Aston Villa midfielder Harvey Elliott has been frozen out at his new club, but manager Unai Emery has judged the former Liverpool wrong, and needs to change to get the best out of him.
Elliott made the move to Villa Park during the summer transfer window, signing on loan from Premier League champions Liverpool, but he's started just once in the Premier League this season. The England youth international was one of Villa's high-profile signings in the summer, but it's safe to say Emery isn't showing much interest in making the most out of him at the moment.
After a disappointing start to the season, Villa have shown plenty of improvement in recent weeks and have started to climb the Premier League table. Heading into the international break, Villa have climbed to sixth place, which doesn't help Elliott's cause that he should be given more game time.
Unai Emery Getting Harvey Elliott Wrong at Aston Villa
Harvey Elliott
Speaking on Elliott recently, Emery suggested that he was strictly a number 10 in Villa's system.
“Harvey is a 10 number in our structure, in our shape, and he plays some matches and there is still adaptation to add himself individually in our structure, the task we have."
Restricting Elliott to just one position in this system, where he's competing with Morgan Rogers, is unfair on the Liverpool loanee. Elliott has played more games during his career on the right-hand side of attack, a position where Villa have had problems this season. The likes of Evann Guessand, Jadon Sancho, and John McGinn are among those to have been utilised on the right, with mixed results.
As per Transfermarkt, Elliott has played 104 times on the right wing during his career, providing 40 goals and assists combined in this position.
The fact Emery doesn't consider Elliott suitable for one of these positions, when he's a versatile player, is hampering his development. Elliott can provide an option in multiple positions, and there's no reason why he can't be considered a right-sided attacker in Emery's system.
It's safe to say Emery has got Elliott all wrong and needs to look at him differently. Of course, the former Arsenal manager sees him regularly in training, but he seems stubborn to the fact that he's only a number 10. Elliott is always going to struggle to compete with Rogers for the number 10 role, but there's no reason why he can't be a suitable option on the right, when Emery doesn't seem to have a guaranteed starter for this role.