Well I’m glad I wasted my time.
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Let’s hope so.
Hmm, I missed the Madrid duo.
Or perhap it’s because at 19 he had played in every game of the season up to that point and he was knackered. Or maybe it’s because the system tweak meant we needed a different type of player than him to allow Trent to do what he was doing.
He’s played almost exclusively in midfield for us since he came into the side so what you choose to believe is irrelevant because you aren’t picking the team and Klopp quite obviously sees him as a midfielder.
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Regardless of the context that is a brilliant expression. Is it a translation from Dutch?
If Elliott isn’t a midfielder, what is he? He doesn’t seem speedy or tricky enough for a winger to me.
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I suspect the position he could best be suited to is the one that Salah currently plays. I think that is more or less what he was doing for Blackburn.
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Elliott is, right now, an attacking minded midfielder. A between the lines type of player. Who can do a job as a wider attacking player, but also play active if he plays deeper. To go into more detail and put him in a bracket, we don’t need to do that while he’s 20-years old. Many players went through different phases before nailing down a position. He’s had good and bad games both in midfield and attack. We don’t have to write him off for any of the two positions. How far he goes in his career and if he’s long term a Liverpool player, that remains to be seen.
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Elliot is a midfielder, he’s also just a kid. He’s not good enough to play as many minutes as he did last season regardless of where he starts on the pitch.
Used as he should be, a rotation/squad option, he’ll be fine. He should suit this box formation reasonably well in the right sided advanced position.
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Elliot needs to have a bit more pace to work in the winger role. I don’t see him as a midfielder yet. Not that he can’t be in the future. As of now , stick him in as a sub in the PL and a starter for the domestic cups. If he adds a yard or 2 of pace , which isn’t unfathomable considering he’s still a young footballer , that’ll help him.
He won’t be a salah replacement but he’ll offer something from the RW in the future provided he gets that pace
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He won’t get faster, but it’s not like he’s slow either. His pace is fine. It will be more if his overall game and consistency merits going into his peak years at a top club or will have to drop a level or levels below at some point. How he’s in possession most of the time (it’s not all final ball all the time at top clubs), what’s his pressing/defending like, what’s his end product like (since he will mostly try to arrive to support the attack). His model could be to look at someone like Odegaard, how he’s playing that high right sided #8 position.
And post-Salah, we might not need a “Salah” type of player. That will also depend on who is our central player. And also who is our next manager.
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Barella
Yes it is. 
I don’t know what he is, I’m getting the feeling that he is not good enough for us.
Believe me, my opinion is never irrelevant … 
He might make it here or he might not, still very early to tell.
I will say, he’s looked a better in the u-21 tournament than any of the players we’ve been linked with: Thuram, Kone, Gravenberch, or Veiga (tbf he just isn’t getting minutes)
I’m not saying I expect him to ever hit these levels, but David Silva was another player that was “too slow to play wide” and “too small and attacking minded to play midfield”.
Elliot’s progressive passing, expected assists, and chance creation stats per minute were elite last season. And he still has plenty of time to improve. He may not make it at Liverpool long term but I suspect he’ll spend most of his career playing at a champions league level club.
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I agree about Gravenberch who was disappointing most of the time. Kone played excellent in his first match, was rested in the second and got seriously injured in the third. Thuram I don’t know IMO he is way ahead on Elliott in every categorie but he is 2 years older. Veiga hardly played.
I hope Elliott proves me wrong, I have no problem admitting it, see Gakpo …
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Kone was very good in his first game, but Elliot vs Germany and his cameo vs Israel was better, at least in my opinion. (Which counts for nothing)
Thuram to me has looked disappointing. Didn’t play second game but I thought he was pretty bad in the first game and better in the third game but still didn’t have much of an influence.
If we do sign Thuram I’ll be in the camp of, I hope he proves me wrong. I know international competitions are not the best place to judge players but having never seen him play prior to us being linked to him, I was hoping to see a bit more. (Particularly because I’m only really watching these games to see him! Haha)
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A week ago I suggested that we might like, say, four midfielders at the u21 with the intent that we might sign 2 of them. While negotiations are progressing and we are moving toward getting deals done, there was a sense that we might be hanging fire on pulling the trigger to see how the u21 tourney panned out. Not so much in terms of the level of the player, as they will be well scouted, although more data points are always useful; but in terms of waiting to see that they come through the tourney without injury.
I stand by that last part especially, as if I might go for player A or player B, and then one of them is injured, my choice is now crystal clear.
I liked the sense that we appeared to have options, so as to not be boxed in with our choice/s.
Anyway, looking at the image of Kone on crutches makes me think two things. First, I hope it’s not bad for the fella, and only a minor injury. But second, if it is more of a problem, I am glad we didn’t lock down a deal for him pre tourney, on proviso that we have another suitable player we do sign.
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We never seemed massively in for Kone for some reason.
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We knew he’d get injured
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