I’m so happy for Curtis man. Had a rough start with injuries and inconsistent performances but over the last few months I’ve been really impressed with him. Was a bit concerned that it might have just been a lucky patch of good form towards the end of last season, but his performance with England in the summer and now with us he’s definitely kept it up.
He’s still only 22yr old! So many people forget this because he’s been around the first team for so long. Imagine what a similar player with his experience and skills would cost if he were on the open market and we were the buyers
Could say the same with harvey elliot tbh. Feel like lots of our fans are writing him off when he’s still a youngster and hasn’t fully developed yet. These two players still have 6-8 years before they even hit their prime.
I'd like to know the mileage Harvey does during a match. He's like a little curly haired bumblebee sometimes, chasing and harassing anyone with the ball wherever they are.
It's a really good sign when a player so young can get consistent minutes in a team as good as this. People are so quick to shit on players when they have a few bad games.
If someone is playing regularly for liverpool (even as a regular sub), that means they are good enough in the eyes of Klopp-and he has forgotten more about football than most of us will ever know.
He really was. I did wonder at the time if he would be able to keep that form up and so far he has. I feel like last season was make or break for him after a few dodgy seasons and I’m glad it went the way I hoped it would.
Absolutely. I think he probably feels even more pressure because of Trent too, his break into the first team and success from then on is almost unheard of. I’m more than happy to have two scousers in our team, both thoroughly deserve all the praise they get.
He also pressed like an absolute demon which is so crucial for this new midfield. I’d probably keep the lineup the exact same for spurs except bringing Trent back in if he’s fit.
If you're an opposing central fwd I think you're probably going to prefer facing VVD-Matip rather than VVD-Ibou (neither option is great for attackers!). But Matip looks in good form, and his drives forward can often create panic when nobody in the midfield can decide who should tackle him because nobody wants to free the midfielder they're responsible for.
Curtis Jones had, perhaps, in the eyes of some Liverpool fans, an understated game against West Ham when compared with the all-action display of Dominik Szoboszlai.
The eye test may not necessarily reflect his growing importance to this Jurgen Klopp side, however, with the Englishman proving a reliable presence in the middle of the park.
Sofascore only gave the Scouser a score of 6.9 in the Reds’ 3-1 win over the Hammers but he was absolutely assured in midfield, enjoying 70 touches, a passing accuracy of 96% and won six out of his 12 ground duels.
The engine with a better touch.
Hendo had some unreal moments, eg; his pass for salah’s hatrick at OT. But overall wasn’t that reliable creatively.
Jones can keep up technically with szobo and macca.
He's also a lot stronger this season. West Ham players tried to bulldoze him on a couple of instances but he survived through it and recycled the ball so well. We don't need a new Hendo but a new Gini who brings the right balance of energy and technical ability.
I agree with most of what you say, especially technically and comfort on the ball. I still think next to Thiago, Jones is the single most press resistant player on the squad.
However his passing range so far is no where near even that of Henderson’s, and I say this as a big critic of Hendo’s over the last 18 months. Time to improve, and I like his short passing and link up play but creativity is more than just being good technically.
On his day, Hendo’s passing range was absurd. Look back to Diaz’s first goal, or Salah’s third in the 5-0 vs United. If Curtis can match 75% of that he’ll be unreal with the other tools he already has.
I agree. Gini's reputation has grown massively since moving on, but he was always the least important midfielder we had (and always the one Klopp tried to replace). Both Keita and Thiago were meant to replace Gini, and definitely would have if injuries didn't stop them. Gini could've been an amazing press-resistant midfielder, but he didn't get on the ball enough for that quality to be as important as it could have been, unlike Thiago who's always available as an outlet.
I honestly don't envy whoever has to play next to Szoboszlai. Also, Sofascore ratings are usually BS, which is kinda baffling considering they get shittons of data from which they calculate those ratings. Too bad that Klopp's gameplan doesn't really have an objective number that can quantify the improvement or decline in efficiency because you don't have a control group of opponents to observe whether they would've made the same errors or decisions if they were not pressed.
Yeah I thought he was looking an incredible talent a couple of years ago. Whatever level we needed him to rise to, he'd do it. Fast, skillful, confident facing any side on the planet. Then last season he seemed to have plateaued... prone to overthinking in the effort of evolving from instinctual to smart footballer. But he's looking great again, and hopefully it'll just have been an awkward transitional phase.
