Curtis Jones

[RedReet]

Another thing that impressed me was he was confident enough to push Salah away at one stage and take control of the situation himself. Salah was coming short to receive a ball, but Jones shouted for him to leave it to him, pointing for him to go wide.

He always was confident, but he's becoming more and more comfortable every game.

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/barneyronay/status/1339487921934643200[/ame]

Best of all was Curtis Jones, who has played well at times in his increasingly regular starts, without yet showing the full, sustained extent of his talent.

Spurs had their own moments in between, most noticeably their first-half goal. For 20 minutes they had sat deep, wearing increasingly the bleary, trapped expression of a late-night drinker pummelled by too many refills, head spinning, resigned now to the inevitable.

For a while it seemed Spurs were trapped in a nightmare cycle, pinned back of their own volition, but subject to a constant high-tempo jab of shifting angles, long and short passes, opponents who just don’t stop.

All part of the plan. From nowhere they stretched, slapped themselves around the chops, ran down the other end and scored. The goal was made by a dreamy pass from Giovani Lo Celso, brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed with a nudge from the outside of a foot.

The ball curved though a gap in the red line and into the open green space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. Son Heung-min was already sprinting on to the line of the ball. Is there a more lethal footballer in that left channel right now? He surged away from the cover, looked up, steadied himself, feinted to go for his favourite, picture-book corner, then smashed the ball into the near one with a cruel precision.

Liverpool had taken the lead seven minutes earlier, Mohamed Salah’s shot taking a loopy deflection. After which the game settled into an almost cartoonish contrast of styles. This was the most extreme example of the José Mourinho way. Not just sit deep and counter. Sit impossibly deep, dig holes in the turf and hide, pull the roof in on the Anderson shelter; then attack with a preternatural precision.

In the middle of which there was a wonderful battle between two style-defining central midfielders in Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Jones – the latter playing the most intense game of his career, against a team of grizzled old hands and producing a wonderfully measured performance.

There was a moment to sum up the intensity of this duel with 75 minutes gone as Sadio Mané took the ball and nudged it inside to Jones. In an instant Højbjerg was there, back, taking a tumble, craning his neck and finally nudging the ball with his forehead out of Jones’s feet.

It was easy to imagine the confusion in the statisticians’ seats. Did that count as a tackle or a header? Højbjerg was immense throughout. He is a warrior in this team, a player of great defensive intelligence who has, in Mourinho, found his spirit animal, his sponsor, his Gandalf.

But opposite him Jones came of age, playing with wonderful control, swift feet and calmness too. Jones had taken 129 touches, completed 94% of his passes, taken three shots at goal, won four headers, made four interceptions and glided about with a rare sense of grace. It had been tempting to wonder exactly what kind of midfielder-in-the-making he is. Here was the answer: a complete one.

Klopp will take so much from this game and not simply the return to the top of the table. The sight of Liverpool’s young players performing at this level in such a thrillingly tight victory will refresh the options within his squad. For Jones, in particular, this felt like a moment of ignition.

[Ams12]

Man.

I think this sort of flashy manipulation of the ball comes very naturally to him and he'd be playing like this all the time if Klopp hadn't been his manager. He said something recently about how Klopp and Henderson have taught him how to play 'man's football' and I think this is partly what he means - doing away with this stuff, certainly when it's not necessary, and being more economical in his work.

Great that he has it in his locker though.

https://twitter.com/JP10n/status/1339352747997614080

Looking forward to seeing his match stats bs spurs!

There was one other piece of skill i saw...was from Trent, i think kane was marking him, the ball came over to Trent and Trents first touch megged the prick


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Irishnev]

Frighteningly good

[ame="https://twitter.com/hippokloppamus/status/1339387128816525313"]https://twitter.com/hippokloppamus/status/1339387128816525313[/ame]

The injures have opened the door for him but boy has he taken his chance. He is as much a midfield option as any of them now

[Buzzo]

He was in Stevies under 17's wasnt he? That must have helped massively with his progress, a local lad being coached by the king of local lads.

[Shaggy]

Frighteningly good

https://twitter.com/hippokloppamus/s...87128816525313

The injures have opened the door for him but boy has he taken his chance. He is as much a midfield option as any of them now

Just look at him. It's crazy really isn't it, that is absolute elite level stuff already. Incredibly exciting.

