Better than even Lallana? Dare we dream…
Super Harvey Elliott
- Thread starter rurikbird
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Better than even Lallana? Dare we dream…
God I hope not. Our wings rely heavily on pace. Elliot has never looked good in one of the forward positions.
I understand the sentiment, but in a real world, achieving more than Lallana – an England international, hugely respected by fellow players, etc – would be some achievement by Elliott or any other young English-born player. Think of the likes of Barkley or Dele Alli who initially showed so much promise, but ultimately failed to make the mark – it's really not easy, especially in that position. "Better than Lallana" would already be touching Lampard/Macca/Scholes territory.
It was an open goal… I couldn’t help myself.
Yep, I agree. I was meaning that Coutinho was wide-forward Klopp would necessarily sign for big money, as he wants speed and strength on the flanks to exploit counters and push teams back, but Klopp set up in such a way to get the most of Coutinhos talent. Similarly Elliott is probably lacking some height, strength and defensive focus for a Klopp midfield, but his intelligence, interplay, short passing and vision is enough to compensate. The big question regarding Elliotts long term role on the side is whether the right hand side is too attacking and gung- ho. With Salah and Trent essentially undroppable, it's Elliott who is likely the one that be culled to readdress the balance if there are failings.
In that sense Konate getting back from injury into the side could help out Elliotts long term security in the side, as Konate is the only one with the insane recovery pace to cover the yards needed when the ball had been turned over and we're in the shit.
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I think Gomez's recovery pace is as insane too.
It’s a shame he’s a shithouse and a bit rubbish. Big Ib is the successor to vvd’s throne.
LeTallec and Pongolle.
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This is not far off the promise he was showing at the start of last season. It's great to see how much difference a few consecutive games is making to his role. We need to continue finding a way to make this midfield work - with two DMs keeping it covered and giving him a free role to roam as he is excelling in this. I can see it working really nicely when Thiago returns.
I think he's already ahead of what he was showing last season when I think he was trying more to keep it tidy. The more he allows his creative side to flourish the better news for us.
Oh gosh no please. Pick Grealish instead, Southgate.
Had his worst game of the season just as the rest of the team upped their level – was it a coincidence or there is something to it? I wouldn't lay into him (like some fans are starting to on Twitter) but all of a sudden he looked a level below everyone else – just slower and unable to create much danger or to protect Trent defensively. Curious whether Klopp will persist with him against Brighton and Rangers.
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I think he was asked to play in a different way today - he tucked in and stayed closer to the other midfielders.
I think he’ll have games like this while he develops, but I wouldn’t change him just yet, as the only other option would be Hendo when he’s fit.
I’m still don’t know where Arthur plays - can he slot in to the righ position?
LeTallec and Pongolle.
Theyre cousins?,?
He’s only ever played wide or certainly higher up the pitch - and he doesn’t appear to have the range of passing or defensive nous to operate as a deep lying playmaker.
Yes totally, - I hate to be the one that is going to blow this whole Harvey Love-In, but I think he is actually along with injuries the biggest problem we have in the team. We are trying to use his talented football brain in position that is completely screwing up that right hand side on various fronts:
1) First he is too light-weight for PL games to have a central midfield role
2) has demonstrated zero-defensive nous - and probably is the reason why Trent is so so exposed now.
3) For someone who is playing well, and even going into spaces where Salah use to cover quite a bit, we are getting to goal-output from him.
If we are to use him - then it has to be either as:
a) a right sided front player to cover Mo when he is out or Mo is to play centrally. So essentially the right sided winger role - what did he play for Blackburn ?
b) he needs to be the guy that plays in the spaces directly in front of a midfielder two - of Fabinho and Thiago/Melo - he needs to learn that role.
I don't think he should be starting at all. Sorry all.
You go too far.
He’s not too lightweight for a midfield role - there are plenty of “slight” midfielders around and he’s actually stockier than most.
We don’t play with someone “in the spaces in front of a midfield 2 - he needs to attack through the right half space and go out wide from time to time - but with Salah & Trent all attacking the same places, they need to figure out how to rotate through the positions and make sure when either Trent to Harvey push on, one holds to cover.
They’ll take time to develop that understanding and Harvey is what, 19, he’ll learn positioning and when to hold or push the more he plays - in fact he’s only going to learn by playing more.
Harvey is like any young player - he’s going to make mistakes and he’s going to be inconsistent - but he’s not going to get better sitting on the bench and he has, I feel, a high skill ceiling.
It’s just Elliott doesn’t seem a natural fit for a more disciplined RCM role if that’s the direction Klopp now decided on. We started the season with our midfielders seeming to have a free reign to join the attack - Elliott always looked like he’s part of a front 4 rather than the midfield 3, while over at LCM even Thiago in his first game before he got injured was noticeably getting forward and Milner and Hendo continued in the same vein - all of which resulted in Fabinho being left to mind the store all alone and our defence horribly exposed.
Now that Napoli and others picked us apart, we’re back to trying to be compact, the midfield 3 playing more as a flat line across, not so many triangles being created - and Elliott was the one player who didn’t seem to fit this new/old style. Actually Keita (if he ever crosses over back to the land of the living) would probably be the best-suited RCM we currently have for that style of play - more cautious, holding his position and being content with progressing the ball to the feet of the front 3, not making runs beyond them, being ready to counter-press when the ball is lost, rinse and repeat. It seems like a backward step in the evolution of our playing style, but it’s probably better than being constantly ripped apart.
And if at some point we do want to continue the evolution, to play with a freely-interchanging front 4 and two central midfielders, one intriguing possibility I keep thinking about is playing Diaz deeper, like a very attack-minded #8 or a roaming #10 - I think he could be pretty devastating in that role, being so direct, energetic and hard to dispossess. Diaz reminds me of Di Maria who at a certain point made a successful transition from winger to a midfielder (despite being very one-footed - less of a problem for Diaz); this type of hard-working creative player always needs to be in the thick of the action and maybe their best place is ultimately in the middle. With Jota back from injury and Carvalho getting settled in the team, we now have more options for the LW and maybe Klopp can start moving Diaz around to find out the optimal use for his qualities.
Now that Napoli and others picked us apart, we’re back to trying to be compact, the midfield 3 playing more as a flat line across, not so many triangles being created - and Elliott was the one player who didn’t seem to fit this new/old style. Actually Keita (if he ever crosses over back to the land of the living) would probably be the best-suited RCM we currently have for that style of play - more cautious, holding his position and being content with progressing the ball to the feet of the front 3, not making runs beyond them, being ready to counter-press when the ball is lost, rinse and repeat. It seems like a backward step in the evolution of our playing style, but it’s probably better than being constantly ripped apart.
And if at some point we do want to continue the evolution, to play with a freely-interchanging front 4 and two central midfielders, one intriguing possibility I keep thinking about is playing Diaz deeper, like a very attack-minded #8 or a roaming #10 - I think he could be pretty devastating in that role, being so direct, energetic and hard to dispossess. Diaz reminds me of Di Maria who at a certain point made a successful transition from winger to a midfielder (despite being very one-footed - less of a problem for Diaz); this type of hard-working creative player always needs to be in the thick of the action and maybe their best place is ultimately in the middle. With Jota back from injury and Carvalho getting settled in the team, we now have more options for the LW and maybe Klopp can start moving Diaz around to find out the optimal use for his qualities.
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