Harvey Elliott has explained how Liverpool’s style of play is “completely different” under Arne Slot, as he battles “world-class” players for minutes.
It has been a frustrating season for Elliott, with a fractured foot on England Under-21s duty robbing him of nearly three months of action.
The 21-year-old is now back and ready to prove himself with Slot in charge, and in an interview with the Times, he outlined mastering Liverpool’s new style of play under their new boss.
“With the games coming thick and fast, it’s now just about practising the new style of play that we’ve learned with the gaffer and how we’re going to keep applying it in games,” Elliott said.
“It’s completely different to what we used to play before, so it’s like if you’re performing, if you’ve got a show, you keep going over and rehearsing it and rehearsing your lines or your part of the play.
“That’s kind of what we’re doing at the moment. We just keep going over and over things and making sure we’re getting it to a tee, really.”
Elliott has been limited to only 43 minutes of action in the Premier League this season, with his injury clearly a big reason for that.
He is also down the pecking order in the No.10 role, however, admitting that he has “world-class” competition in Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in his preferred position.
“That’s the position I play at England and I feel like I can really show my attributes,” he added.
“But on top of that, we have two other world-class No.10s in Curtis and Dom.
“It’s not going to be easy at all. It’s just about waiting for my moment, my opportunities and trying to take them with everything I have.
“On top of that, when I do get brought in, whether it’s as a sub or wherever I start, I just want to try to contribute for the team and be the best possible player I can.”
Elliott will no doubt be irked by his lack of action this season, but the performances of Szoboszlai and Jones make it hard for Slot to use him regularly.
The trip to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup could be a great chance to give him minutes, and if not, the visit of Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
Elliott will have hoped for a more positive start under Slot, but it is easy to forget that he is still only 21, and he brings a level of guile that his fellow No.10s arguably don’t.
There should still be plenty of opportunities to make a big impact in the coming months, and he showed last season what an influential substitute he can be.
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