ESPN pundit suggests 20-year-old Liverpool player isn’t quick enough, after watching him play against Fulham

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Liverpool’s lack of threat against Fulham yesterday was partly down to a lack of ‘dynamism’ in their front line.

The Reds toiled for the opening 45 minutes of their game with the Cottagers at Anfield last night. Only with the introduction of substitutes Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez did they improve.

Ryan Gravenberch was one of those brought off. The 21-year-old has been criticised for his performance today and it’s safe to say he had a disappointing night in the midfield. Harvey Elliott meanwhile was the other player to make way.

And it’s Elliott who gets a mention in ESPN FC pundit Nedum Onuoha’s analysis. Whilst hailing the impact of Nunez, Onuoha suggested Liverpool just weren’t getting the pace they needed from Elliott to be a threat.

“Obviously Gakpo did his part but looking at it in the first-half, I thought Nunez was someone that did need to come on,” said the former England defender. “I think they needed some more dynamism.

“You see Harvey Elliott playing off the right, I think he’s a good player but you kind of wanted people that could maybe stretch the game all across that frontline, put Fulham under pressure, try and hit them in transitions. As the game wore on you could see the Fulham players were getting just that little bit more tired.”

Elliott lacking speed threat

Anyone who watched the game last night will have no choice but to agree with Onuoha here.

Elliott has been excellent this season, there’s no denying that. But it’s also true that most of his better displays have come from off the bench and in midfield.

Despite suggestions that he could be the man to step in and replace Mohamed Salah while he’s at AFCON, the 20-year-old just doesn’t have the facilities for that.

Harvey’s slight lack of pace has always been the one thing holding him back from being a true forward player.

He has the trickery, the composure and the speed of thought to play as a wide attacker. But he just doesn’t have the fleetness of foot.

That’s fine, not every player can be a speed merchant – and Elliott certainly isn’t slow. Without Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right though, Liverpool felt a little too one-paced and predictable.

Nunez certainly changed that when he came on and it only served to highlight what Elliott had been failing to provide.

With one caveat, we do feel that Harvey let the occasion of the game get to him a little. Fulham fans were audibly booing his every touch and the youngster was perhaps a little too keen to hit back at his former club. This isn’t a problem moving forward as it’s now clear that Elliott is a midfielder. What he lacks in speed and dynamism, he more than makes up for in nous, tenacity and quality on the ball.