Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted that Harvey Elliott "could have done better" in a couple of situations despite his pair of assists in their 2-1 win over Arsenal.
The former Fulham protege ran the show for the Reds in the first half of Wednesday's friendly in Philadelphia, laying on two sublime assists for Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho.
After Liverpool weathered an early Arsenal storm, Salah slipped Salah through to calmly find the bottom corner past Karl Hein, before delicately lifting the ball over the Arsenal defence for Carvalho to latch onto.
Mikel Arteta's men cut the deficit in half before the break as Kai Havertz nonchalantly tapped home from close range, and the Gunners were largely dominant in the second 45, but Liverpool saw out the victory nonetheless.
Throughout the early stages of his Liverpool career, Elliott has made fleeting contributions without ever becoming an established starter, but the 21-year-old is still rated incredibly highly by the Reds hierarchy.
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Slot "hard" on Elliott despite two assists
Speaking in his post-game press conference, head coach Slot talked up Elliott's playmaking display, but the Dutchman also affirmed that the England Under-21 international has plenty of room for improvement.
"He had two great assists, but what I believe is that the team created these assists for him as well. Playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions – or another No.10," Slot said.
"Then it is up to him to bring the most of these situations and he did that today with two assists. If I am a bit hard on him, I think there were two or three other situations where he could have done better.
"But that's what the team is doing for him; we make sure he and the other ones like Mo and like Fabio come in the right positions where they can show their quality. Harvey did that today with two good assists."
As Elliott headlined the young stars in the Liverpool XI, Salah was the most experienced head in the Reds' side, and Slot claimed that the 32-year-old has been a role model for his more juvenile teammates for several seasons now.
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"He came back really fit, but from what's been told to me that's normal for him. He always comes back really fit. But if I only use Mo as an example, I would not be fair to the other [senior] guys because the others are strong and fit as well," Slot said of Salah.
"One of the main positive things until now is all the boys are fit, we have no injuries at all, so we hope we can continue like this and their fitness levels go up and up more.
"We felt today how hard it is and how tough it is to play against a team that wants to press us high – and we want to press them high. So, you need to be really fit to play games like this and we are working on this. We are heading in the right direction."
Who will Liverpool play next in pre-season?
Liverpool are now two games into their three-match USA schedule, and Slot's crop now prepare for another clash of the titans on Saturday, when they take on Manchester United at the Williams–Brice Stadium in South Carolina.
The Reds then conclude their friendly preparations against Sevilla at Anfield on August 11, although talks have been held over another clash with Las Palmas, as Slot is apparently concerned about a lack of pre-season minutes for his international stars.
Ben Knapton