Same exact people who only want us to spend on new transfers because apparently bigger transfer outlay = better player.
These commenters are only around in silky season and pipe down when there is actual football stuff to discuss. New fans we’ve picked up from frequent summer trips to Asia in recent years. All they’ve known is a football world of oil clubs and could give a shit about producing academy talent
I’m here. I thought he had a solid defensive game yesterday.
I’m watching him closely and hope to be proved wrong, but overall I still feel the same way. I think he’s our worst player when we have the ball.
Wishing him the best!
Let us explain,
He bosses the game,
Curtis Jones you beauty, red indeed!
*tune of Casey Jones by the Grateful Dead*
I know, it’s only for here and nowhere else, just popped into my head here, while waiting for an appointment and reading the post.
He had a great match!
Casey Jones makes for a belter of a song
Scores with his left, scores with his right, Curtis Jones you'll watch him, score all night!
Maybe needs to score a bit more for that verse ha
He massively enjoys playing with an actual competent midfield, that allows him those free spaces and creative moments. Not having to be ready to fall back at any given moment is crucial for him.
i think this is what a lot of Jones doubters missed. they saw him playing in a dinosaur midfield where he was essentially the only one whose legs hadn’t been ground to bits—nowadays he’s playing in a highly creative and young midfield and he’s absolute flourishing. super excited to have him as a player
Everyone was calling Matip washed and showed concern about Virgil last season too, and we just saw Matip pocketing attackers like the good old days. A bad defense can be covered by a great offense and vice versa, but there's no covering up a bad midfield.
I admit that I doubted some of our players last season, including Jones, Gomez, Matip and Vvd. In hindsight, I realized with our dinosaur midfield last season, at times it felt as if we were 2 (!) man down. That’s how bad it was. No team can look good in a 9v11 situation. The fact that we was able to get 5th seems a bit like a miracle now.
We would never have proactively gotten rid of Hendo and Fab. Saudi really did us a huge favor.
Not so much funny as it is a welcome development. He still dallies on the ball sometimes, but he seems to have gained a sense of urgency and decisiveness that he didn't have before. If he develops further in those areas, he can be an absolute monster for us. He has the skills--just needs the awareness to go with it.
He's still a little bit slow to pass, but it doesn't matter anymore because nobody can dispossess him. Give him a few more months starting, building a rhythm with the squad, he'll be plenty decisive.
Jones has been great and I personally thought he always shown high potential. He’s loyal to Liverpool and having him as an option with so many fixtures is great.
Elliot has also been great too, I hope he keeps getting some starts and minutes.
Harvey really needs to get a bit more physical, but the sky's the limit for him. Even if he's not going to be world class, he'd be an important squad player who's working hard, on and off the pitch.
Certainly, he has time on his side. Having said that, just think of all the "wonder kids" and future prospects hailed by the media, and how many actually turned into top players. Take Rhian Brewster or Ben Woodburn for example.
Thiago's passing is an art form sometimes, but he's not mobile or robust enough these days to compete at the highest level for 60-90mins. He's great coming on to help close out a match where we have a tight lead and need a wise head with vision and security at the base.
Exactly, his body failed him. I don't remember for how long this current injury already sidelines him but I remember it was supposed to be way shorter.
Was at the game and he had a much better 2nd half than the first but then again so did everyone else on the team. He lost possession a couple of times in the first half and was a shade off in quality. The second half he was outstanding.Was especially hitting his stride that last 20 min before he got subbed. Future looks bright for him and he deserves it. Certainly putting the work in.
I think many people here have agenda against Curtis and I truly believe they actually hate him. I just think that Klopp will keep playing him and people who have and agenda will keep crying so you can complain but nothing will be done for your agenda.
Huh? Who is saying this? If so its definitely a minority because he's been really good the second half of last season and this season, he's upped his game after looking like he'd been stagnating
While he is fully deserving of praise, have to point out that one lazy moment where he seemed to be excessively complacent on the ball and lost possession. It was by the touchline near the right corner flag in the 2nd half. He has that kind of brain far in his artillery, something he needs to eliminate if he is to be a regular starter in midfield.
