Spanish media give harsh review of Harvey Elliott as his time at Valencia takes a new low after strange incident
Liverpool loan player Harvey Elliott got two yellow cards in about 10 seconds during Valencia’s 2-1 home loss to Villarreal on Saturday night. Elliott came on as a substitute in the 70th minute, but quickly got booked twice after a short argument with referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez.
Valencia’s coach, Javier Aguirre, called the red card “absurd” and “ridiculous.” Spanish media also shared their thoughts on the situation. Local paper Super Deporte described Elliott as a “child” in their player ratings and said his sending off was “ridiculous.” They added, “Instead of focusing on the game, he started doing something wrong with the referee… He should have avoided this trouble.”
Another outlet, AS, talked about the red card as part of Valencia’s tough season. The team is 19th in La Liga with just six points from 10 games. They wrote, “Valencia clearly lacks skill and is too nervous – just look at Elliott, who got two yellows in eight seconds.”
Marca gave Elliott a low rating of 3.9 out of 10 for his short time on the pitch, making him the worst player in the game. They didn’t focus much on the red card itself but pointed out that Valencia fell apart after going down to 10 men. “Valencia pushed hard until Elliott argued with the referee and got sent off. With the game tied, Villarreal took advantage and punished a Valencia side that fell apart.”
One person who was very upset with Elliott was his own manager, Javier Aguirre, who recently returned to club football after coaching Mexico in the World Cup. Aguirre was shocked because Elliott “barely speaks Spanish” and said, “It’s an absurd, ridiculous red card. I don’t know what he could have said. He barely speaks Spanish, so being sent off for words is frustrating.”
He added, “It’s a ridiculous red card, and I told him that. It’s not his fault—mine. I decide who plays and how we play, so I’ll talk to him privately about it.”