Yeah I came on here yesterday, I didn’t think he had a bad game and he pointed to his foot to Klopp saying it’s something but nothing so I dunno if he caught something.
He wasn’t as bad as something and their main two chances came from Gomez not to mention Thiago trying to keep it in later on in the game and setting them off on a run.
Salah was poor but expected, the team improved with Fabinho but that’s to be expected, it did with Mane, if Fabinho had gone on for say Hendo it would have been the same result.
Whenever I’ve seen Curtis in those “Inside Training” videos recently, I want to see him enjoying himself a bit more. Maybe I’m being overworried / hypercritical. The psychology department could help him either push harder in training or deal better with not being a contender at all from the subs bench in the run in.
I think for someone like Jones it’s a factor that he’s been the most talented player on every team he’s ever been in before reaching the first team. He’s never been a back up, even as a 16 year old he started for the U21s (before they became the U23s) and while he wasn’t always the focal point of the team he was more often than not the most naturally gifted.
Add on to that the change in position from an attacker to a midfielder, and the restricted way we use our centre mids then I think that becomes a source of frustration for him - and evidently for those watching him judging by many of the comments.
In my mind there is no doubt he will adapt and become more important to us in time but I’m perfectly fine with it taking another couple of years to truly become established. That’s probably not acceptable to many in these days of instant results but I’m perfectly ok with it and I think in time we will have one of the best midfielders in the league.
I’m all in on Jones and this is coming from someone that actually didn’t like him as a prospect when he first came through to the U18s.
Thats surprising to hear, what didnt you like? (Apologies, i’m sure you probably wrote about it at the time and i probably read it, but since forgotten). I always got the sense that like Trent he was viewed as a candidate most likely to succeed by the club.
It seems that he wilts a little when alongside our 1st team players its as though he goes in his shell.
He tends to look a better player when he plays as part of our 2nd string in the cup games.
When he gets the bit between his teeth and us aggressive running at defenders he looks great. My major doubt in regards to the 1st team is that his end product has been poor, whether it is his shooting or final/incisive pass it hasn’t been at a level I expected of him or those fighting for the same position.
Oh he was but I thought he was all style no substance and had a bad attitude. He proved me wrong over the years.
Actually maybe that’s why I’m more relaxed about his development. He took a while to become effective at U18 level then he stepped up the U21/23 squad and went an entire season without scoring or assisting before following that up by being the best player in youth football. He just has these transition periods.
Yeah I think that’s a fair criticism and as I said before I think it comes from never having been in a situation where the guys around you are all as talented as you are. It simply never happened to him before and then you add in a difficult positional switch and you can probably see where that confidence knock has come from.
His end product will come with time, when he first went into the U23 squad he had zero end product but by his second full season at that level he reached a point where if you gave him the ball within 25 yards of goal then he was going to score. He was like the Coutinho of U23 football in that way.
I honestly think it’s all just a question of time and patience. He’s a lovely player, far more talented than most players we talk about as potential transfers he just needs the space to be able to figure out how to be effective at first team level and that takes some time.
It was his best performance for a while. I think it helped that he was on for the full 90. He grew in confidence the longer the game went on. In some of his recent appearances it’s been kind of obvious that he will be the one coming off on 60 and that must affect his game slightly. Everyone talks about how confident he is but he’s playing in arguably the world’s best football team so I wouldn’t be surprised if he sometimes doubts himself. Very good performance last night and he deserved his Klopp hug at the end.
I have mentioned before that he always looks better when he is playing alongside our squad players. He seems to come to the fore and take control of the game more and is more aggressive in his play. It could be that he defers to the more senior players when part of our 1st eleven.
His ability to retain the ball in tight spaces is really something. Show for the ball with three players closing him down, get it under control and recycle it. That’s something Gini would do so well, and I think it’s where Klopp is taking his development.
Nah we don’t need those fancy dan foreign sorts with their pirouette. Sure he can do it against you-tube fc in sunny spain but would you bet he could last against the likes of Shrewsbury Town or Lincoln?