Curtis Jones continues to earn plaudits and positive reviews after a fine run of form with Liverpool which has resulted in him earning a call-up to Lee Carsley’s England squad.
Jones produced a virtuoso showing against Chelsea recently, winning a penalty and scoring the decisive goal, before further assists of late against Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen.
Arne Slot has praised him more than once of late and the Reds’ head coach was asked about Jones’ improved performances and what he had altered in the midfielder’s game to bring out his best form, replying several factors might have been at play – one of which was not down to himself in the slightest.
“With Curtis it’s not me who did it [helped him improve], he became a father and I had nothing to do with that!” Slot joked in his press conference ahead of facing Aston Villa. “You never know if that plays a part or not.
“Since that moment he became a father he started putting great performances in. He already did this in the first weeks we played together – in preseason I was “phwoar, quality player” but his performances then dropped a bit. Since he became a father he’s outstanding again, it might have a bit to do with that but in general I think it’s how the team plays.
“Every player who comes in has a good performance and that tells you about the quality of the team and how they play together. As a result of that individual performances are good as well.”
Pressed on the traits which make Jones so effective, Slot highlighted his technical quality and mentality – the latter being something previous Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp also praised the Toxteth-born midfielder for.
In addition, though, Slot marked out what must come next for the No17 to ensure he remains a starter for the team, after several previous good runs of form ended in injury or losing his place.
“What makes him such a good player? He has a lot of qualities on the ball, he’s never afraid to do something special with it
“Sometimes that led to a situation where he touched the ball a bit too much because he’s sometimes he’s a bit too over-confident, but confidence is an important tool and that’s what he has and he combines this at the moment – and probably for a longer period but for as long as I’m working with him – with an incredibly hard work rate.
“We can trust him in defence, you saw how well he played against Cole Palmer. So he’s quite complete but for him now it’s all about consistency.
“If you’re a quality player, to have a good performance once in a while is not a big accomplishment. The best players in the world show up every three days.
“If he wants to continue progressing that’s what he has to show now, to be every few days the player he’s been in the last few weeks.”
