I disagree on this point, i think the majority of those doing the criticism are often overly critical on all the players.
Itās times like these that Iām really grateful for JĆ¼rgen Klopp, he just gives me the confidence that heāll treat each player fairly and take the longer-term view of them and their abilities. Maybe they donāt have the perfect game, and make a couple of mistakes here and there. But heāll see their abilities, and bet on his ability to sort out those mistakes on the pitch.
Itās why heāll continue to put his faith in his team, even if some of them arenāt the flavour of the monthā¦
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My brother went to university in Sheffield right at the time Wednesday were starting to collapse. We went to see them one year during the period of battling to not get relegated into the third division (whatever it was called then) and despite having been doing that for a couple of years already still had a couple of expensive prem contracts on their books. The fans understandably didnt like these players, thought they were foreign mercenaries who were not going to help them get back into the Prem, and the people around me were really giving one of them shit all through the match. Everything that went wrong was āfucking Sibon.ā āThe Sibon is fucking shit.ā āBench that fucking Sibionā.
Gerald Sibon was not playing that game.
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What a throwback, I remember him from Heerenveen (donāt ask me why or how).
Never thought weād be speaking about Gerald Sibon on here.
Iām willing him to do well because he plays for Liverpool, donāt care where he is from. IMO people cutting him more slack just because he is scouse. I see him do the same thing over and over again, running with the ball going nowhere or/and taking too much time on the ball. Unless something dramatically improves what I donāt think because he sees the openings too late he will be gone in the not distant future.
Could not agree more. Putting this together with bits posted throughout the match thread. Personal opinion, Iāve been consistent since summer that THIS is the year for Curtis should be in the majority of the starting XI team sheets. He needs to get minutes and more minutes to keep evolving. He will make mistakes but we also have to accept the good with the bad as with any young player. His time is now, he is fully ready, physically. He needs all the minutes to continue to thrive.
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Great plmayer so glad heās learning his trade with us at LFC and under Klopp, nothing else to say!!!
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Iām on the fence about Jones. I donāt think Iām overly critical for the sake of point scoring or wanting to be right and I also see the good he does as well. I do tend to watch games differently, I think, and critique specific moments that ended up poorly or could have ended up better, if you know what I mean.
I think he could go either way and that the only person that could hold him back is probably just himself. He has all the traits one could want plus we brought him through, heās local so if anything we all should be willing him to succeed. I do think some of the criticisms of him are valid though, and shouldnāt be shouted down and the point scorers are on both ends of the spectrum. Sometimes itās okay to say a lad had a shit game, it happens to absolutely every player who has ever played the game and I think some people are also being a little precious about hearing anything bad about Curtis even when its been pretty obvious that he was a little poor.
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Critique can be the best form of educationā¦
Jury is out on Jones for meā¦ Hope he storms it though
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I remember Jones as someone who was way beyond others technically when playing for our youth team (based on first hand feedback from those who have watched him).
At that level, he could do all his fancy stuff, lose the ball and still wouldnāt matter much. But the PL is a different beast all together. Lose a ball that leads to a goal scoring opportunity for the opposition, and you will get crucified.
With Harvey coming back as if he never was injured and with his attacking threat from midfield, I believe Klopp is moulding Jones into a more industrial CM role. Many thought Gini always passed sideways, but it was crucial to recycle the ball. I think Klopp is doing something similar with Jones. He may not move the ball as quickly as we would like, but its not because he doesnāt see a pass. He just wants to ensure he donāt lose the possession, especially if pressing high. There are a lot of others who can convert a simple pass from Jones to a goal scoring opportunity.
Btw, he is just 21. Bloody, if he masters how to control the pace of the game from that position, he is someone who can rope in the guys on his left and right, plus the 3 up front to literally choke the opposition.
Waiting for that day when our goal scorer runs down to the half line to thank Jones, because he he was the originator of those moves/passes that lead what would eventually be the goal of the season.
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Donāt buy that one completely because heās getting caught on the ball deep. Simple, quick yet incisive passes are on and he isnāt playing them. Instead itās a touch, another, another inevitably another and by that time the space is gone and looked like it never existed in the first place. Easy to miss if youāre watching on a dodgy stream or keeping half an eye on the in match thread 
Itās the most obvious part of his game to work on but at the same time not necessarily the most obvious thing to observe when watching a game.
