Dominik Szoboszlai - The answer to Arsenal's creative problems?

A thread:

After Arsenal’s attempts to sign Houssem Aouar failed in the summer, attention has turned to signing Szoboszlai. The Hungarian midfielder plays for RB Salzburg and was close to signing for Arsenal before deciding to stay in Salzburg.

In this thread I will discuss:
- Szobozlai’s background
- His strengths
- His weaknesses
- My opinions on signing him

Szoboszlai is a 19-year old who plays for RB Salzburg as a left-midfielder. He started his career at Videoton, moving to several teams as a youth player. He made his professional debut for Lifereing in 2017, scoring 16 goals in 42 games before moving to Salzburg in 18/19.

In his first season with the Austrian giants, Szoboszlai played 16 games in the Bundesliga, racking up 3 goals and 4 assists. He broke out, however. In 27 games, he scored 9 and assisted 14, at a rate of 1.03 G/A per 90. He’s played 10 games for Hungary, scoring twice.

Szoboszlai plays as a left or offensive midfielder under Jesse Marsch. Marsch plays a 3-4-1-2 or 4-4-2, with Szoboszlai playing as an offensive midfielder in a back three and a left midfielder in a flat four. RB’s wingers cut inside, leaving Szoboszlai to occupy the half-spaces.

Because of Salzburg’s dominance, opposition teams always play a low block. As soon as Salzburg near Zone 14, they combine short & through passes and deep runs to get in behind. This is where Szoboslai is important, as he is already in the half-space and has outstanding technique.

Szoboszlai has great vision and is fantastic at finding passing options. When he gets the ball in his usual position. He can go short to the left-hand side, go central or switch the play entirely to a player in free space. The photo below is a great example.

While Szoboszlai’s vision and creativity is excellent, he is most dangerous on the ball. As he is quite tall for an attacking midfielder, he knows how and when to use his body to shield the ball, despite not being very physical. This allows him to get into free spaces.

Szoboszlai likes taking players on and dribbling past them. While this can be quite dangerous, especially in his own half, but he has such good technique that he can get past most players. This resulted in 2 dribbles per game in both the UEL last term.

Szoboszlai is key to Salzburg’s build-up play. He averaged 47 passes per game last season, with 6 going into the final third. This, combined with his vision and creativity, makes him dangerous. He can put teammates in good positions, regardless of the opposition.

WEAKNESSES
Szoboszlai is very talented, but not faultless. While his vision is excellent, Szoboszlai’s decision-making isn’t the best. For example, Szoboszlai plays a lobbed pass to his teammate after regaining possession. The pass is poor, meaning Liverpool can easily win it.

Another of his biggest weaknesses is passing at the right time. Szoboszlai is an excellent dribbler, but often neglects teammates in better positions. He holds onto the ball for too long, which derails Salzburg’s attacks. This led to a dribble success rate of 49.1% last term.

CONCLUSION

Szoboszlai offers everything Arsenal don’t have right now. He has the flair, vision and creativity we sorely lack. While he can improve in some areas of his game, he's only 19 and has plenty of time to develop. He's ready for a step up. Sign him up @Arsenal.

All images from Total Football Analysis ( https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/dominik-szoboszlai-201920-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics)

Put a lot of work into this, as such RTs/feedback are massively appreciated.

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