Elliot Anderson is a special talent – and he proved once again last night that he’s too good to be playing in League Two!
After scoring a stunning solo goal in Bristol Rovers’ 3-0 win over Harrogate Town over the weekend, he was at it again on Tuesday night.
He scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Colchester, was named Man of the Match (again) and sent The Pirates into the play-off spots as a result of his latest piece of individual brilliance.
Joey Barton spoke highly of the 19-year-old after the game (you can see his quotes in full below), saying he showed glimpses of Diego Maradona on a night where he’d have “paid to watch him!”
Watch highlights of last night’s game here, which start with Anderson going close and end with his goal (1:30) and another solo run that almost ended in him making it 2-0:
Another brilliant strike from the talented midfielder who former Mag Joey Barton clearly feels lucky to have. Here’s what he had to say about him after the match:
“The match-winner today was young Elliot Anderson.
“I’d have paid to watch him tonight. He was that good.
“I think to get the goal early in the second half just caps a wonderful individual performance.
“But also a young player growing into the shirt and as I say we’re delighted to have him.”
“I have been listening a lot to Bill Shankly in the last couple of days, certainly this afternoon, I had about four hours listening to different talks, listening to him talk about football. Not much has really changed, the simple concept of football and what it takes, players’ size and players’ heights.
“In there, he talks about a 19 year old Diego Maradona and he is talking about how good a player he thinks he is going to be. He compares him to Tom Finney, he says Tom Finney is the greatest player he has ever seen. When a man like Bill Shankly says that, you have to take notice.
“He spoke about Tom Finney’s ability to be able to beat you with his back to goal. He said the difference with Tom was , when he faced you up and looked at you, he could also take you on, but when he got in and around the penalty area he slowed down and he was mega-calculated.
“When I see young Billy Elliot [Elliot Anderson!]…it’s far too early to compare him to those greats over the years but he certainly excites you.
“The goal he scores tonight, it ends up being the match winner, but his overall performance…I thought he was a real stand out performer on the park tonight.
“I thought he showed another gear, another level.”
how he slows down in the penalty area. Exactly like Elliot Anderson does. Such a talent.”
The lads doing great – but how do you really rate it when it’s L2???.
Maybe a loan to the championship next season and if it’s a similar story then we have a player ??
Sharpy17(Quote)