‘In that midfield?’: Ian Wright questions where Klopp can even play ‘creative’ Liverpool player in his 4-4-2

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Ian Wright wonders how Harvey Elliott could play in Liverpool’s 4-4-2. The youngster doesn’t appear to have a place.

Ian Wright wonders just how Harvey Elliott can fit into Liverpool’s 4-4-2 formation. Jurgen Klopp surprised many with the switch last week, deciding to move away from 4-4-3 against Rangers.

He stuck with the system against Arsenal, suggesting it’s a genuine option for the Reds going forward. This squad, however, is built for Klopp’s 4-3-3. It means certain players lack obvious roles and Wright believes Elliott is one of them.

“Where’s Harvey Elliott going to play in that midfield?” Wright asked on the Kelly and Wrighty show. “He’s not going to be a Jordan Henderson who goes and fills in for Trent [Alexander-Arnold]; he’s a more creative midfielder.

“There’s so much [Klopp] needs to fix, but he’s got to do it on the fly.”

Harvey Elliott in Liverpool’s 4-4-2

It’s a good question and you can ask the same of Fabio Carvalho. They’re two players who thrive as attacking midfielders but Liverpool aren’t using any right now.

The somewhat-obvious answer is that Liverpool play more of a 4-2-3-1 and have an attacking midfielder play behind Darwin Nunez. That role has gone to Diogo Jota thus far – another striker who buzzes around the Uruguayan.

But that player could theoretically be a creative no.10 type. The only ‘problem’ then is that you’re moving back towards the 4-3-3, only a much more static version with one mobile midfielder and two sitting players.

You could play Elliott and Carvalho in the wide midfield roles, of course. Neither boasts great pace, however, and that would hurt Liverpool. But this is the problem Klopp faces.

As Wright says, the Liverpool boss has to do all of this on the fly from game to game. Injuries to key players then make it more difficult and it could just take trial and error at this stage.

Elliott needs games – that much is clear. Exactly how he gets them isn’t clear, though, and it’s yet another problem facing Klopp and Liverpool.