Curtis JONES: 2022/23

I dunno if Jones or Elliot really have taken their chances all that well this season. We didn’t perform well when Harvey was starting matches. Bajcetic’s rise in form turned the tide of our last few results and now Harvey’s been on the bench as sub.

To be honest I would be open to offers on Jones, but Thomas has also expressed getting rid of Hendo, Milner along with the other two already going that’s a hell of a lot of churn and unlikely to generate much in sales.

As for Elliott I made no mention of him but I think writing him off at 19 is a bit silly evidently what Klopp wants to do he can’t and so any changes he implements in the summer will have Elliott in mind. He isn’t a CM in any sense of the 4-3-3 so what Klopp has in mind will have to take this into account. I actually was quite impressed with him against Newcastle as he showed some defensive awareness and came back to defend. He has also in my view shown more than Jones over his career here, whether he makes it we will see.

Jones I’m wary of because there has been periods and large ones for him to grasp the nettle he is a midfielder who in his last two appearances has played left sided attack (not a particularly a place we are struggling), I can see him being moved on if we have a big summer but not if we also get rid of 5 other Midfielders. He has also transgressed badly due to injuries, he is the category below Gomez who I think we should keep but has transgressed.

It depends on the summer if it’s 2 in 3 out in CM that’s fine but if it starts to increase you need to add players.

1 Like

They havent, thats evident to anyone who’s watched at least a handful of games. Neither have what it takes and sooner we cash in the less we have to think about it.

Baj has stepped in and got off the mark right away, he’s shown the level and maturity needed for a young lad and the rate at which it needs to be done by in this day and age to have any chance.

Sorry but at 19 you just can’t judge him, before his injury he looked one of the most promising in the country.

Also actually in the first part of the season he got a couple of motm awards, this team is in a slump no one has played to their ability. I think the only one who has been above average a majority of times is Alisson.

When Bajectic has a poor period which he will do as players are prone will the FIFA fanboys clamour to sell him?

4 Likes

Elliot always takes his defensive responsibilities seriously and gets back in position but can’t tackle for toffee.

It was though good to see him get back against Newcastle and win the ball for once.

Our coaches really need to work on his tackling

What has held Curtis back is his injuries, nothing else. He has bags of talent.

Klopp will keep him if he thinks Cutis can stay fit imho.

3 Likes

Bajcetic will have a dip in form soon. All young players do. I expect we’ll all be hetting told he should be sold and was never any good anyway before long.

5 Likes

Such is the way these days. Everything is about here and now, until the next match. Can go from being rated as absolute tosh in one game, then the second coming of Steven Gerrard in the next.

As for Curtis, the injuries have set him back of course. Was getting in a good amount of minutes previously. Seems to me he is being managed off the pitch so that when he returns, the injury problems will be no more.

Then will be given a chance to stake a claim by performing well in training, as it should be.

1 Like

I’m not so sure Curtis will ever become a regular in a Jurgen Klopp team… My lad thinks he is an excellent player though so it will be interesting to see who is proven right in the end

I’d love Jones to play, he is actually capable of retaining possession. Yes he might hold on to it a bit too longer but I’d much rather that than Hendo firing it a million miles an hour at a team mate in a panic of not losing the ball.

1 Like

Curtis instead of Fabinho yes please.

1 Like

2022/23: 11 games, 319 mins. Games missed due to injury/fitness 15
2021/22: 27 games, 1529 mins. Games missed due to injury/fitness 21
2020/21: 34 games, 1921 mins.
2019/20: 12 games, 587 mins.

Without injuries, he would have played a bigger role in last two seasons and that in turn would have helped him develop further.

If fit I’d give him every game until the end of the season, just like Bajcetic. Give him a proper run at LCM and see what he can do with it.

Move Baj to DM and drop Fabinho, obviously.

It can’t make midfield any worse.

7 Likes

Fab needs taking out of the limelight and get whatever it is that has dragged him down, sorted once and for all

1 Like

Availability wasn’t the only issue, performances also were. It’s not like he was great whenever he played. He had better and worse performances. Get him fit now and see how much we can count on him in the near future.

This is the tension at the heart of what has been happening here for the past 3 years. The difference between just normal high pressing and geggenpressing is the risks you’re willing to take in possession and acceptance of losing it. Defending in a pressing team is about making the effective size of the pitch as small as possible, and in many ways the same is true is geggenpressing when you do have the ball. Rather than spreading the play, you load small areas of the pitch with lots of players in the hope the defense does the same that then creates space you can exploit in the second phase. But if you lose the ball because you’re playing it into a crowded area, you back yourself to win it back quickly (because you’ve overloaded the area with more of your players than they have) and then take advantage of that transition.

There is obviously a midground that allows you to focus more on maintaining possession with a situational high press (which was essentially Pep’s game plan at Barca…taken to extremes), but there becomes a tension when half the team was present due to their ability to thrive in the hectic nature of the geggenpress and the other half are trying to be more cautious (I dont want to “constructive” because I think that undersells the intelligence needed to play geggenpressing football) with the ball.

1 Like

Yes, this article basically says exactly that!

We play without any intelligence so the end result is consistently being out of position on transition.

Grim viewing some of them!

Mental Henderson does this pass to an 18 year old, talk about passing the buck

This is us letting our two central defenders chase a Trent free kick, which they counter over our head with… (this is the one Robbo does the immense tackle)

Funnily when we need goals, we are at times guilty of not transitioning fast, take risks, but keep passing sideways and backwards instead. And this isnt a naive Arsenal side with young players, we have players who killed the game completely 3 seasons back when we were up.

you look at that turn which Bajcetic made against Newcastle, simply turning his body up the pitch instead of sideways…

1 Like

If Jones is fit I would play him. Good shout Sweeting. Let’s see what he can do.

We have to assume reinforcements are coming in the summer.
And we have to assume there will be a number of midfield exits.

We need to find out how much Jones can help us, moving forward. We have persisted with him through a lot of niggly injuries and getting him right. If he is fit, let’s play him and see what’s what.