Liverpool vs Aston Villa: Why Curtis Jones is now Liverpool's most important midfielder
Curtis Jones is now rivalling Ryan Gravenberch for the title of Liverpool’s most important midfielder.
The Dutchman has been a revelation in a deeper role for the Reds but Jones has really come to the fore over recent weeks. Whereas he started the season as relief for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szobozlai, he’s now the reason the World Cup winner and the £60m signing from RB Leipzig are battling it out for minutes in the Liverpool midfield.
The 23-year-old spotted an opportunity and he’s made the most of it. Firstly, Harvey Elliott’s injury carved out an opening as the understudy to Szoboszlai. Then, with the Hungary skipper in need of a rest, Jones delivered a performance as an attacking midfielder in this Liverpool team. He then scored the winner for the Reds against Chelsea having started the game in place of Mac Allister.
He’s been rotating with Szoboszlai over recent weeks and, if truth be told, he’s actually done more than the No.8. Jones played a part in turning the game against Brighton last weekend on its head after coming off of the bench to replace the one-time Red Bull Salzburg man. He exchanged passes with Luis Diaz before sliding the ball to Mohamed Salah. The prolific forward cut inside and fired in the winner.
A few days later, at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, Jones played the pass that helped Liverpool break the deadlock. The No.17, somehow, managed to pick out Diaz with a perfectly weighted pass that split the away side’s defence. The Colombian finished expertly to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. It opened the floodgates and the game against the Bundesliga champions finished 4-0.
Arne Slot singled out the midfielder for praise afterwards.
"I am still learning on a daily basis about every player, and Curtis is one. When I first came, I played him as a six which you didn’t see because it was behind closed doors. That wasn’t his best game in general for us but for him as well.
"At this moment he can play in every position because he’s in a very good place at the moment, so comfortable on the ball, so you can trust him closer to your defence but like we saw against Chelsea and as we saw today he’s also able to penetrate inside the 18-yard box, and giving the last pass. So he’s really made the step up after pre-season."
On current form, he simply cannot be dropped. In fact, his current form has earned him yet another England call up and this time around he could get some minutes for the Three Lions. They'd be deserved minutes, too.
Along with Gravenberch, he looks to be a shoo-in for a start against Aston Villa this weekend as they look to go into the international break in top spot, and that will leave Szoboszlai and Mac Allister battling it out for the third spot in midfield.
Villa aren’t in the best of form having lost their last three across all competitions. They’re also winless in four. But they’re a threat and Liverpool will have to be at their best to beat Unai Emery’s side.
At the minute, Jones is part of their best XI.
The Liverpool academy graduate is one of the key players for Slot right now. He can fill in for Szoboszlai in attack but then he’s just as comfortable playing in a double pivot alongside Gravenberch in place of Mac Allister.
There’s no straightforward choice for Slot heading into this game either. Szoboszlai continues to frustrate due to his lack of end product while Mac Allister has looked leggy in recent weeks.
Jones, in comparison, looks fresh, he’s impacting the final third with goals and assists, and he plays his part in the team controlling the ball, completing over 93% of his passes across all competitions. A 94.8% pass success rate in the Premier League ranks second of midfielders, and fourth overall.
During pre-season, Jones caused quite a stir when he revealed it is the happiest he’s been. A lot of people felt it was disrespectful towards Jurgen Klopp. It wasn’t. He was just getting across how different things are under Slot.
"He's amazing actually," Jones said on his new head coach.
"It's probably the happiest I've been in terms of a style of play that suits me and the lads we have in our team. It's a clear plan. The training and stuff he is fully involved [in]. He coaches us a lot. He's big on the finer details and things. He's got a certain way of playing.
"The principles are the same but I feel like now the centre midfielder is going to be more like the heart of the team. In terms of our build-up and how comfortable we are on the ball and how calm we have to be - we're not in a rush to attack. We want to have the ball and break teams down. I feel more in the past it was a little bit rushed, when we got the ball back it was a little bit too direct I'd say. Now it will be at the point where he wants us to have all the ball and completely kill teams."
We’re now starting to understand why Jones was so excited to be playing under Slot. He’s putting in the most mature performances of his career and he’s stealing the spotlight away from a £100m midfield duo signed by the Reds to rebuild their midfield.
