Harvey Elliott has admitted he is aware of criticism he continues to receive for his Liverpool scoring record – because his own father is actually his biggest critic.
The 20-year-old is yet to score for the Reds this season, while he claimed his first, and so far only, assist of the campaign when crossing for Luis Diaz to equalise against Luton Town earlier this month. Registering six goals and four assists from 82 appearances for Liverpool, Elliott has only scored once and set up three in the Premier League.
In contrast, he now boasts six goals and four assists for England Under-21s from 18 caps after his match-winning brace in the young Lions’ 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland at Goodison Park on Tuesday night.
In contrast, he now boasts six goals and four assists for England Under-21s from 18 caps after his match-winning brace in the young Lions’ 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland at Goodison Park on Tuesday night.
Five of those goals have come in qualifying for the 2025 European Under-21 Championship, with the Reds midfielder the joint second-leading goalscorer across qualification behind Germany and Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko.
Meanwhile, as a member of the England Under-21s squad that won this summer’s Euros in Romania and Georgia, he boasts six goals and two assists from his last six starts for the young Lions.
Admitting he needs to be more prolific for Liverpool, Elliott revealed he’s determined to replicate his international form back at club-level.
“Is it five? (Pauses) Yeah, it is (Laughs). I just needed to make sure. Yeah, it’s five,” he told reporters after his brace against Northern Ireland when reflecting on his recent scoring run for England. “Yeah, definitely (I’m looking to score more goals for Liverpool.
It is something I get criticised on, especially at Liverpool and it is something I need to do more of at Liverpool, score and create goals, especially in that advanced role which I play.
“I’m full of confidence now and I just need to take it into Liverpool. I’m going to get limited chances in front of goal and I just need to make sure I take them like I did today (vs Northern Ireland).
“My main focus (for my second goal) was just trying to get a clean connection. I looked up and saw the keeper coming out. For me the only possibility of scoring was to chip him.
“It is something I do in training and I’ve scored like that before. It comes natural for me and I just needed to make sure that I got a clean connection. Once one goes in for me, the ball starts to roll and I just keep on going and going.
He continued: “It’s more my dad (criticising my scoring record) to be honest! Social media is social media, it can turn quickly. Everyone can love you and everyone can hate you in a matter of minutes.
“For me, I don’t really focus on it too much. I just listen to the important people around me, like my family, the coaches and the players as well who are all trying to help me out. It is more my dad who criticises me a lot.
