Way to go, Curtis! Jones showed his quality again and Klopp was full of praise

Liverpool easily defeated Porto 5-1 in Tuesday’s Champions League match and now dominate Group B. Jürgen Klopp had many reasons to be satisfied after the game, especially youngster Curtis Jones.

The 20-year-old midfielder had a good pre-season and was planning to fight for a place in the Reds starting line-up. However, he suffered a concussion in a friendly against Osasuna at the beginning of August and missed the start of the season.

He waited until mid-September for his first chance in a competitive match. Against AC Milan and Crystal Palace he came on as a substitute, but since then he has been starting and showing that he can be a valid player.

His importance has increased even more after the injuries to Harvey Elliott, Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita. Also thanks to Jones, Klopp doesn’t have to worry as much about the midfield this season as he had to worry about the defence last season.

In the Carabao Cup against Norwich (which was his 50th game for the Reds), he started at defensive midfielder, which is not his traditional position, yet he put in a good performance.

Against Brentford, he scored a goal after a cross from distance and it looked like his goal would be the winner. Bees, however, managed to come back into the game and equalise.

Despite the draw with the league newcomer, there were positives to be found in Liverpool’s play and one of them was the club’s young offspring. “He was very good defensively, won a lot of duels,” Klopp praised his charge after the game. “And he also excelled up front, he was there for everything. And he underlined his performance with a beautiful goal.”

“He can score a goal like that with his other foot. That makes him a very special player. I want to see him play like that regularly. If he plays like this – and even better – it will be great.”

It is the erratic performances that Jones has sometimes been accused of, and Klopp has spoken about that too. “It’s a problem for him to give consistent performances sometimes, but at the moment he’s doing well. I think he is mature enough to keep his form.”

The talented midfielder, who was courted by Aston Villa in the summer, maintained his form for the 3rd game in a row, he was almost everywhere against Porto and was voted the best player of the game by the English fans.

He notched assists on goals by Salah and Firmino, but was on the other 2 goals when his teammates finished his blocked shots into the net. He became the 2nd youngest English club player to record 2 assists in a Champions League match (only Theo Walcott, who did it in 2006 against Hamburg, is younger).

He recorded the most shots of any player (4), the most chances created (3), the most dribbles (4/4) and won the most fouls (2). He also won 7 duels and maintained his passing accuracy at 89%.

“He played a very good game, he was there for everything, ” said a satisfied Klopp after the game. “He scored the first goal with a surprise finish that the goalkeeper just cleared out in front of him. He did well in other situations. I really liked his defensive play, he attacked well. Keep it up, Curtis, it was great today.”

The vaunted Jones is making the most of his chance to show he can be a stable member of the lineup. And he’s very likely to get more opportunities. Harvey Elliott will be missing for months, Thiago will return after the national break at the earliest. Keita isn’t 100% and Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t exactly brimming with good form either.

On Sunday, Liverpool will face a tough test – a tough opponent in Manchester City will visit Anfield. If Curtis Jones performs like he did in the last few games against the reigning English champions, it will be very difficult for his midfield teammates to replace him in the lineup.

Source: Goal, Planet Football