Harvey Elliott should be in best Liverpool XI as rebuilt midfield labour to Everton win
Harvey Elliott was brilliant when he came on for Liverpool, who had laboured until that point in the first outing for the new midfield trio. The England U21 should be in Klopp’s best XI as things stand.
Jurgen Klopp didn’t hide his delight before kick-off at starting his three top midfield summer signings together for the first time. Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch represents a very talented, multi-faceted midfield trio.
It took three minutes for the “good relationship” that Klopp said they had developed to be realised in the Premier League. Mac Allister, from his quarterback role, slid a pass forward into Gravenberch, who fired the ball first time into Szoboszlai.
Liverpool were denied the perfect start by a poor Mohamed Salah finish, but the touch, awareness and quality on the ball of each midfielder was evident in that one moment. Creating chances wouldn’t be a problem, so we thought.
But this is the Merseyside derby: the enemy of creativity, quality and half-decent football. It was as though after that one delightful flowing move, the Liverpool midfielders had been reminded which fixture they were playing in.
More 0-0 draws and more red cards than in any other Premier League fixture, the latter was achieved after just 37 minutes, when Ashley Young was shown a second yellow, at which point the former felt like an inevitability.
Everton had thrown bodies forward, almost to a fault, until that stage, as they looked to make the most of set-piece opportunities and knockdowns from Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Liverpool enjoyed incredible space on the break and should have made more of it while they had the chance.
The next 40 minutes of the game, before Michael Keane broke his own silhouette and Salah scored from the penalty spot, featured tame and slow Liverpool passing in front of an Everton back nine and crosses delivered onto the bonces of big Everton centre-backs.
Even with Trent Alexander-Arnold to aid them, Liverpool’s midfield created next to nothing. It took the introduction of Elliott to breathe any sort of life into them.
He was the best player on the pitch in each of the recent England U21 internationals, got two goals and two assists, and captained the side against Ukraine. He’s got composure well beyond his years and remarkably allies that with extraordinary energy.
Salah plays better with Elliott in that role just behind him, and though it was probably more due to the state of the game – with Everton pushing on in search of an equaliser – Szoboszlai and Mac Allister were also more influential with the 20-year-old alongside them over Gravenberch. It took a brilliant save from Jordan Pickford to stop Elliott scoring a sublime long-range goal.
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Doubts as to whether the Liverpool rebuild is complete have focused on the lack of a quality No.6 – they clearly wanted one having battled Chelsea for both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. And although that deficiency wasn’t hugely tested against Everton, there will be games this season when they could do with someone like Amadou Onana, who did that sweeping job masterfully for the Toffees on Saturday.
When the rebuild is complete, assuming Klopp still sees it as such, it’s hard to imagine Elliott starting all that often, but as things stand, given his consistent displays for club and country, and the way in which everyone around him appears to play better when he’s on the pitch, there should currently be a spot for him in Liverpool’s best XI.
