Harvey Elliott admits Liverpool are in a ‘difficult’ moment but believes he has the mental fortitude to turn things around after recovering from his broken ankle.
Elliott suffered the horrible injury in the 3-0 win against Leeds United at Elland Road last September, when a seemingly innocuous challenge from Pascal Struijk awkwardly caught his left leg and caused a ‘fracture dislocation’ at the ankle. The 19-year-old was confined to the treatment room until returning to training the following January, and after 147 days the teenager scored upon his return in the 3-1 FA Cup fourth round win against Cardiff .
That return kicked off an incredible rise to prominence within the Liverpool first-team for Elliott, who has been a rare signing light during an otherwise lacklustre 2022/2023 campaign thus far. The teenager has featured in every Premier League and Champions League game and was rewarded with a new five-year contract in August to reflect his rising stature.
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It’s been some 13 months for the young midfielder, but a blunt admission over the injury and his insistence on fixing the current ‘difficult’ moment is proof that he is only looking forward.
“There is no room for kids to be hiding,” Elliott told The Times . “I don’t think you can feel the pressure. When you start feeling the pressure you try to do too much instead of just feeling the game.
“For me, I focus on playing with a smile and enjoying my football rather than focusing on whether I need to do this or that, or get in that position and dribble or shoot. But at the same time you need to perform with this team.
“It is a difficult time at the moment. We are a world-class team and you are always going to have times when everything is tougher.
“We have had good results and good performances but something is not there at the moment whereby it is not clicking. But it is still early and we have still got a massive chunk of the season left. You have to make sure to stick together as a club and a team to get through these hard times.
“Breaking my ankle was a bad moment, but I couldn’t change it. When it happened, it was a case of getting my physio right so that when I came back onto the pitch I was in perfect condition.
“I feel I can change this situation. Sometimes I get annoyed with myself if I have misplaced a pass that could have created a chance or shot when I should have scored.
“I feel I am one of these players who can create or score as well doing the defending side of things. That is something that I worked on throughout last season and pre-season — making sure I am in the right position if the opposition are on the attack.”
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