ANFIELD – There are plenty of things that get under Jurgen Klopp’s skin.
Gabby Agbonlahor and groundsmen of underwatered pitches have recently been crossed off his Christmas card list, with Premier League schedulers removed long ago.
Another long-standing bugbear for the German is panic buys in the transfer market – something that Liverpool, for so long the benchmark of succession planning during the Michael Edwards era, just do not do.
That is why Klopp has been especially irked by questions over whether the club need to strengthen their options in midfield over the last few weeks, changing his tune more often than a Wurlitzer Jukebox.
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“I am the one who said we don’t need a midfielder and you were all right and I was wrong,” Klopp snapped in his pre-Bournemouth press conference last week. His mind, however, may well have been changed again just days later, having seen just what one of his squad options can do, when given the opportunity.
Everything that could have gone right at Anfield on Saturday did for Liverpool as they quickly put any talk of a crisis to bed, equalling the record for the biggest ever Premier League win.
Roberto Firmino reminded Darwin Nunez the central striker role is not the Uruguayan’s for keeps, Luis Diaz continued his ascension to becoming a firm Kop favourite with another two strikes, while young Fabio Carvalho opened his account for the club.
But it was another youngster who scored his first league goal for Liverpool, Harvey Elliott, who will have given Klopp most room to smile, starring in a midfield role his side were supposedly shorn of quality in amid their mini-injury crisis.
Klopp called for Liverpool to take matters into their own hands, given they had been uncharacteristically flat in their three winless games prior to Bournemouth’s visit, and Elliott brought the fire from the off, unafraid to run at defenders in the Merseyside sunshine.
His finish for the second goal, that effectively ended the match as a contest less than six minutes in, was expertly dispatched, arrowed into the bottom corner from 20 yards with an accuracy that would have made Kevin De Bruyne blush.
The 19-year-old just has that unerring ability you cannot teach – knowing when to go yourself and when it is best to find a team-mate, exemplified by his superb pick-out for Mohamed Salah that should have led to Liverpool’s third moments after his stunning goal.
Most hot-headed teenagers thrust into the Liverpool team, minutes after opening your account for the club, would have gone for goal in that position – but to look up and pick out Salah showed his maturity and why he will go very, very far.
It was all the more impressive given the emotional circumstances he was playing under.
“My nan passed away a few days ago, so this is just for her really,” a tearful Elliot said afterwards.
“It was just a great feeling to score at Anfield – not just any goal but a goal like that, it’s always worth the hard work.”
His efforts will only improve his chances of being handed a first-team berth more often. Klopp and Liverpool have their transfer targets lined up for next summer, with i understanding Jude Bellingham is top of their wishlist.
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The fact they are entertaining the idea is due to lingering doubts whether this season may be a step too far for 36-year-old James Milner, Carvalho is still seen as very raw, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains in and out of the treatment room.
Below their first-choice options, that leaves Klopp, lacking many alternatives. Elliot, however, proved perhaps earlier than expected that he can be an able deputy.
Their proud, sensible transfer approach need not be ruined just yet.
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