Although Harvey Elliott is still only 20 years old and hence still considered a “kid” in Premier League parlance, he is one of the more experienced players in Liverpool’s revamped midfield in terms of appearances.
The England U21 regular is taking the duty of his insider knowledge of Anfield seriously to help Jurgen Klopp’s new-look team settle in smoothly, even though he acknowledges that he is still having trouble making sense of such a peculiar situation.
Only Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcantara of Liverpool’s eight-man midfield, who Klopp drastically upgraded this summer, have actually made more appearances than Elliott, who has 73 games under his belt and is quickly approaching ‘experienced’ status.It implies that he must take charge of assisting the newcomers with their integration and play a bigger part in fostering an environment that will allow Klopp’s “Liverpool 2.0,” as the manager refers to it, to develop its own identity and way of thinking.
Elliott is glad to do that, but he does so with his own unique smile that borders on being cheeky, which is a welcome addition to this new iteration of Klopp’s squad. Being so young, he finds the responsibility he bears as a long-standing member of the first team to be “a tough one to get my head around.”
But we are all aware that we must each contribute. This season, we want to step up and take charge, and that’s precisely what I’m attempting to do in each and every game. For the team, I’m striving to perform well, work hard, and aid those around me by attempting to cheer them up when they’re sad.
After the disappointment of the previous campaign, when Liverpool’s typically perfect standards fell and they ended outside the Champions League places for the first time in six seasons, Elliott can immediately sense a difference in the team, with a newfound hunger.
They share the same personality, however, and their ability to come from behind to win four games this season in just six appearances shows that the new-look team has a little of Klopp’s monster mindset.