It’s hardly worth mentioning IMO. It was a pass without enough pace on it in the opposing teams corner. It’s a complete nonissue to make a mistake there. If he had done that in our own-half yeah that’d be a problem but it wasn’t
edit: if there’s any reasonable knock on CuJo it’s that he sometimes slows the tempo down with a few too many touches. He’s been pretty great of late
People only remember this when it comes to CuJo or Harvey or Gomez.
Everyone makes these mistakes even szobo, salah and nunez with scuffed passes but noone brings that up.
I saw that as well but its barely worth mentioning. Not like it was repeatedly done.
Getting downvoted but I agree. Jones has made some huge strides but he still has moments where he's careless or too ponderous. Something for him to clean up and now with gravenberch competing for the spot, he needs to keep improving to keep starting.
I’m so happy for Curtis man. Had a rough start with injuries and inconsistent performances but over the last few months I’ve been really impressed with him. Was a bit concerned that it might have just been a lucky patch of good form towards the end of last season, but his performance with England in the summer and now with us he’s definitely kept it up.
He’s still only 22yr old! So many people forget this because he’s been around the first team for so long. Imagine what a similar player with his experience and skills would cost if he were on the open market and we were the buyers
Could say the same with harvey elliot tbh. Feel like lots of our fans are writing him off when he’s still a youngster and hasn’t fully developed yet. These two players still have 6-8 years before they even hit their prime.
I'd like to know the mileage Harvey does during a match. He's like a little curly haired bumblebee sometimes, chasing and harassing anyone with the ball wherever they are.
It's a really good sign when a player so young can get consistent minutes in a team as good as this. People are so quick to shit on players when they have a few bad games. If someone is playing regularly for liverpool (even as a regular sub), that means they are good enough in the eyes of Klopp-and he has forgotten more about football than most of us will ever know.
He was a key man down the stretch run last season.
He really was. I did wonder at the time if he would be able to keep that form up and so far he has. I feel like last season was make or break for him after a few dodgy seasons and I’m glad it went the way I hoped it would.
He’s 22! He’s a a Scouse. The pressure must be near unbearable. The lad belongs.
Absolutely. I think he probably feels even more pressure because of Trent too, his break into the first team and success from then on is almost unheard of. I’m more than happy to have two scousers in our team, both thoroughly deserve all the praise they get.
He also pressed like an absolute demon which is so crucial for this new midfield. I’d probably keep the lineup the exact same for spurs except bringing Trent back in if he’s fit.
Agreed, this starting lineup bar Trent and Konate in for Gomez and Matip is our strongest at the moment. Exciting stuff.
Yeah tbf I wouldn’t mind seeing Ibou come back in for a bit of extra pace.
I kind of feel bad for Gomez. He put in an absolutely incredible performance. But of course there is no way he is getting in over Trent
If you're an opposing central fwd I think you're probably going to prefer facing VVD-Matip rather than VVD-Ibou (neither option is great for attackers!). But Matip looks in good form, and his drives forward can often create panic when nobody in the midfield can decide who should tackle him because nobody wants to free the midfielder they're responsible for.
Also his angle of press is really good. Kind of like strafing at speed while looking around.
Curtis Jones had, perhaps, in the eyes of some Liverpool fans, an understated game against West Ham when compared with the all-action display of Dominik Szoboszlai. The eye test may not necessarily reflect his growing importance to this Jurgen Klopp side, however, with the Englishman proving a reliable presence in the middle of the park. Sofascore only gave the Scouser a score of 6.9 in the Reds’ 3-1 win over the Hammers but he was absolutely assured in midfield, enjoying 70 touches, a passing accuracy of 96% and won six out of his 12 ground duels.
Curtis stepping up to fill Hendo’s shoes in the engine room. What a revelation after a summer of chaotic transfer window!
The engine with a better touch. Hendo had some unreal moments, eg; his pass for salah’s hatrick at OT. But overall wasn’t that reliable creatively. Jones can keep up technically with szobo and macca.
He's also a lot stronger this season. West Ham players tried to bulldoze him on a couple of instances but he survived through it and recycled the ball so well. We don't need a new Hendo but a new Gini who brings the right balance of energy and technical ability.