Itās not missed at all, just not everyone gives a shit that a young player is learning the speed of the adult game. Iāll expect the same comments in Keita, Thiago, Hendersonās thread yes? Thiago went through a period of giving the ball away in dangerous areas by fannying around in midfield two to three times a game, I donāt see any comments from you in his thread? Did you get lost?
The one time vs Leicester by Jones was him trying to beat a press and dribble through their lines, a carbon copy of Thiago.
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Donāt take the piss. If I didnt comment it was because of a variety of possible reasons; work, not around, family or even that other people said the same thing and there were no irrational defence made. My previous post above was exactly for the reply youāve just made. Thereās a middle ground for fuck sakes and if played shit then he played shit. Shouting down anyone who says otherwise isnāt going to change that.
And it wasnāt just the once he lost possession . So yeah, youāve been missing things.
Fuck me.
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Just as well its not up to us to define shit and select the team really.
There will always be the told you so lot, that love it when their predictions come right and never shut up about it. Standard. Had it with Lucas, had it with Gini.
Jones has a long way to go and right now i think is in a serious period of adjustment in the squad. When you ask any flair player to kerb the flair and become a cog in a system, itāll take time.
God forbid any of us were judged at 21. I was a right know it all twat. Now i look back and realise i knew sweet fuck all.
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He didnāt, thatās the point, he made a few mistakes yes but yet was the starting midfielder which win 2-0 against Leicester and basically gave up nothing.
Yeah, thatās the thing. Youāre on one end, some guys are on the other. Iām in the middle. I have no axe to gring against Jones and have repeatedly said I have high hopes for him. He didnāt play particularly well on Thursday but then you have one side jumping on the other and creating a mountain out of a molehill in a good team performance and stances become entrenched.
Thereās also the thing about fans generally being more sensitive about a young and/or local player. If it was someone random like, I donāt know, Tsimikas, there would be less of a fuss. Jones is exactly an example where we look at an opposition team and call one of their talents āoverrated/nothing specialā (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, game of opinions) or/and āhas the face of a little prickā (I like Jones as a talent, but I can perfectly imagine neutral and not to mention opposition fans looking at him and thinking something along those lines). Short picture: he didnāt play a good game (not the first, not the last time). Wide picture: yeah for now, he has done and is still doing well, made steps and deserves to be here. No big deal, we move on, thatās it.
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I find it amazing that we have probably the best quality Liverpool side ever, certainly in the last 30+ years anyway, winning almost every match we play - even without our star player being available - yet some people still find the time to turn every slight error by barely 21 year old midfielder in that team into calls of him being ānot good enoughā.
He turned 21 less than 2 weeks ago and he is trusted to start in THIS Liverpool team. Honestly that insane, heās going to be one hell of a player. Just be patient, its entirely normal for young players to go through dips in their form. Trent and Sterling both did shortly after they came into the team and both of them were accused of being not good enough for a time as well.
Personally I always expected an awkward transition period for him. In the youth sides he was such a free spirit who dominated every game he played in by simply being the best player on the pitch. His move into senior football was always going to require a higher level of discipline and Iām not surprised it is taking him some time to work out exactly how to be disciplined but also show his natural talents of dribbling, shooting and close control. He will figure it out though.
By my count their are only four regular starters at CM in the Premier League younger than Jones - Olise, Ramsey, Gilmore and Elliott.
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Even if someone was on the side of him holding onto the ball too long too often, as a 21 year old its far easier to learn to play at the right tempo and understand the time and place and place to take the extra touch than it is to learn the ability to manipulate the ball the way he does.
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Iām not a great expert or anything but up till he went off I didnāt even think there was much difference in quality between him and Thiago.
Certainly didnāt stand out to me.
Thiago then took things up a gear when he moved to LCM and Harvey brought the fire and explosive quality that RCM area needs. But before that Thiago wasnāt having a phenomenal game. Him and Jones were just being competent and professional helping to control the game, keep the attack moving and force Leicester back.
Fabinho and Thiago are both elite level, Jones didnāt embarrass himself starting with them, wasnāt out of his depth even if he didnāt quite stamp his authority on the game like he has and can. Its the start of the journey for Jones and that wasnāt his best game but by playing games like that (and still not letting us down at all) we stand more chance of him being a truly special player further down the road.
Some people are just too demanding, Jones is 21 and doing fine. Heās a good option in our CM and starting many games on merit. By the time heās fully developed he could be an elite level, club developed, locally born player with a passionate, emotional attachment to the club.
People being unhappy with how its going (Iāve even seen suggestions he should be sold) confuse me.
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