Harvey Elliott pleased to have Luis Diaz back in Liverpool squad after a long lay-off
Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott is pleased to have Luis Diaz back in the squad after a long injury lay-off.
Diaz made his first start for the Reds against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday since going off injured during the Arsenal game back in October.
The Colombian came back for the mid-season training camp in December, but aggravated his issue and eventually had to get surgery done. His first appearance back was against Leeds United at Elland Road a couple of weeks ago. But, a first start and a goal to boot must be a good feeling for the former Porto man.
Here’s Elliott on how the whole squad is buzzing to have the 26-year-old back (h/t Liverpool FC website):
“It’s amazing – not just me but everyone, the whole building is buzzing to see him back. And the fans are as well. There was a lot of talk obviously before the game, seeing if he’s ready to start.
“He looks like he hasn’t been out. The way he contributed to the game and for his goal and how hard he worked, it’s just great to see that an injury like that can set someone back but [he can] still come back firing.
“We’re all around him, we’re all so pleased for him. As everyone saw, his emotion after scoring the goal, each and every one of us all felt the same for him.”
It won’t be an overstatement to say that Liverpool’s position in the league table would have been better had Diaz been throughout the season.
The Colombian’s directness on the ball, ability to take people on and release pressure, connect well with the other forwards and add goals were missed to a large extent. Darwin Nunez played there, but he is still learning the art of playing in a Jurgen Klopp system, while Diaz is six months senior to him in that aspect.
We can hope that the 26-year-old remains fit and ends this campaign on a strong note. After that, the key would be to come back for the pre-season and work hard to get to his peak level ahead of the start of next season.
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An in-form Diaz with Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo can cause issues for any defence in England and Europe. Diogo Jota and Nunez form a great backup duo that can come in and add a different dimension to the Liverpool attack.
