Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott admitted he was his own worst critic and would not be happy until he was providing regular goals and assists for the team.
The 20-year-old was one of the better players – particularly in the first half – of the 5-1 Carabao Cup win at home to West Ham which booked a two-legged semi-final against Fulham.
But despite having a couple of shots and taking up good positions in between the lines, he was not one of the four goalscorers on the night as that honour went to Curtis Jones (two), Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.
Elliott said only a week ago he did not want to earn a reputation as a super-sub after just nine starts in 23 appearances this season but after what he felt was a less-than productive evening against the woeful Hammers, he vowed to improve.
“I’m disappointed with myself. I feel I should have scored a few goals but I am just happy the team won,” he said after helping the club secure a record 19th League Cup semi-final.
“It is all well and good doing what I did but at the end of the day my job is to score and create and I didn’t do it so it is something I need to reflect on going into the next game.
“I’m happy with myself but I’m annoyed with myself at the same time. But it’s not about who scores the goals, it is about making sure we get the job done and getting into the next round.”
On his harsh self-critique, Elliott added: “It’s just the way I’ve been brought up with my family, especially my dad who has always been critical of my performances and it is something I’ve brought along with me.
“It’s not for me to go home and beat myself up over it but something to reflect on in the next couple of days and make sure when I get these opportunities again, I take them. It is about making myself a better player.”
With a two-legged semi-final to come in January, the focus returns to the Premier League this weekend.
The visit or Arsenal on Saturday provides Jurgen Klopp’s side with the opportunity to be top of the table at Christmas.
Despite his good showing, Elliott is likely to find himself on the bench again for that game with Salah set to return.
“You can’t be upset if you don’t start. You know if you do start, you need to put in a performance to keep you in the team,” he added.
“That’s football and the joys of this team. You look at the squad depth and see the lads who didn’t play, who were out but maybe will feature at the weekend. We have massive quality.
“We need to take it game by game and can’t be thinking ahead or getting too worked up about tonight’s performances. We need to make sure we are right at the weekend.”
It may be top versus second but Elliott insisted at this stage, it was unlikely to have much bearing on the title race.
“It’s a long way to go, many games left to the end of the season,” he said.
“It’s the Premier League and you never know what’s going to happen and it could be a massive game.
“We are going in to win it and nothing else is good enough for us. We just need to make sure we get the three points.”
Guardiola has 'not decided anything' amid England job speculation
Pep Guardiola has played down expectations that he has decided to take over as the next permanent England manager.
The 53-year-old would be a popular choice for the job, given the success that has followed him at every club since becoming a manager.
Guardiola has won six Premier League titles at City, including each of the last four, while he won three league titles each with Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He is also a three-time Champions League winner and 10-time domestic cup winner as a manager.
But when asked about the England job amid reports claiming his next step had been decided, he was not drawn on any speculation.
"It's not true. I'm Manchester City manager," he told Che Tempo Che Fa, as per transfer football expert Fabrizio Romano.
But despite his dismissive comments, Guardiola stopped short of shutting down the rumours that he could be considering becoming the next England manager.
"I've not decided anything, everything can happen. So I don't know," he said.
"Let's see on my future. I still need to reflect and decide what I want to do."
Guardiola's contract at City is up at the end of the 2024-25 season, with the Spaniard yet to make a decision on his future at the club.
Alongside any potential sanctions that City might face in their long-running battle with the Premier League, speculation about their manager's future has been rife in recent months.
He is far and away City's most successful manager of all time, maintaining a win percentage of over 70% after 483 matches in charge, while he is second to Alex Ferguson as the manager with the most Premier League titles.
Mona, Hillel kickstart 2024 Canopy Insurance/JISA Alberga Cup season quest with impressive victories
The 2023 Canopy Insurance/JISA Under-12 Alberga Cup finalists, Mona Preparatory and Hillel Academy kickstarted their quest for victory on Saturday when they played opening matches against St. Hughs Preparatory and American International School of Kingston (AISK) at the National Water Commission’s (NWC) Mona field and the AISK field respectively. The 2023 Cup finalists were 2 of 17 matches played across 5 zones set for both Kingston & St. Catherine.
