The balance of Liverpool’s midfield has suffered this season as a result of the introduction of Harvey Elliott, giving Jurgen Klopp plenty to think about amid a worrying slump in form.
Everything was in place. Harvey Elliott was set to make his Liverpool debut this season.
After suffering a devastating injury last year, now was his chance to shine. Liverpool’s midfield injury problems, which have cost Jurgen Klopp Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, and, for a time, Thiago Alcantara, aided Elliott’s cause.
While the 19-year-old midfielder had always had his manager’s support, now he had the chance to start regularly and cement his place in the starting XI. The results have been intriguing – a combination of obvious talent and the limitations that come with youth and inexperience.
Of course, Klopp was ready for this. “It was always obvious that he was a good footballer but taking the next steps was always going to be about using information and experiences to grow and this is exactly what Harvey is doing,” Klopp said in August after Elliott signed a new contract. “Now it is all about carrying on enjoying his football as much as we enjoy watching him develop.”
That development is happening, but it is also causing damaging knock-on effects during Liverpool’s ropey start to the season. Elliott has started six of Liverpool’s seven games in the Premier League and Champions League this season. So far, he has contributed plenty of exciting glimpses of his ability and one emotion-filled goal, in the 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, Elliott has contributed more in terms of pressing and key passes. The youngster played on the right of a front three during a brilliant loan spell at Blackburn Rovers in the 2020/21 season, so his tendency to drift from the center of the pitch to the right is understandable.
So is Elliott’s poor contribution to the ball-winning side of the game. He has been dribbled past nine times in the Premier League – the most of any Liverpool player. He has also made fewer tackles and interceptions than James Milner and Jordan Henderson, while he has won just 18.2 percent of his attempted tackles.
“I do think there is room in that midfield for another high-intensity workaholic who can also deliver a cute pass,” he said. “Go back to Liverpool’s best midfield of three or four years ago. You had Gini Wijnaldum. Workaholic. James Milner. Workaholic. Jordan Henderson. Workaholic. Not the most gifted in terms of cute passing but relentless workers, all of them. The creativity was coming through the full-backs and the forwards.”
Adding another creative presence into the midfield three may have upset the previous balance Klopp enjoyed. Elliott is a fantastic talent who, along with Fabio Carvalho, appears to be the future of this Liverpool side. But it will take time and patience to find the perfect role for him – one that emphasizes his talents and negates his weaknesses. In the meantime, Klopp may have to find a quick fix to help address Liverpool’s alarming slump.
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