Jurgen Klopp was seen deep in conversation with one Liverpool player at half-time during the 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to EOTK Insider, Neil Jones noticed that the manager was in discussion with Curtis Jones, with the pair seemingly debating what improvements could be made to seize control of a game which, at that point, was goalless.
The journalist reflected: “I thought it was interesting that when Jurgen Klopp was reflecting on the first half against Bournemouth, he spoke to Curtis at half-time about how the team wasn’t tactically quite right.
“He had a word with Jones and that just shows you the responsibility he’s got in the team; a) that he’s so important to the way the team plays and b) that he’s trusted to understand the manager’s instructions and fix it – and fix it he did in the second half.”
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Jones is still only 22 but has already racked up 119 senior appearances for Liverpool, 22 of which have come this season (Transfermarkt). He’s now into his fourth campaign of being a first-team regular at Anfield, so the days of him being the academy fledgling hoping for his big breakthrough are well in the past.
Like the journalist pointed out, the tactical conversation with Klopp was a sure sign that the midfielder is now seen as an experienced enough player to assume responsibility in terms of implementing the manager’s instructions on the pitch.
The Toxteth native has stepped up in a big way over the past month or so, compensating for the absences of positional peers with four goals in his last seven appearances for the Reds (Transfermarkt) and even playing himself into the conversation for a senior England call-up ahead of Euro 2024 in the summer.
The sight of Jones going off towards the end of the Bournemouth game was worrying, with Klopp saying afterwards (via liverpoolfc.com) that the 22-year-old ‘felt’ something which prompted the substitution.
We must wait to see if that problem stops Liverpool’s number 17 from playing against Fulham and Norwich over the next week. Fingers crossed that it isn’t an injury which’ll rule him out for a prolonged period.
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