By:
Graeme Hanna
Conor Hourihane blasted Dominik Szoboszlai after the Hungarian made an erratic mistake leading to Barnsley’s goal during the Reds 4-1 FA Cup Third Round victory on Monday.
With Liverpool seemingly coasting at 2-0 during the first half, Szoboszlai was carrying the ball across the box, tracked by the Tykes’ Adam Phillips, when he inexplicably tried to backheel the ball to a teammate.
Only he knows if the attempt was meant to reach his goalkeeper, Giorgi Mamardashvili, or Virgil van Dijk, but he effectively fell over the ball, leaving Philips with a tap-in from point-blank range.
This was a ridiculous mistake that wouldn’t be accepted in a Sunday league game, never mind in an important FA Cup tie at Anfield.
https://twitter.com/footballontnt/status/2010811349652107385
While Conor Hourihane will have welcomed the unexpected lifeline for his team, which set them up well for the second half, he took aim at Szoboslai for the ‘disrespect’ shown to his team.
The Cork man made his feelings clear in his post-match interview, which he reinforced in the post-match press conference.
“We scored and stuck in it and got to 2-1, said the former Republic of Ireland midfielder.
“I was a little bit disappointed with our goal if I’m honest, because I don’t think the player does that against Chelsea or against Arsenal or in a Champions League game.
Hourihane continued, “I was a little bit disappointed with that if I’m honest, but I thought my lads were top.
“I don’t think he does that in a Premier League game against Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, a Champions League game. I don’t think he does that, so I was a little bit disappointed.”
He went on to reinforce his thoughts in front of the press pack after the match.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/2010988828371062886
Hourihane justified to criticise Szoboszlai’s ridiculous error
Just what was the Hungarian thinking?
It was a terrible choice and a woeful attempted pass that backfired badly.
The only way that it can be interpreted is that the Liverpool player was trying to showboat in a way that he wouldn’t against more illustrious opposition.
That is the essence of Hourihane’s complaints and he is justified in taking that position.
The 34-year-old boss will also be annoyed that the incident takes away from what was a valiant performance from the League 1 side, with Arne Slot’s men only pulling away in the late stages.
Slot responded to Hourihane’s rage with his own comments, and no doubt he was unimpressed with the application of his player.
All at Liverpool will be relieved that the incident wasn’t more costly than depriving Mamardashvili of a clean sheet and causing a lot of unnecessary attention.
The priority for Domink Szoboslai will be to regain his focus and get back to attracting attention for the right reasons.
It won’t be lost on him and many others that he had an otherwise fine game, including a piledriver opener for the Reds, but his moment of madness has cast the rest into the background.
Image credit: TNT Sport
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