Gary McAllister has been mightily impressed by Dominik Szoboszlai's impact since arriving at Liverpool - likening his style and on-field presence to that of Steven Gerrard.
Last year the Reds finished fifth, failing to qualify for the Champions League, with issues surrounding the lack of midfield options and the capabilities of those that could play cited as leading reasons why.
The arrival of four new faces for Jurgen Klopp to fashion into a fresh engine room. Those were Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, and of course Szoboszlai.
McAllister - who was part of the Reds' cup treble winning side of 2000/01 - explained his delight to see the impact the Hungarian is having in the new season, and couldn't help but draw a comparison to another club legend.
McAllister
"I know they didn't finish the season where they wanted to finish, now in the Europa League, but they finished the season really well, I thought,"
"That little bit of change with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] moving in front of the [defence], which is quite trendy at the moment, [helped]."
"Szoboszlai and Mac Allister have settled really well - in particular Szoboszlai. When you see him, like the other night against Leicester City, he scores another amazing goal wearing No.8, there was a bit of resemblance [to Gerrard] there.
"It is just nice to see somebody shoot. In the six, seven, eight games since the season started he's not shy of getting the ball on his right side and having a crack from 20-25 yards, which is very rare.
"A lot of players and teams are looking to play little, tight combinations and try to score the perfect goal, but I like the fact that he is quite willing to take the responsibility to take a shot at the goal."
asked whether the Anfield club are serious title contenders this year, he had a straight-up response.
"Yes. Liverpool start the season every season looking to win the league," he said confidently.
"The fact that the fans feel that as well, that's the wonderful thing about Liverpool. The expectation of the fans will never go away so you're under pressure to win games. Winning the league is the true barometer for Liverpool, I think."
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