Liverpool star Harvey Elliott was in action for England’s U21s but his decision to play with his collar turned up has caught the eye amid the backlash over the newly designed flag.

Liverpool’s season is on pause during the international break but they continue to make moves off the pitch.

This week they’ve landed their new sporting director for next season as Michael Edwards, who recently returned, begins to make his influence known.

The search for Jurgen Klopp’s replacement remains ongoing as the battle for Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso hots up.

Liverpool have been left to stew on the late FA Cup defeat at Manchester United, which ended their quadruple hopes in Klopp’s final season. Their next assignment will be in eight days as they welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to Merseyside.

Here’s the latest from Anfield.

Elliott hides controversial flag
Harvey Elliott looks to have hidden the controversial flag on England’s new kit by playing with his collar turned up.

The Liverpool star was in action for the U21s, who wore the kit before the senior side, and scored twice during a dominant 5-1 win over Azerbaijan. Elliott turned up his collar so that the multi-coloured flag, which has proved so divisive, was not visible.

England’s red and white flag has been subjected to a change on the latest kit, produced by Nike. It includes a blue and purple St George’s Cross which has copped major criticism from MPs amid calls for the strip to be changed.

Elliott doesn’t have a collar on his Liverpool kit but, several years ago when he headed out for a loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, he chose to play with the collar down. It has served to fuel speculation that players are unhappy with the change, although Elliott himself has made no comment.

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Harvey Elliott hid the new flag when playing for the England U21s (
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Gerrard tipped for future role
Dirk Kuyt believes Steven Gerrard could still be a future Liverpool boss, but doesn’t think he’ll be considered anytime soon. Gerrard is already an Anfield legend and was previously seen as the most likely candidate to eventually succeed Klopp.

However Gerrard’s stock has fallen after a successful spell at Rangers in what was his first managerial role. He lasted less than a year at Aston Villa before he was sacked and is now in the Saudi Pro League as the head coach of Al-Ettifaq and is not on Liverpool’s radar – but a former team-mate thinks he could eventually find his way back.

Kuyt told the Echo: “So you could see from a distance a manager one day and for me, it would be amazing if one of my former team-mates like Xabi or maybe Steven (Gerrard) in the future will become a manager of Liverpool FC. That would be amazing and I think both will do well.”

Steven Gerrard is now managing in Saudi Arabia (
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Three fans banned for tragedy chanting
Three Arsenal fans have been dealt three-year bans from football after being found guilty of tragedy chanting. The trio were accused earlier this season in the aftermath of Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup back in January. Now, the three fans have been hit with severe punishments by the Gunners after pleading guilty.

A statement from Arsenal read: “Three Arsenal supporters have each received a three-year football banning order after pleading guilty to a section five public order offence (tragedy chanting) which took place at our home fixture against Liverpool on Sunday, January 7.

“We strongly condemn this abhorrent behaviour. We have worked closely with the police to ensure swift action was taken and we welcome the football banning orders handed out. We have a zero-tolerance approach to tragedy chanting and will always ensure strong action is taken against those found guilty of such behaviour.”