Ex-Reds Split On Harvey Elliott Question

Harvey Elliott has only played 282 minutes for Liverpool so far this season, but they’ve been hugely impactful minutes, with the 18-year-old proving he has a significant first team role to play already this season.

He’s also just returned from missing nearly half the season with a fractured ankle, having come off the bench against Cardiff City in the FA Cup over the weekend. Despite that, some are ready to slot him straight into the starting eleven against Leicester City.

Some including former Liverpool fullback Jose Enrique, who took to social media to propose that with captain Jordan Henderson nursing a sore back, Elliott should slot straight into the starting eleven tonight.

As a Liverpool fan, it’s not difficult to find yourself nodding along to the idea—it is, after all, exceptionally easy to get caught up again in the hype surrounding Elliott such was his impact coming off the bench against Cardiff.

Luis Garcia, though, quickly showed up to be the voice of reason and argue patience in the case of young Elliott, responding to say that he’d “wait to play Elliott from the start” as “he needs to gain rhythm of competition.”

Garcia, it must be said, is probably right, given Elliott’s just back from injury and starting against Leicester could be too much too soon and an unnecessary risk. But it’s hard not to want to side with Enrique on the matter.