Jurgen Klopp makes Harvey Elliott '20 seasons' claim…

Jurgen Klopp makes Harvey Elliott '20 seasons' claim and advises youngsters after Man United loss

Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to helping Harvey Elliott continue progressing after the teenager once again made an impressive start to pre-season.

Elliott was one of the positives in his 30-minute outing during the opening stages of the 4-0 friendly defeat to Manchester United in Bangkok on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old’s form last summer saw him force his way into the starting line-up in the opening weeks of the Premier League season, only to have his campaign severely disrupted by a serious ankle injury.

And after Elliott’s encouraging outing at the Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand, Klopp said: “Harvey is a really good player, nobody should be surprised by that. It’s not going to be the most important season of his life because he has another 20 to go but he had a very good start this year again and now we have to work with him, like with everybody.

“When the opponent is playing like United is at the moment with the man-marking idea, you need to be flexible and it was always when Harvey came into the middle that all of a sudden we were dangerous, when Ox (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) got the ball in the half-spaces it was the same.

“You could see the 30 minutes we gave the boys was enough. Some would have been happier if we’d taken them off after 20! Nothing we had done in training the last few days prepares you for a football game. It’s just about getting used to it again.”

Young full-backs Isaac Mabaya and Luke Chambers were in the starting XI with Klopp later giving first senior experience to Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark, while Academy players Tom Hill and Melkamu Frauendorf also featured.

And asked if the game will benefit the youngsters, the Reds boss added: “It will but it’s not that they dream tonight of a personal fantastic game because we lost 4-0. Whatever I could say – and I haven’t been able to say really much so far because not all the players were together – I will do it tomorrow before training.

“But of course it’s a good experience and a deserved experience. They did really well in so many moments and in training they have been fantastic. They saw today if you make a mistake at this level, it’s pretty likely the opponent will score. It’s all a learning process and these boys are only at the start of theirs, so all good for now.”

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