Liverpool coach's sarcastic four-word question sums up what Reds think of Curtis Jones
Curtis Jones was firing on all cylinders in his Liverpool side’s 2-1 victory against Chelsea, and past comments made by a Reds coach show just how valued the midfielder is at Anfield
by Ben Crawford · The MirrorCurtis Jones is held in high esteem at Anfield – especially if comments made by former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders are anything to go by.
The 23-year-old midfielder ran the show during the Reds’ latest victory against high-flying Chelsea, winning two penalties – one that was ultimately chalked off by VAR – and netting the decisive second goal in a 2-1 triumph.
Such faith shown in Jones by new boss Arne Slot in starting the Englishman was shared - but not to such a high degree - by recently departed manager Jurgen Klopp and his long-time assistant Lijnders - now manager of RB Salzburg - who has sung Jones' praises in the past.
Now, Jones seems to be displaying his best form. He's even showing he can put in man of the match performances against some of the Premier League's toughest opponents.
Local lad Jones had played regularly under the Reds’ former managerial regime but had never quite broken through to become a bonafide member of the starting XI on Merseyside.
However, when Lijnders was asked about the youngster's chances of going to Germany with Gareth Southgate’s England squad earlier this year for Euro 2024, his reply spoke volumes.
“A no-brainer,” then-Liverpool assistant Lijnders stated when asked if Jones should be called up to the England squad. He then sarcastically asked: “You have eyes, no?
“[He is] one of the most decisive players in the team, who is, with and without the ball, the player who sets the tone, who takes the initiative, who always shows up… He is still young but he acts like a senior.”
Jones did get the call to be part of the provisional squad for the tournament, but he was never truly in contention to be on the plane this summer, indicating just how highly thought of he was at his boyhood club.
Yet, such seniority has only grown inside Jones, who – now under a new manager – has staked a claim for a starting midfield position by grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck against a tough Blues side. And he looks to be becoming the player his former superiors touted him to be.
“Very good,” an impressed Slot told Sky Sports when asked about Jones’ performance against Chelsea. “Very good. Very good individual performance.”
The Dutchman was specifically happy with not just the 23-year-old's goal contributions but also his work to keep quiet one of the top-flight’s in-form attacking talents, Cole Palmer.
“I think the whole team worked very, very hard,” Slot added. “Curtis had a difficult job. He had to control Cole Palmer, which is not easy because this player has some quality. It’s a team effort, but Curtis was mostly responsible for this.
“He, in my opinion, controlled him for most of the game, and it is almost impossible to control a player like this for 90 minutes, but he was quite close to that. But to also have an impact on the other side of that with a goal and two penalties that we were involved in, one was disallowed by VAR, that shows you he had a big impact on both sides of the pitch.”
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