Harvey Elliott at The Euros
Off to a solid, if unspectacular, start at the U21 European Championships
The U21 European Championships kicked off in Slovakia earlier this month. You know - the *under-21* tournament where England field seven starters who are 22 and above.
To say that Harvey Elliott’s Liverpool future is in limbo would be an understatement and a half. LFC’s 22-year-old midfielder amassed just two Premier League starts across the entirety of the last campaign—receiving just under eight times fewer minutes than he clocked in Klopp’s final bow.
That’s a wildly dramatic reduction. Just over 87% to be exact. Breaking his foot at the worst possible time, during the return from the September international break where Arne first began to test the depth of the squad, of course has to be factored in; Elliott was sidelined for two months. You don’t need a crystal ball however to see that Slot doesn’t seem to fancy the England youth international.
Elliott has been anything but reserved in expressing his frustration and, to be fair, it’s hard to blame him. “I don’t really want to be wasting years of my career because it’s a short career,” he stated. “Nothing makes me want to leave… but it’s just about what’s best for my career.”
More out than in, at the moment, you’d say. If Elliott’s days are indeed numbered, then the club will reportedly bank £40m—making the 2019 investment (£4.5m) of the then-16-year-old top knot-sporting Fulham prodigy look like a masterstroke. 147 senior Liverpool appearances with a goal contribution every 294 minutes, on average, is more than respectable.
*For what it’s worth, I’m a big Elliott fan; there’s been countless occasions where he’s completely changed games from the bench. You can’t really begrudge him nor Liverpool (there’s money to be made to balance those books) for not accepting that role, though. After all, we’re signing one of the world’s best number tens for 116 million pounds.*
One of my favourite pieces I’ve work that I have written was an analytical deep dive on Harvey, for This is Anfield in 2023, entitled: “Why Harvey Elliott should embrace his super-sub status.” Awkward…
He’s retained a decent level of attacking output throughout the years for the club, but his numbers in the England youth setup are through the roof. Harvey was instrumental in firing Lee Carsley’s U21s to Slovakia in the first place, finishing as the top scorer in Qualifying with an impressive seven goals in six matches. Scored in every single one of the qualifiers. Even added a brace in the 5-1 thrashing of Azerbaijan.
Ten goals in his last fifteen at that level. Not bad! After all, this is a talent who registered 17 goal contributions, at the ripe ol’ age of 17, during his loan season at Blackburn in the Championship.
Jarell Quansah has also firmly established himself as a key starter for England at this level, delivering strong performances throughout the group stage. Yet, the blunt reality is that watching a central defender in a dominant, possession-orientated team doesn’t always make for the most thrilling spectacle. Nor the most thrilling article. It was nice to see Tyler Morton’s return to action as a regular from the substitutes bench during this tournament, also. That collapsed loan move to Bayer Leverkusen, last summer, remains a big ‘what if’ for me.
Matchday 1: Czech Republic
Game 1 saw a leonine derby between the Young Lions (England) and the Little Lions (Czechia) in Dunajská Streda.
Talk about a good omen: when England were crowned champions of this tournament 2 years ago, they defeated Czechia in the opening group game. 3-1 England this time around. A very convincing and controlled performance.
I think that many would regard Elliott’s best position as a number ten. Not Lee Carsley. To be fair, he did extract a lot out of Harvey in this group campaign as a right-sided forward. As wide as we’ve seen Elliott for a number of years. A real throwback; who remembers his debut away to MK Dons in the League Cup?