It’s time for Jurgen Klopp to stop shoehorning Harvey Elliott into the Liverpool team right now.
The youngster was desperately poor yet again last night, as Liverpool fell to a slightly humiliating 3-1 defeat against Brentford.
Coming off the back of a incredibly sloppy display against Leicester City, Elliott shouldn’t have been in the XI to begin with. Although Klopp mercifully dragged him off at half-time, the damage had already been done. Liverpool were 2-0 down.
Not all of this is Elliott’s fault, not at all. But the 19-year-old’s lack of defensive presence is exacerbating problems throughout the rest of the team. It’s time to take him out of the firing line.
No need for Elliott anymore
It’s unlikely in the extreme that Klopp had expected Elliott to feature quite so much for Liverpool this season.
The teenager was always earmarked for a bigger role than last year, that’s for sure. But as things stand, he’s the only one of the Reds squad to feature in all 25 games this season.
Would it be too cruel to suggest that this is a nice, succinct way of explaining Liverpool’s struggles this season?
Had Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson and, crucially, Naby Keita been fit all season, the Reds would surely be several points better off by now.
In that list of names, Keita is the crucial one because he’s the one who can give Klopp a different option. Only just coming back to full fitness, Naby’s absence is the main reason behind Elliott’s constant inclusion.
The 27-year-old looks a more natural fit in a Klopp midfield. He also adds a little more stability and nous when playing towards his own goal. Now that he’s ready to play, he has to replace Elliott whenever possible.
All of this isn’t to say that Elliott is a poor player, or his time won’t come. He has shown enough in his short career so far to suggest that he has a good future at Anfield. Signed for just £1.5m, he has already more than paid back his transfer fee.
But right now, he isn’t helping. With every sloppy pass you can see Elliott’s confidence evaporating further. This is a huge point in his development and although he’ll be learning a lot from the current slump, now is the time to pull him out. He simply cannot start on Saturday against Wolves.
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