Hungary national team manager Marco Rossi dismissed claims of a feud with his Liverpool counterpart Arne Slot as “nonsense,” questioning how anyone could have imagined he considered himself superior to the Premier League winner.
Rossi brought this scrutiny upon himself. Nobody forced the experienced head coach to publicly question why Slot had played his star midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai at right back this season. There was no gun to his head when he rubbished the Dutch boss’s pleas to limit the game time of his players during this international window.
“If we had to save his energy, whether it was for him or anyone else, he could do it,” Rossi sniffed ahead of Hungary’s friendly against Slovenia. “However, for us, the national team is the priority, now it is to play good games.”
Szoboszlai and his Liverpool colleague Milos Kerkez both duly started the 1–0 win in Budapest on Saturday. Yet, Rossi was keen to point out that he substituted the pair while doing his best to forcefully diffuse the whispers of tension.
“I’ve read nonsense in the press,” the Hungary boss fumed. “You can’t imagine that I would be so arrogant, conceited and stupid as to compare myself to a coach who manages a team in the Premier League.
“I am not comparable to the Liverpool manager, I had no intention of that happening at all. Arne Slot said he hoped his players wouldn’t play two games. I saved Dominik Szoboszlai 10 minutes and Milos Kerkez 20.
“Slot is a coach of a top club. He deserves maximum respect. I am nobody. But since I am the head coach of the Hungarian national team, I think the Hungarian national team also deserves respect, at least because of its past.
“There is no dispute between us.”
Liverpool Workload on International Duty
Flo state. pic.twitter.com/ztKFHk3Jum
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) March 27, 2026
| Player | Nation | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Giorgi Mamardashvili | Georgia | 180 |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | Hungary | 87 |
| Milos Kerkez | Hungary | 76 |
| Jeremie Frimpong | Netherlands | 0 |
| Virgil van Dijk | Netherlands | 90 |
| Ibrahima Konaté | France | 90 |
| Andy Robertson | Scotland | 71 |
| Alexis Mac Allister | Argentina | 76 |
| Ryan Gravenberch | Netherlands | 82 |
| Florian Wirtz | Germany | 90 |
| Cody Gakpo | Netherlands | 82 |
| Hugo Ekitiké | France | 93 |
Correct as of March 30, 2026.
Slot’s concerns over his international contingent stretch far beyond Szoboszlai and Kerkez. If anything, the two Hungarians set for a pair of meaningless friendlies were perhaps the least of his concerns compared to some of his other stars.
During international breaks, it is a question of miles traveled as much as minutes played. The French contingent of Ibrahima Konaté and Hugo Ekitiké only started one of France’s friendlies in March but had to trek across to the U.S. for the pleasure of taking on Brazil and Colombia. As their international boss Didier Deschamps was all too keen to point out, navigating the security checks to get into the country and the stadium were not so straightforward.
Alexis Mac Allister would have encountered fewer institutional difficulties while on home soil this month, but the near 14,000-mile round trip to Buenos Aires is never a recipe for rejuvenation. The 27-year-old has looked sluggish at the best of times this term and those long international trips have hardly helped him this season.
During the first half of the campaign, Mac Allister desperately struggled in all three of his appearances immediately after an international break. The Argentine was hooked at half-time against Burnley in September before laboring through defeats to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest in October and November respectively.
The rest of Liverpool’s international recruits have mercifully remained within mainland Europe. Andy Robertson has even received a head-start on the trip home as Scotland’s friendly against Ivory Coast on Tuesday will be staged at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC
- Transfer News, Rumors: Man Utd, Real Madrid Battle for Palmer; Liverpool Eye Shock Rival
- Transfer News, Rumors: Man Utd Eye $140 Million Real Madrid Duo; Liverpool Want Van Dijk Replacement
- Jamie Carragher Ranks Liverpool’s 10 Greatest Players of All Time—Salah Only Sixth
- ‘A Challenge’—Jurgen Klopp Opens Up on Infamous Row With Mohamed Salah
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘You Can’t Imagine’—Arne Slot ‘Nonsense’ Addressed by International Manager.
