After
Pretty small sample size you have there, no?
1 Like
Bigger than the sample before he got injured.
I just find it a bit odd that Elliott is so far ahead of Jones in many peopleās minds. Theyāre both great prospects but I think Jones has done more so far.
3 Likes
Still not a meaningful enough sample to draw any conclusions about who had a better season. Both had a handful of meaningful appearances to their names.
When you consider that Elliott is a solid two years younger than Jones and displayed a lot of potential prior to his injury, itās no surprise that there is more excitement about him than there is about Jones. And that isnāt to discredit Jones, either - I still believe in his potential.
But, Klopp had an 18 year old Harvey Elliott starting in the midfield for this fantastic club at the for three of the first four matches of the league campaign. Thatās quite the endorsement for a player that young.
looks like we have given up our first refusalā¦35mil to Arsenal reportedly.
Jones is a good player. At the least, he is a home grown squad man who will see a fair amount of action. Itās up to him to show he can be more than that and force his way into the team more often than not. As others have said, itās a big season for him. Thereās no way he should be sold or loaned out.
Elliot is younger again and thereās no reason to consider selling him. He sprung a slight surprise last season by starting in midfield, and he looked good. Then he got injured. By the time he was getting back it was in the latter part of the season, and every game was do or die. We couldnāt afford the time for him to play his way into form and rhythm.
Way too early to think about either one leaving. In time my best guess is Elliot will become a fixture in the midfield, while Jones will not quite get that high and will be a squad man, and then at a certain point, say two years, he might move on to a mid Prem team to play more. Just a guess though.
In the meantime, thereās a definite role for them this season. What sort of future beyond that? Well, letās see how we go.
1 Like
Feels like maybe weāve got our sights trained on another CMā¦ 
2 Likes
I love them both. Great young players.
I think Elliott has the higher ceiling of the two, and itās hardly fair to compare them in a run of games where Elliott was recovering from a terrible injury.
2 Likes
Absolutely. I think weāre 2-3 years away from even a conversation about Jones leaving. By that time heāll be coming towards his peak years and if he hasnāt established himself it might be Jones himself who initiates this conversation.
But for now, he is doing more than OK.
3 Likes
The amount of times people predicted (since letās say 16/17) weād go 4-2-3-1 more often (or even as our main formation) vs the amount of times it really happenedā¦
1 Like
You used the wrong emoji 
Dean Henderson about to join Nottingham Forest.
Haha, indeed. I think the challenge with it when weāve used it the last couple of seasons, has been to get all attackers into the game. Probably down to lack of familiarity, the movement patterns in 433 must be so familiar for the players. So for us I think itās been more of a thing when we chase a goal
And also, four attackers is a lot, I think one of them needs to be comfortable being on the fringes, doing a lot of stuff off-ball in attacks, not seeking the ball much in the build-up.
Maybe more chance of that with a striker like Nunez, I donāt know. But then it seems likely Salah will play more of a creator role than goalscorer, so it also makes sense to continue with 433. Will be interesting to see in pre-season, what the practice shape is.
Pretty much all of the team will have a full pre-season this time, so a change in shape could be implemented.
1 Like
That Owen lad was inexperienced. Didnāt stop him being stunningly good. Went Pete Tongue in the end but I like to remember the kid.
Sounds like one of Peachesā mates
1 Like
Yeah, that will be interesting to see.
Because we might have two very new players alongside Salah (and his specific role) in attack. So still to be seen whatās our starting trio by the first game. They will also go into more detail with Diaz this summer, after a very promising 6 months.
There were a few games when Salah remained on the rigth when we went 4-2-3-1, but that also depends if weāre really attacking, etc.
I guess some sort of adaptation will be needed on both sides. Nunez albeit closest to a proper #9 weāve had in years, I still donāt think weād buy him unless we thought he can also do/learn other things.
Jota up top in a 4-3-3 was already quite different to what Bobby does (also having Thiago in relation to what we had before him), perhaps we hope that Nunez can do a better job in both directions or more phases/situations of the game.
2 Likes
for Ā£35m if we really wanted him we wouldve got him.
No player is choosing Arsenal over us.
So do I but I think I see it slightly differently to most here.
A lot of people seems to believe Elliott is a nailed on future starter for many years but Jones has his future to fight for and could leave in a couple of season after being a rotation guy.
For me, I donāt think that. I see BOTH of them as nailed on future starters and that theyāll both be here for many years. Theyāre already fully fledged first team players and they are miles ahead of other young midfield talent at the club - such as Morton.
On that basis my comment is not a denigration of Elliott but just to highlight that Jones is for some reason seen as expendable or in danger for his future but out of the two Jones had the better season, been more consistent when used and tried (sometimes too much) to be tactically disciplined more so than Elliott.
Elliott certainly has a very high ceiling but I think Jones does too.
8 Likes
I feel that Jones has been questioned by fans from the first day he broke into the first team squadā¦
5 Likes