They did have Busquets behind them though. Here, the likes of Gravenberch and Jones have good height, considering their skills. But yeah, I’ve seen smaller/shorter players use their size better than big/tall ones. Elliott’s height as a #10 or right winger (generally a between the lines type of player) is fine, there are no issues there. We’re not playing a double pivot of Joe Allen and Harvey Elliott, are we. Other playing aspects will decide what happens with him. Had two good appearances off the bench now, now it’s about building on that and earning more.
Bigger problem is Elliott doesn’t have agility either. He is really slow, so he needs to develop his game sense a lot to make better decisions. He needs to play much more to develop his game sense. @Sweeting did mention that Mac Allister has almost the same career path as him, starting as an attacker and becoming deeper and deeper.
Speed is not an issue for me.
Kenny wasn’t all that quick, and he was a bit alright. Gianfranco Zola wasn’t overly blessed with pace and he was not someone I’d turn my nose up if he had shown interest in signing him. Pirlo was another player not that quick but knew how to always be in the right spot at the right time.
Scored in a friendly vs France U21
He also skied a penalty in the game.
Ekitiki with a hat trick for France and Cherki played for them too and was the star player according to reports
Melissa Reddy, Sky Sports:
“A good offer for Harvey Elliott would be accepted.”
If this happens, it’s a red flag against Slot.
Not if it means we have Güler lined up as Elliott’s replacement.
It’s not a shocking information, though the word “accept” instead of “consider” or something does carry some weight. Of course that a backup/rotation player like him has his price. Still relatively young, but has been here for a while. Question how much it’s the player also pushing for more game time. Some players will have to stay of course, we cannot change half the squad. We’ll see.
His problem has always been that nobody knows what his position is. He’s not quick enough for a winger, hes not tough enough for a midfielder, he’s not tricky enough for a number ten. Where does he fit in?
There’s no doubt that there’s a good player there, in the right system, but he doesn’t fit ours.
This is not a problem but more a reflection of what players of his type face when trying to break into senior football at a club competing to win stuff.
If you compare him to someone like Foden, someone who considered as close to a sure thing as you can get for a youth prospect, their career progression when matched for age is fairly similar. Comparable number of appearances, a lack of clarity on where he best fit into the side, and a confused sense from the fans for why he wasn’t being used more given how effective he often was when called upon. Factor in that Harvey has lost around a season’s worth of games from a freak injury and he’s doing fantastically well for someone who is still only 21.
Mac Allister had exactly the same problem before. I think Elliott will follow Mac’s career path, but he needs to play to gain experience. He’s a very intelligent footballer; with 1-2 full seasons, he’ll be much different. However, the key is that he needs to play week in, week out for this to happen.
Has Guller got more minutes than Elliot? Im sure Dom will know
The way Dom knew Güler’s minutes got me thinking: why would he know that number? I’m sure that he doesn’t just memorise everybody’s minutes played, even for teams he is facing, so maybe the club is looking into a possible transfer, and Dom has been doing his research.
Just a theory, but an intriguing one.
Or he used Google.
Good player is Harvey but there are valid question marks over whether he has what is takes to go to the next level, young player still but he’s hardly inexperienced anymore…especially when you see how quickly the likes of Wharton, Rogers, Palmer have progressed and leapfrogged him in fewer appearances. Miley, Dibling & Nwaneri are 3 others that could soon follow suit. If you had the choice to pick between Cherki or Harvey, there’s only 1 winner.
Among a few others it’s become apparant to me Arne has singled him out as someone who just won’t last long with his philosophy.
I don’t like all this talk at this stage of the season.
I know it’s not the players’ fault but we’re trying to win a league title and there’s non-stop speculation on our players’ future’s.
Trent appears to be as good as gone, VVD and Salah could go either way, Nunez probably thinks he’s gone in the summer, I’ve seen talk of Jota and Diaz being moved on, just this week I saw speculation about Endo going back to Germany and now this about Harvey.
It’s the last thing we need at this time. We need our lads fully focused on winning the league but half the squad don’t know where the fuck they’ll be next season.
Elliott is not an unknown quantity. We all have seen his strengths and weaknesses over the years, and he has more than proven that he belongs at this level. People forget that he’s only 21, he’s homegrown and he loves the club.
If Slot can’t find a use for him and he’s prepared to authorise his exit, questions need to be asked about him not Elliott.