Jamie Carragher has accused one Liverpool player of showing unnecessary ‘arrogance’ during the 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
On a day when the Premier League leaders were frustrated by their arch-rivals and collectively performed nowhere near their best, a few members of Arne Slot’s came in for criticism for what they produced on the day.
Roy Keane was particularly scathing of Trent Alexander-Arnold, accusing him of ‘schoolboy‘ defending and snidely commenting that he’d be ‘going to Tranmere Rovers’ instead of Real Madrid off the back of his display.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast for Sky Sports, Carragher highlighted another Liverpool player who, in his view, had an unwelcome off-day against Man United.
The pundit said: “I thought Curtis Jones was poor and the one negative about Curtis Jones as a player when he’s not playing well is he holds on to the ball too much. He’s got that football arrogance which is something you want, but he’s at his best when he plays two-touch, he moves it quickly and he presses.
“He’s not a superstar in terms of beating players and clever passes. He just moves it on quickly and he presses, he’s energetic. As soon as he holds onto the ball for half a second too much, it doesn’t become football arrogance; it’s just arrogance.
“He lost the ball early on and I thought it’s going to be one of those days from Curtis, but in the main he’s been fantastic.”
Carragher’s criticism of Jones for holding onto the ball too long was mirrored by Ian Doyle in his post-match player ratings for the Liverpool Echo, and it’s an accusation which has frequently been levelled at the midfielder in the past.
The 23-year-old has generally improved in that regard this season, and the Sky Sports pundit is right to point out that the England international has enjoyed a largely impressive campaign so far, although yesterday showed that there’s still scope to learn on his weaknesses.
The Reds’ number 17 was efficient with his use of the ball on Sunday – as per Sofascore, he completed 26 of his 29 passes (90% success) and lost possession only six times from 38 touches before his withdrawal on the hour mark – although the numbers don’t show how he used the ball when he had it.
Jones wasn’t especially terrible against Man United, nor did he have one of his better outings of the season. It was a performance with pluses and minuses, and he’s shown enough in recent months to suggest that he can quickly get back to his best.
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