What journalist noticed from Liverpool player upon being subbed last night will worry supporters

What journalist noticed from Liverpool player upon being subbed last night will worry supporters

French football journalist Julien Laurens couldn’t help but notice the reaction from Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai to being substituted in the 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.

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The Hungarian midfielder was one of four players brought off by Arne Slot in the 78th minute at the Parc des Princes as the Reds boss belatedly sought to retrieve the deficit from the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

As the 25-year-old approached his head coach, he appeared to snub the Dutchman by not shaking his hand, a show of apparent insubordination which encapsulates the fractured mood within the LFC camp right now.

Szoboszlai seemed to snub Slot upon being substituted

Laurens was at the match last night and he noticed Szoboszlai’s reaction to being withdrawn, which he interpreted as a sign that the Liverpool players are losing respect for Slot.

The journalist said on After Foot TV (translated from French): “When Szoboszlai comes off, he doesn’t shake Slot’s hand. When he comes off, I think he is surprised to be coming off.

“Maybe it’s also to give them a bit of a rest before the league match because they’re playing against Fulham this weekend, unlike PSG. For me, he [Slot] is losing the players.”

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A worrying sight for Liverpool fans as sense of disharmony pervades

It’s a common sight for footballers to express displeasure at being substituted, and so long as the reaction doesn’t spill over into a complete head loss, it’s preferable to a player looking as though they’re not bothered about being taken off.

However, with Szoboszlai having been seen arguing with irate Liverpool fans just after the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend, the Hungarian has been cutting an increasingly frustrated figure of late as the Reds’ season lurches from one catastrophe to another.

Added to Slot’s public rejection of Virgil van Dijk’s claims that the team ‘gave up’ at the Etihad Stadium, there are worrying signs of an increasing disharmony between players, fans and management at LFC, in total contrast to the collective pride which radiated from the Premier League title celebrations 12 months ago.

Perhaps the quadruple substitution in Paris owed primarily to the head coach having one eye on the Fulham game on Saturday, as Laurens mentioned, with PSG having the luxury of a free weekend as their Ligue 1 fixture against Lens was controversially postponed.

Whatever the reason for subbing off Szoboszlai may have been, the sight of the Hungarian not acknowleding his boss upon leaving the pitch is one which’ll concern Liverpool fans who’ve had to endure a hideously embarrassing season which could still get even worse.