There has been so much soul searching and angst this season about the neglect shown to Liverpool’s midfield that one question has been overlooked: Where has this version of Curtis Jones been?
The simple answer is he has been ravaged by injury and fitness problems, but even when available, Jones has never imposed himself as he did in scoring two accomplished first-half goals to fuel Liverpool’s hopes of completing a late run for a Champions League place.
This 3-0 defeat for Leicester City was also the result that Manchester United and Newcastle United feared. They each have a game in hand but third-placed Newcastle, for example, are at home to Brighton on Thursday, when a defeat is far from inconceivable – just ask Arsenal – which would leave them, like Liverpool, with two fixtures to play and just a point ahead.
It helps that Newcastle’s next opponents after that are this woeful, relegation-headed Leicester side. But they also know that Liverpool have done this before. Just two years ago, in fact, when they were eighth with 10 games to go and had suffered six-straight home defeats.
They went unbeaten in their run-in, winning eight of them and finished third. Fourth place this time remains unlikely, but suddenly far less unlikely. They are taking it down to the wire with winnable fixtures to come at home to Aston Villa and, certainly, away to doomed Southampton.
“We have to keep them on their toes and then we will see what happens,” Jurgen Klopp declared of the two teams directly above Liverpool, which sounded as much like a threat as a promise.
Their hot breath is uncomfortable. It is already seven league victories in succession for Liverpool and it could well be nine, which would be another remarkable end to a frustrating season in which they have paid a heavy price for playing every minute they could possibly play across four competitions in the last campaign.
It led to serious mistakes being made in the transfer market and in one department in particular: The midfield. A criticism of Klopp, otherwise surely an endearing quality in a manager, is his loyalty, but he was just too loyal. In truth some midfielders needed to be moved on, as they will be soon, with James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out of contract.
Having missed out on Jude Bellingham, Klopp’s targets include Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister and Mason Mount. Add that pair to this team and, actually, it looks a serious force again. Despite their problems, it feels like there is not actually that much wrong with this Liverpool squad who, with this result, have qualified for Europe again.
And what of Jones? This was undoubtedly his best game for Liverpool as he closes in on 100 games for the club.
There have been false dawns before, not least when he excelled in the thumping 5-1 win away to Porto in the Champions League. But that was back in September 2021. Jones has been in and out and injured since then and not least in this campaign.
“I was off for 15 weeks, I had a hard time, so now I’m back and I’m in the team, scoring goals and helping the team. I’ll just try to continue,” Jones said.
And he is still just 22. We are quick to rush to judgment. In a sense Jones feels like old news, he has been around a while, but finally he is making headlines and it is surely no coincidence that he produced his finest game for Liverpool in what was his ninth start in a row – his longest in the first-team.
Not since Georginio Wijnaldum have Liverpool had a midfielder who arrives onto the ball the way Jones did against Leicester in claiming his goals: The first with a controlled finish; the second with a smart swivel and instinctive shot.
After Wijnaldum left two years ago the three midfielders have tended to be, with the exception of Thiago Alcantara’s sublime passing when he has been (all too rarely) available, far more functional and lacking dimension.
In front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate, here was food for thought, although Jones is far more likely to go to the European Championships with the Under-21s this summer than receive a senior call-up for the two qualifiers.
To gild the lily, it was another Liverpudlian who has moved into a half-defence, half-midfield role, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who scored the sumptuous free-kick that made it 3-0 and his performance may have had more direct relevance to Southgate.
To gild the lily it was another Liverpudlian who has moved into a half defence, half midfield role, Trent Alexander-Arnold who scored the sumptuous free-kick that made it 3-0 and his performance may have had more direct relevance to Southgate.senior call-up for the two qualifiers.
Like Alexander-Arnold, Jones looks re-energised and the post-match analysis from Klopp was instructive. “A lot of things have come together and it should not be forgotten he is still a young boy,” Klopp said, adding that the injury-forced absences have compelled Jones to watch more games and assess what he needed to do better. Specifically? “Counter-pressing,” Klopp said. “And speed of play”. Jones has done that.
Much has already been made of Alexander-Arnold’s conversion to an “inverted full-back” and whether that might save Liverpool a significant spend in the transfer market – and Jones has to force himself into a similar discussion. He has to push for the first team no matter who is signed. It is up to him. The ability is there.
A tweet from Ian Wright a couple of weeks ago suggested this was happening. “Curtis Jones. He’s coming ladies and gents!” the former Arsenal striker wrote. It is proving to be a shrewd observation. Like Liverpool, Jones is making an impressive late run.