‘I have to make it clear’ – Dominik Szoboszlai disputes accusations of disrespect in FA Cup tie

Dominik Szoboszlai has rejected accusations of being ‘disrespectful’ towards Barnsley over the error which led to Adam Phillips’ goal at Anfield in Liverpool’s recent FA Cup win over the Tykes.

With the Reds leading 2-0 just before half-time, the Hungarian attempted to backheel the ball inside his own penalty area, only to get it badly wrong and gift the former Anfield academy player with the easiest of finishes to halve the deficit.

Steve McManaman was scathing of the 25-year-old over that mistake, while visiting manager Conor Hourihane seemed to agree with suggestions that our number 8 was disrespecting the League One side by overcomplicating what should’ve been a routine clearance.

Szoboszlai rejects allegations of disrespect towards Barnsley

Having also missed a penalty in the 1-1 draw against Burnley on Saturday, Szoboszlai admitted that it’s been a difficult few days for him personally, but he was keen to address any accusations of not treating Barnsley with due respect over his error at Anfield.

Reflecting on the past week, the Liverpool midfielder said (via RTE): “For me, personally, it was a tough one. I made a mistake against Barnsley but I have to make it clear it wasn’t disrespectful in my opinion, and I would do the same against Arsenal, [Manchester] City and against Chelsea as well.

“I wanted to keep going but I tried to pretend that I was playing it back [to Giorgi Mamardashvili] – just to make it clear.”

Szoboszlai’s mistake was merely a rare misjudgement

Having watched Szoboszlai consistent hit high standards in his two-and-a-half years at Liverpool thus far, we can say with the fullest confidence that he’s been thoroughly professional throughout that time and has never come across as someone who’d disrespect an opponent.

His error against Barnsley wasn’t a case of him intending to insult the League One side, but instead an uncharacteristic lapse in judgement which, unfortunately for him, was punished by Phillips.

The penalty miss on Saturday proved much more costly as the Reds were held to a draw, but even the best footballers in the world have occasionally fluffed their lines from 12 yards, and the Hungarian was by and far away our best performer throughout our wretched losing run in the autumn.

He’ll nonetheless be hoping to put the last couple of games to one side by delivering an impactful performance when we take on Marseille tomorrow night and Bournemouth at the weekend, with Liverpool in need of positive results to change the mood of discontent among much of the fan base.

Szoboszlai knows he messed up in that one moment against Barnsley, but he’s right to challenge any notion of it being disrespectful to the Tykes, and we don’t doubt that the 25-year-old will soon be creating only positive headlines once again.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Burnley press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:

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