man United.

Rather, as Roy Keane pointed out, the result owed to a dreadful first-half performance in which Arne Slot’s team paid the price for an atrocious start which saw them fall 2-0 behind inside 15 minutes, with a discernible lack of intensity to their play, and in particular to their defending.

In recent days, Mo Salah spoke of his ‘concerns’ about the mentality of the Liverpool squad, with the Egyptian having played in two separate LFC teams which won the Premier League.

The best way that Szoboszlai and his teammates can dispel the sort of criticism to which they’ve been subjected this week is, quite simply, to win matches – starting with the visit of Chelsea to Anfield this afternoon.