Mona, who played in Zone 4, won their opener against St. Hugh’s and were in high spirits as they believe they have a chance to repeat history. Coached by Vivian Nelson they clocked 11-0; while unsure if his team is ready, he is looking forward to them playing some good football.
"I’m not sure if we’re ready but the season [already] started so we’ll just play. At 11-0, they’re just showing that they picked up from where they left off so, it was a good game, the first game; we just want to see where they are after the pre-season, so [it] never really looked bad, the playing is okay, but I think as we go along we expect some improvement.”
Nelson said that compared to last year, it’s more or less the same results from the first match.
“If we judge by that [match] then, the season is the same; we’re hoping to get there [on the top spot] again. We have an ongoing program plus some of these youngsters play football right round [the year] so when they’re not with me they’re with the Dare to Dream Football Academy; we put in some work in pre-season; expect youngsters [to be] youngsters and score. [But] I’m looking at how they play the position, their discipline and how they control the game.
Noting that while they’re playing for victory, he’s not looking at teams now, he’s focused on his team to see where the season takes them, whilst praising his competent returning players.
Their opening opponent’s coach, Pryce of St. Hughs Prep believes they can get better.
“We have a fairly young team this year, a group of grade 5 boys coming out to play some really nice football, they were up against the defending champions which is very good and for me they performed the best they could.” said Pryce.
“The boys are growing, they are coming along, they have a lot more experience to gain so the more they play, the better they’ll get over the years. They’re just here to put on a good show for themselves this year and get some confidence going into next year’s season. They just need to play faster and a bit more confident.”
In another St. Andrew match, 2023 finalist Hillel, the Zone 2 favorite, took home the gold with a 7-2 score at the end of the match to secure their move to the next round. While both teams were tied at halftime, Hillel took things up a notch in the second half to score 5 more points.
“It was our first game and we just wanted to see how the boys would play real competitively, and they did well; apart from a few mistakes we got back in our game in the second half and scored some goals, tried to get the benchers in and get some experience for the new ones but all in all, we have more work to do because I’m quite sure there are better teams out there to play; we’re looking forward to that; we need the challenge to ensure our team is ready.” said coach Nicholas Locke of Hillel Academy.
Coach-nominated Players of the Match for the 2024 season’s opener included St. Hugh’s James Whittingham and Hillel’s Jace Lowe.
Other matches played in Saturday’s season opener included: Lannaman’s Prep VS Mount Alvernia Prep (2-0), Creative Kids VS Ardenne Prep (0-1), Emmanuel Christian Academy VS Portmore Missionary Prep (8-0) and Sts. Peter and Paul VS Our Lady of the Angels Prep (11-0).
Skinner compares 'immense and intense' Terland to Haaland
Erling Haaland may have hit unprecedented heights for Manchester City but Marc Skinner believes Manchester United have a similar talisman in Elisabeth Terland.
United boss Skinner likened Women's Super League star Terland to City's Premier League hero Haaland after the Norwegian scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Tottenham.
That marked her first two goals for United since joining from Brighton, having first blasted a volley home before looping another header over Becky Spencer.
Asked to describe Terland, Skinner said: "Intense in a good way. She is a person who is always focused, she doesn't dip off her focus whether it's pressing or whatever the task is, she's all in.
"I think she knows Haaland personally and I don't want to compare the two but the immense and intense action of both of them, that's how she performs."
Terland's heroics helped to ensure United's 100% record in the WSL this season stayed intact, with three wins and three clean sheets from three games.
The former Brighton forward, who found the net 13 times in the league last season, appeared all over the place against Spurs, attempting a game-high five shots with three of those on target.
Her two goals came from an expected goals tally of just 0.65, though, suggesting superior finishing from lower quality chances, something that will delight Skinner.
"I came to a club that wants to achieve big things. I know playing in a better team will make me better," Terland told Sky Sports.
"Part of my job is to score goals, it is great to get the first one for the club. A good win and I am proud of the team."
United finished fifth last campaign and lacked a regular scorer, with Nikita Parris finishing the term as the club's top scorer in the WSL with only eight goals.
Skinner knows the tide may now turn, however, with Terland firing up top.
"I just think she's an incredible talent," Skinner added.
"The beauty of her is I think she slows the moment and sees the opportunity under the most immense pressure."
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