Dominik Szoboszlai has fired back at critics who questioned a pre-match ritual he and several Liverpool teammates performed before their 3-2 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.

Footage emerged of the Hungarian midfielder—alongside Curtis Jones, Florian Wirtz, and Jeremie Frimpong—engaging in a casual keepy-uppy session in the tunnel just before kickoff. Former Premier League player Don Hutchison was among those who voiced disapproval, suggesting the display showed a lack of focus or respect toward the hosts.

But Liverpool's No. 8 has firmly dismissed those claims. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Szoboszlai explained that the lighthearted warm-up is nothing new—it's actually a long-standing team tradition.

"The thing that people don't know is that we used to do this before every game throughout the whole of last season, and through this season," Szoboszlai said. "We did it every game, and we just don't want to change it."

He emphasized that the ritual is about camaraderie, not disrespect. "It's not that we disrespect someone. We just want to get into football. We just want to be with each other. I think it is better to play one-touch and warm-up with a football than sit in the changing room, be on your own, and just don't talk to each other."

Szoboszlai also pointed out the timing. "It was an hour before the game. Trust me, 10 minutes before the game starts, everybody's ready. It doesn't matter if we played one-touch or we didn't."

It's a fair argument—if this has been a consistent pre-match habit for nearly two years, few complained last season when Liverpool stormed to the Premier League title. Even in a more challenging campaign, a bit of tunnel football before kickoff seems a minor detail in the bigger picture of a disappointing result at Old Trafford.