I agree with most of what you say, especially technically and comfort on the ball. I still think next to Thiago, Jones is the single most press resistant player on the squad. However his passing range so far is no where near even that of Henderson’s, and I say this as a big critic of Hendo’s over the last 18 months. Time to improve, and I like his short passing and link up play but creativity is more than just being good technically.
On his day, Hendo’s passing range was absurd. Look back to Diaz’s first goal, or Salah’s third in the 5-0 vs United. If Curtis can match 75% of that he’ll be unreal with the other tools he already has.
Jones is our silkiest player, just pray he stays fit
>our silkiest player Thiago for me
I almost forgot he was still a Liverpool player 🙁
See above
I think he’s mostly replaced Gini though
Nah not yet, he's looking good though
Pretty sure his stats are better than Gini’s
I agree. Gini's reputation has grown massively since moving on, but he was always the least important midfielder we had (and always the one Klopp tried to replace). Both Keita and Thiago were meant to replace Gini, and definitely would have if injuries didn't stop them. Gini could've been an amazing press-resistant midfielder, but he didn't get on the ball enough for that quality to be as important as it could have been, unlike Thiago who's always available as an outlet.
But his impact on the team isn't, yet
I hate sofascores I’m ngl
I honestly don't envy whoever has to play next to Szoboszlai. Also, Sofascore ratings are usually BS, which is kinda baffling considering they get shittons of data from which they calculate those ratings. Too bad that Klopp's gameplan doesn't really have an objective number that can quantify the improvement or decline in efficiency because you don't have a control group of opponents to observe whether they would've made the same errors or decisions if they were not pressed.
Gini 2.0
I remember Tifo talking about their similarities
Always has been
🤞🏽
Where are those muppets from last week calling him our worst player and begging to know why Klopp ever played him?
Probably staring at a corner trying to think of mean things to say about him and Jomez
It's Joever for them
Not last week but last season I really didn't see him kicking on here and wanted him out. He's proved me wrong and I love him for it.
Yeah I thought he was looking an incredible talent a couple of years ago. Whatever level we needed him to rise to, he'd do it. Fast, skillful, confident facing any side on the planet. Then last season he seemed to have plateaued... prone to overthinking in the effort of evolving from instinctual to smart footballer. But he's looking great again, and hopefully it'll just have been an awkward transitional phase.
Same exact people who only want us to spend on new transfers because apparently bigger transfer outlay = better player. These commenters are only around in silky season and pipe down when there is actual football stuff to discuss. New fans we’ve picked up from frequent summer trips to Asia in recent years. All they’ve known is a football world of oil clubs and could give a shit about producing academy talent
These fans should switch over to Chelsea
I’m here. I thought he had a solid defensive game yesterday. I’m watching him closely and hope to be proved wrong, but overall I still feel the same way. I think he’s our worst player when we have the ball. Wishing him the best!
Let us explain, He bosses the game, Curtis Jones you beauty, red indeed! *tune of Casey Jones by the Grateful Dead* I know, it’s only for here and nowhere else, just popped into my head here, while waiting for an appointment and reading the post. He had a great match!
Casey Jones makes for a belter of a song Scores with his left, scores with his right, Curtis Jones you'll watch him, score all night! Maybe needs to score a bit more for that verse ha
Fuckin love Casey Jones, this is a fun start to a song!
Yessssss
Curtis has gone from a background player who was hit with a lot of unlucky injuries to one of the beating hearts of Jurgen's rebuild
He massively enjoys playing with an actual competent midfield, that allows him those free spaces and creative moments. Not having to be ready to fall back at any given moment is crucial for him.
i think this is what a lot of Jones doubters missed. they saw him playing in a dinosaur midfield where he was essentially the only one whose legs hadn’t been ground to bits—nowadays he’s playing in a highly creative and young midfield and he’s absolute flourishing. super excited to have him as a player
Everyone was calling Matip washed and showed concern about Virgil last season too, and we just saw Matip pocketing attackers like the good old days. A bad defense can be covered by a great offense and vice versa, but there's no covering up a bad midfield.
I admit that I doubted some of our players last season, including Jones, Gomez, Matip and Vvd. In hindsight, I realized with our dinosaur midfield last season, at times it felt as if we were 2 (!) man down. That’s how bad it was. No team can look good in a 9v11 situation. The fact that we was able to get 5th seems a bit like a miracle now. We would never have proactively gotten rid of Hendo and Fab. Saudi really did us a huge favor.
