Trent Alexander-Arnold was blown away by what Harvey Elliott did with the ball during Liverpool training yesterday.
As seen on LFCTV’s Inside Training video, Trent was impressed with the Liverpool youngster’s skills.
The right-back watched on as Elliott performed five ‘around the world’ keepie-uppies in a row as the session wound down.
“Stop that!” gushed Alexander-Arnold as the 19-year-old gave him a front-row seat for his party tricks. After he dropped the ball, Elliott duly propped it back up and did it again. Special talent.
Talent never in question for Elliott, but still plenty to work on
Throughout the latest video in the ‘Inside’ series, Elliott’s supreme technical ability come to the fore.
During the filming, Liverpool players were tasked with keeping the ball off the ground for as long as possible whilst in a circle.
For players like Thiago Alcantara and Roberto Firmino, this is bread and butter stuff. We’ve all seen the videos of Thiago volleying balls 50 yards in warm-ups and collecting them back again on his chest.
But Elliott slots in without missing a beat. His technique and touch is absolutely exquisite, it’s clear and obvious. Assistant manager Pep Lijnders recently compared him to Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta, and in terms of technique, you can see where he’s coming from.
The challenge for him, and to a certain extent Curtis Jones, is how to translate that into a match setting.
At times Elliott can be guilty of over-playing. Trying to catch the eye with a trick or a pass, when something simpler would suffice.
If he’s to kick onto the next level, then these are the things he needs to work on. The talent, technique and skill is there in abundance. It’s now up to Elliott and the Liverpool coaching staff to put those talents to the best use possible in a 90 minute game.
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