Jurgen Klopp says he regrets not giving more game time to Harvey Elliott this season.
The midfielder has been heavily involved for Liverpool this season, making 32 appearances in the Premier League this season, but 23 of those have come from the bench.
The 21-year-old reached a milestone this season, reaching a century of appearances for his boyhood club, and has scored four goals and registered nine assists this season.
Klopp’s reliance on his substitutes has been a talking point this season, with Liverpool’s bench providing 22 goal involvements in the league this season. Elliott has been arguably one of the most prominent difference makers from the bench, but Klopp has said he regrets not playing the youngster more this season.
Klopp said: “Great game from both (Gakpo and Harvey Elliott). It’s not that I go back and think about things, but if I regret something a little bit it’s that Harvey didn’t play more maybe.
It was a really intense period where he was playing a lot in January, he played really good on the right wing, he was probably our best player. And then everyone came back and needed minutes here and there, but it was really nice he could show it.
“Cody knew for a while he wasn’t in his best moment. We had a conversation and it helped him a lot. How can I have an answer for a situation if I don’t understand? Maybe it took too long. But after the talk, he stepped really up. Smart, full of confidence, physical strength.”