As Liverpool slumped to their fifth Premier League loss of the season with a whimpering showing at the Gtech Stadium on Monday evening, pockets of Reds supporters had already made their minds up about the cause of the deep-rooted issues that have provoked such an uncharacteristic slump for Jurgen Klopp's side.
For some, the lack of rational thought has led them to believe that the apparent 'increased influence' of assistant manager and Klopp's right-hand man, Pep Lijnders, is to blame for Liverpool languishing in sixth place in the Premier League table.
Others, more recently, have incriminated 19-year-old teenage prodigy Harvey Elliott and his position on the right of midfield as the obvious frailty to a side that went within a whisker of achieving a record-shattering quadruple sweep less than 12 months ago.
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While the former hypothesis, which examines the role of the Reds' Dutch assistant since the release of his Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC book, is practically a non-starter due to the eagerness in which the Liverpool boss wanted Lijnders, along with all the other members of his backroom staff, to be similarly rewarded with a new long-term contract once negotiations started over his renewal on Merseyside early in 2022. However, the theory which discusses Elliott's function within the team is not quite a closed debate given his struggles as of late - which are, it's worth adding, through no fault of his own.
The potential of the former Fulham scholar is not at all questioned by anyone at the AXA Training Centre, including the Liverpool manager. That was illustrated when Elliott was handed an improved deal at Anfield just six months ago, just 13 first-team appearances after penning an extension in the summer of 2021.
But this season, though, there has been a clear absence of protection offered in the direction of Elliott as he has weathered a turbulent half-season as a pivotal member of the Reds' first-team. In previous title-winning and Champions League-winning seasons, Liverpool's midfield was the nucleus of everything Klopp's men did so well. Whether it was harassing opponents into sacrificing their share of position or being responsible for swift, killer transitions from defence to attack in just seconds. Those in the centre of the pitch, while not the most eye-catching performers, could without a doubt do it all.
But for the past eight or so months, including the final plays of the pulsating 2021/22 quadruple hunt, those tasked with lining up in a three-man unit have struggled and repeatedly failed to secure a vice-like grip on encounters in a way that Gini Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho so often did in years gone by. It is why for most parts of the 2022 calendar year, the Reds found themselves starting, what has felt like practically every fixture, at least one goal behind.
Of course, since Wijnaldum's departure in the summer of 2021, Liverpool have undergone a notable shift in style as Thiago Alcantara has effectively replaced the Reds' former No.5 in personnel, not in ilk. That tweak, coupled with the ageing profiles of Henderson, Fabinho and even the Spaniard himself, has meant that watching Klopp's side in action in the Premier League this season has resembled a breathless, end-to-end sporting encounter that would not look too out of place at the Los Angles' Staples Center, the home of the NBA's LA Lakers.
After missing out on the signing of Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni during the summer, who Liverpool had been willing to go head-to-head with Real Madrid for, and later failing to add a permanent midfielder to their ranks, Elliott found himself unexpectedly thrust up the Reds' pecking order and by the end of August had a starting berth at Old Trafford to add to his curriculum vitae. As well as both August and September's in-house Player of the Month award.
In fact, since the Community Shield triumph against Manchester City in late July, Elliott is the only member of Liverpool's squad to be involved in the following 25 games. While it is a statistic that the 19-year-old will cherish with immense pride as he bids to make up for the months he spent on the sidelines last season, it should be viewed with a sizeable serving of apprehension at Anfield and instead prompt any plans for a midfield-free January to be scrapped with immediate effect.
Despite flourishing in the 2020/21 Championship during a season-long loan at Blackburn Rovers, where while playing as a right-sided forward he bettered Jack Grealish's best-ever goal contributions in the second tier, Elliott has since been considerably remodelled by Klopp.
While part of the reason for such a drastic redeployment appeared to be down to doubts about Elliott's pace in the final third, the captivating shape of Mohamed Salah - which offers no signs of tailing off anytime soon - was the obvious blockage for the former Fulham and Queens Park Rangers youngster establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the Reds' attack.
Such a predicament has meant that in little over 18 months since returning from Ewood Park, of which Elliott spent six of those sidelined with a serious ankle ligament issue, the 19-year-old has been tasked with amassing a career's worth of positional and tactical nous to slot into Liverpool's three-man midfield unit. Something virtually impossible to accomplish.
If being made to burden the responsibility of Wijnaldum's exit following one of the most successful patches in the club's 131-year history wasn't a comprehensive enough task, plying his trade under one of the game's most tactical-challenging managers in Klopp was perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back for Elliott and has led to him looking scarily out of his depth in recent weeks. Most notably in transition as he struggles to reverse his instincts from attack to defence.
At times this season, there have been moments of indisputable quality while watching Elliott. One that immediately springs to mind came against Southampton in November when he demonstrated a greater understanding of the required decision-making needed at the elite level, but also his vast skill set in the final third as he teed up Darwin Nunez for the Reds' second goal in the 3-1 victory.
But too often this campaign the midfielder has been left exposed on the right-hand side of the Reds' midfield as both he and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been left unfairly uncovered, as was the case during the 4-1 drubbing in Naples back in September. That defeat is regarded as one of the club's worst performances on the continent in many a year, certainly since Klopp took charge over seven years ago.
While faith is large in the Surrey-born midfielder and the qualities he possesses from both Klopp and Liverpool, at this stage of Elliott's career he needs protection from those around him, not tough love. Of course, there are generational talents like Jude Bellingham, two months his junior, who appear to be gifted with such a naturalistic understanding of the game but, having played as a centre-midfielder for less than two years, Elliott is not at that stage yet.
On the flip side, even some of the game's most well-respected and most-lauded figures have struggled to adapt to the Liverpool boss' blueprints in recent times. Upon signing from Monaco in the summer of 2018, it took Fabinho until October to start his first Premier League game for the Reds as he struggled to acclimatise to the German’s demands both in and out of possession.
It is no sleight on the Liverpool youngster that his age is beginning to show as Liverpool’s season hangs in the balance. Such a glaring hole in the Liverpool squad, which is now bordering on a full-on crisis, would never have come to this if a sufficient alternative had been pursued in the months after missing out on Tchouameni.
While it remains to be seen where Elliott's long-term positional future at Anfield lies, with tactical tweaks earlier on in the campaign suggesting that Liverpool could move away from their famed 4-3-3 set-up in the not too distance future, there are lessons to learn from teenagers who have walked the overexposed path at Anfield in years before.
It was a lack of positional identity under former boss Brendan Rodgers that was cited as one of Raheem Sterling's justifications behind the England international not wanting to pen fresh terms at Anfield in the spring of 2015.
Speaking in an explosive interview with the BBC, Sterling admitted his frustration at having been deployed in a whole host of positions - including right wing-back - by Rodgers.
"[I'm] sacrificed to play in a more defensive position as the manager is trying to fit everyone in," said Sterling in an unsanctioned interview. “I train every day to play up front."
While there is no danger of Elliott following the same path as the former Liverpool winger given his publicised love for Liverpool and the excitement at penning a new long-term deal at Anfield. However, there will be lessons Klopp can take from the scenario of his predecessor as he looks to map out Elliott's long-term development at Anfield.
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