Liverpool have a 20-year-old who’s been better than Kobbie Mainoo, he should be furious today

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Since Liverpool’s narrow loss against Manchester United on Sunday, there has been plenty of hyperbolic reaction.

The likes of Darwin Nunez have been criticised while United suddenly appear to have the best team and manager on the planet.

In amongst Erik ten Hag’s super team, one player has been hoisted higher than any other: 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.

So enamoured has the footballing world been with Mainoo, that Gareth Southgate decided there was nothing else for it yesterday; he simply had to call the United man up to his senior England squad.

Now, let’s make this clear, Mainoo looks like a very good talent. He’s remarkably composed for such a young player and clearly has a huge future. But if Southgate was actually watching at Old Trafford on Sunday, then he’d have seen a young English midfielder who should indeed join up with his squad, but it wasn’t Mainoo.

Not only did Harvey Elliott get a goal against United, but he’s been quietly out performing Mainoo all year. Actually, Elliott has been knocking on the door of the England set-up for the past two years. Having been overlooked yet again, the 20-year-old should be furious today.

Southgate gets it wrong again

Had Curtis Jones not picked up an untimely injury last month, then you’d imagine that it would have been he and not Mainoo in this squad.

But, typically, Jones has been ruled out of his chance to make a last impression before the Euros this summer. He’ll be back soon, but you’d imagine Curtis has left it too late.

For Elliott though, he must be wondering what more he must do to be given a chance by Southgate.

Although he’d been a ‘super-sub’ for Liverpool earlier in the campaign, the former Fulham youngster has really come into his own recently.

Having started six of the Reds’ last eight games, he’s provided two goals and five assists in that time. Over his last nine matches, Mainoo has two of each. Good for a player so young, but Elliott is clearly outperforming him.

Of course, the game isn’t built just on goal contributions though, and Mainoo is a more defensive player than Harvey. But taking the season as a whole, there’s again little question who deserves his chance more.

The United man hasn’t even been capped by the U21s yet. Elliott meanwhile has been a standout player for them over the last 18 months. He’s scored 6 goals in 18 caps and has even captained the side.

Liverpool’s No.19 has got a big body of work behind him having now played 107 times for the Reds. Mix in his outstanding season on-loan in the Championship with Blackburn and a handful of appearances as a really young player with Fulham, and Elliott has been doing it for years. Mainoo’s senior career amounts to 23 games.

There are lots of things that go into picking a national team, many of them intangible. But Elliott has every right to be angry and disappointed with Southgate’s decision yesterday. If not now for Harvey, then when.