Szucs adapting to Championship life

One of the developing stories of Argyle’s season has been watching the emergence of summer signing Kornel Szucs.  

The Hungarian defender is adapting to life in English football, familiarising himself to the style of the game over here, and working on his English language skills at the same time.  

Those that have seen his interview on Argyle TV this week, ahead of Argyle’s home game against Luton Town this Friday, know that his English verbiage is coming along very nicely. His football is pretty good, too.  

Playing alongside Lewis Gibson, Kornel’s belief on the pitch is increasing, as he adapts to a division which he says is quicker to what he has been used to in his homeland.  

“I think the biggest difference is in speed,” Szucs said. “There are faster players, stronger players, but not just in that way. You need to think faster in your head too, because you don't have too much time with the ball, so you have to know your next move before you get the ball.   

“In defending, you also have to focus 100% from the first minute to the 90th minute because if you lose focus, anything can happen and one goal can decide points, so you need to focus 100%. 

“After each game, I’ve got more and more confidence. I try to give my best in every match. Every game for us is hard, but I think as a team we are improving and that's the point, so I think we can achieve really great things in the Championship.  

“[Lewis] is a great defender. He’s a young player, but a young, experienced player. He's strong; he’s a mentally strong player. That's also helped me to give my best in every game. I think we can understand each other very well now. 

“I'm trying to talk more and more, but of course it's not coming from me naturally, because I’m still learning how to explain myself in English, but I try to speak more and more because that's also helpful for my teammates. If I speak more, that's also building my confidence and my focus on the game. 

“[Lewis is] an English player, so he can shout from the back, to the midfielders or the strikers, so that's good. I'm also trying to do it. I think I will need more time to be like him, but I try!” 

In Argyle’s last home fixture, against Sunderland, the Greens scored an injury-time goal to win the game 3-2. It was scored by Joe Edwards, following up on a shot from Kornel which was spilled by the Sunderland goalkeeper.  

From that win against the Black Cats, who led the division at the time, Argyle travelled to West Bromwich Albion, who had succeeded Sunderland on top of the table, and lost narrowly, 1-0.  

Luton are the next opponents, and although starting the season a little slowly, they were a Premier League side last term and have won their last two games. Kornel is taking Argyle’s competitiveness in the last two fixtures as a sign that they can compete against any opposition.  

“I think that the [Sunderland] game gives us more confidence. In the last game against West Brom, we played well too. Unfortunately, we lost 1-0, but we proved that, against teams like Sunderland and West Brom, we can perform well. 

“I think against every team, we can do it. I think we are in a good way, and we need to continue like that.  

“[Luton] are a strong team, so we will see. We will try to give our best in the game. Of course, last year they played in the Premier League, so they are a really good team. They have strong players on the pitch, so we need to focus 100%. But I think, here at Home Park, with our fans, we can do it.”