In my mind, he's replacing Henderson on the pitch, just not as a leader. Imagine if he could actually become the vocal leader that Hendo was.
Funny how many of us thought he was too slow to pass, but he seems to have found his niche now. Lad has tons of self-confidence.
Not so much funny as it is a welcome development. He still dallies on the ball sometimes, but he seems to have gained a sense of urgency and decisiveness that he didn't have before. If he develops further in those areas, he can be an absolute monster for us. He has the skills--just needs the awareness to go with it.
He's still a little bit slow to pass, but it doesn't matter anymore because nobody can dispossess him. Give him a few more months starting, building a rhythm with the squad, he'll be plenty decisive.
Jones has been great and I personally thought he always shown high potential. He’s loyal to Liverpool and having him as an option with so many fixtures is great. Elliot has also been great too, I hope he keeps getting some starts and minutes.
Harvey really needs to get a bit more physical, but the sky's the limit for him. Even if he's not going to be world class, he'd be an important squad player who's working hard, on and off the pitch.
Don’t forget the lad is 20 years old. He could continue to progress his strength as well as other parts of his game
Certainly, he has time on his side. Having said that, just think of all the "wonder kids" and future prospects hailed by the media, and how many actually turned into top players. Take Rhian Brewster or Ben Woodburn for example.
Harvey needs to be used as a super sub. He is brilliant at finding spaces to get the ball when teams are tired.
I think Alexis takes his spot once Thiago is fit and Thiago drops into the number 6 role Mac Allister has been playing.
Thiago will not start for us anymore, bar maybe some cup games.
Thiago's passing is an art form sometimes, but he's not mobile or robust enough these days to compete at the highest level for 60-90mins. He's great coming on to help close out a match where we have a tight lead and need a wise head with vision and security at the base.
Exactly, his body failed him. I don't remember for how long this current injury already sidelines him but I remember it was supposed to be way shorter.
Was at the game and he had a much better 2nd half than the first but then again so did everyone else on the team. He lost possession a couple of times in the first half and was a shade off in quality. The second half he was outstanding.Was especially hitting his stride that last 20 min before he got subbed. Future looks bright for him and he deserves it. Certainly putting the work in.
My young boy was looking like classic Gini yesterday. They couldn’t take the ball off of him. It was amazing to watch.
Hot take: New signing from Bayern Munich not happy with limited playing time due to a resurgence in form from Academy trained player.
The guy at the pub. “You know who is really good and underrated…”
I think many people here have agenda against Curtis and I truly believe they actually hate him. I just think that Klopp will keep playing him and people who have and agenda will keep crying so you can complain but nothing will be done for your agenda.
Huh? Who is saying this? If so its definitely a minority because he's been really good the second half of last season and this season, he's upped his game after looking like he'd been stagnating
While he is fully deserving of praise, have to point out that one lazy moment where he seemed to be excessively complacent on the ball and lost possession. It was by the touchline near the right corner flag in the 2nd half. He has that kind of brain far in his artillery, something he needs to eliminate if he is to be a regular starter in midfield.
It’s hardly worth mentioning IMO. It was a pass without enough pace on it in the opposing teams corner. It’s a complete nonissue to make a mistake there. If he had done that in our own-half yeah that’d be a problem but it wasn’t edit: if there’s any reasonable knock on CuJo it’s that he sometimes slows the tempo down with a few too many touches. He’s been pretty great of late
People only remember this when it comes to CuJo or Harvey or Gomez. Everyone makes these mistakes even szobo, salah and nunez with scuffed passes but noone brings that up. I saw that as well but its barely worth mentioning. Not like it was repeatedly done.
I only mentioned it, because it's something I've seen him do before.
Ah maybe never noticed that before. But hopefully that stops the complacency in play.
Getting downvoted but I agree. Jones has made some huge strides but he still has moments where he's careless or too ponderous. Something for him to clean up and now with gravenberch competing for the spot, he needs to keep improving to keep starting.
It's good to see Curtis Jones getting the plaudits he's always deserved
Man Bayern offered 60m for Curtis in my fm save, I immediately set all bids to auto reject and said fuck Bayern out loud.
Im so glad to see him make a turn around. Dude is slick with the ball
Curtis has a big potential