[wiw]

I do love that we have two cocky little scousers in our team That bit of magic from Jones and the meg from Trent were brilliant

[Fosterbloke]

I wish he'd get an elite level haircut!

[Pablo]

I'm predicting Curtis Jones will get 10+ goals next season. For me he's a massive talent, potentially on the same level as Trent.

The two scousers in our team!

Obviously the injuries have given him a chance, but wow he's taken it. Love how he's dialled back the showpony stuff and knuckled down tactically.

He's also a big goal threat for us going forward too.

[Fivex]

Man.

I think this sort of flashy manipulation of the ball comes very naturally to him and he'd be playing like this all the time if Klopp hadn't been his manager. He said something recently about how Klopp and Henderson have taught him how to play 'man's football' and I think this is partly what he means - doing away with this stuff, certainly when it's not necessary, and being more economical in his work.

Great that he has it in his locker though.

https://twitter.com/JP10n/status/1339352747997614080

Just played that 10 times in a row and reflex-giggled in awe & disbelief each time

[Shaggy]

It's brilliant isn't it.

When you add Harvey Elliott to the mix it's a pretty exciting future already.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I’m pretty sure Thiago wasn’t doing what Curtis is doing at the same age.

It will be good if we can get a few bodies in midfield back and give some of these players a rest in some games, especially Curtis. I have a feeling he’s going to the euros .

Pretty much was actually if you mean being a part of a title defending and also a title winning team from his late teens onwards. Thiago broke into the Barca first team at about 18 or 19 and was getting regular gametime in their first team from about 20 and then went to Bayern when he was 22 or 23. Main reason he did not get to stay at Barca was because they had a couple of kind of useful players, like Iniesta, in the team that were in his favoured positions. Would have been like Jones trying to break into a Liverpool team ahead of a prime Gerrard.


But it shows just how far along Curtis Jones is already in his development that he is following the likes of Thiago and Goretzka in being able to go into a senior first team as a late teen, in a positon that is physically and mentally demanding, and not look even a tiny bit out of place. Bodes very well for his future in the team.

[Irishnev]

Pretty much was actually if you mean being a part of a title defending and also a title winning team from his late teens onwards. Thiago broke into the Barca first team at about 18 or 19 and was getting regular gametime in their first team from about 20 and then went to Bayern when he was 22 or 23. Main reason he did not get to stay at Barca was because they had a couple of kind of useful players, like Iniesta, in the team that were in his favoured positions. Would have been like Jones trying to break into a Liverpool team ahead of a prime Gerrard.


But it shows just how far along Curtis Jones is already in his development that he is following the likes of Thiago and Goretzka in being able to go into a senior first team as a late teen, in a positon that is physically and mentally demanding, and not look even a tiny bit out of place. Bodes very well for his future in the team.

The local aspect is always good for the team but with him and Trent we have the possibility of two genuinely world class local lads. The same level as Fowler, Gerrard etc.....

Like others have said I was worried about his tendency to overplay but he has dialled it right down and he is facilitating the team. One other huge advantage is his physique - he is tall and rangey with a bit more filling out to do - Goretzka is a good shout from a stylistic comparison but for some of the older guys here maybe a bit of Rai to his game

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Our midfield is so functional that its impossible to stand out with the amount of work required. But he just slots in, he doesn't look a level below either Gini or Henderson which is some compliment.

I think he'll get some praise but because he isn't a MoTD player he'll go relatively under the radar which can only help him. We've saved ourselves £50m on the lad, there isn't many 19 year olds that could fit seamlessly into our system.

[Doc_Piptorious]

The local aspect is always good for the team but with him and Trent we have the possibility of two genuinely world class local lads. The same level as Fowler, Gerrard etc.....

Like others have said I was worried about his tendency to overplay but he has dialled it right down and he is facilitating the team. One other huge advantage is his physique - he is tall and rangey with a bit more filling out to do - Goretzka is a good shout from a stylistic comparison but for some of the older guys here maybe a bit of Rai to his game

Posted it earlier in the thread, but Goretzka is who I see in him. He is a tiny bit behind where Goretzka was at the same age as Goretzka was becoming a first team regular at 18, but physically and mentally he seems to have an awful lot in common with the German. And he is just as fearless as Goretzka was, and has that same "I'm already a senior player" vibe off of him.

Tell you what though, if he goes on to be as good as Goretzka (and who knows maybe even better) then we will have one hell of a player in the centre for the next decade or so.