The 22-year-old has impressed Jurgen Klopp with his recent performances, but how will the Reds' summer rebuild affect his prospects?
It used to be Jordan Henderson, didn’t it? Perhaps Lucas Leiva before that, and in days gone by it might have been Danny Murphy or Ray Houghton or Ronnie Whelan. What is it about Liverpool midfielders and their battle for appreciation?
The Reds, seemingly, have always had at least one player who splits opinion among supporters, and right now it appears Curtis Jones has taken on that mantle.
The 22-year-old has been enjoying a decent run in Jurgen Klopp's side of late. Wednesday’s win at West Ham was Jones’ fifth successive start in the Premier League, his best run in more than 12 months.
After a season disrupted heavily by injury, the young Scouser is clearly relishing the chance to be back on the pitch and showing what he can do. His performance against West Ham, as it was at Leeds previously, was that of a player with both a point to prove and a role to play, going forward.
And with Liverpool set to embark upon a significant, and overdue, rebuild of their midfield this summer, Jones’ return to action, and his return to form, may have come at just the right time, both for player and club.
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Earning Klopp’s trust
Klopp was certainly impressed by Jones’ contribution at West Ham. “He was super-important,” he told his post-match press conference. “He set the tone again with the first counter-pressing situation.
“He is in a really good moment, a really good moment, and [that is] super-helpful.”
The Reds boss has spoken recently about “the ticket” into his starting XI, and how pressing and off-the-ball work is as important as anything a player does in possession.
That suits Jones, whose strength lies in his ability to retain possession, usually through simple, short passes and combinations, and, crucially, his ability to help win the ball back in the opposition half, forcing turnovers and picking up second balls by being in the right position regularly.
“This team is set up now for the defending, for the defensive readiness,” Klopp said. “This is a ticket into the team.
“That doesn't mean the other boys don't do that, but these guys now do it like animals, if you want – and really, I like that, how we chase the ball again and these kinds of things.
“On top of that, we are able to play quite good football and Curtis is involved in that as well, absolutely.”
At the moment, Jones is keeping seasoned midfielders – Thiago Alcantara, James Milner – as well as another highly-gifted youngster – Harvey Elliott – out of the Liverpool team. And while his performances are perhaps not as flashy or as decisive as some would like, he is clearly doing enough to impress his manager at the moment.
And that, really, is the thing that matters.
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Early hype
Wednesday’s game at West Ham was Jones’ 91st senior appearance for Liverpool, an impressive figure considering he emerged at a time when the Reds have been competing year-on-year for the biggest prizes in football. There have not been many games in recent years that haven't had something riding on them.
Jones was earmarked for success at a young age, making his Under-18s bow at 15, before being handed his professional debut in the FA Cup at Wolves shortly before his 18th birthday in January 2019.
It was during the following campaign, 2019-20, that he really exploded though. Having scored the winning penalty at the Kop End in a Carabao Cup win over Arsenal, and made his Premier League bow at Bournemouth, Jones announced himself to the world with a stunning winning goal as Liverpool defeated Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup at Anfield in January 2020.
He followed that up with another strike at Shrewsbury in the next round, and then captained a young Reds side at Anfield in the replay, the youngest skipper in Reds history.
By the end of the campaign, he had more than a dozen senior appearances, and a Premier League winners’ medal, to his name. The curve was very much an upward one.
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Stop-start progress
And there has been significant progress since, too. Jones played 34 times in the 2020-21 campaign, and 27 times last season. He has scored in the Premier League and the Champions League, and played 14 times for England at U21 level, scoring four goals.
Despite that, there is a feeling that he is not as far along in his development as many expected. While peers – Phil Foden, perhaps, or Bukayo Saka – have been able to establish themselves as stars for their respective clubs, Jones is still fighting for approval.
Part of that is down to bad luck. He has suffered at least three freak injuries since the start of the 2021-22 campaign – a bang on the head which kept him out of the opening games, an eye injury suffered in training which sidelined him for nearly two months, and a stress reaction in his tibia which has limited his training and game time severely this season.
Prior to this latest run, he had been able to start only two games, with the injury making it impossible to enjoy a full week of training, pain-free.
Now, it appears he has come through that period, able to train fully and reaping the benefits. “From the moment he was allowed to train properly again, it looked – step by step – really good,” Klopp said this week. He will hope that continues.
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Why fans remain split
On the face of it, Jones should really be something of a fans’ favourite. He is talented, confident, works hard and he has been with the club since the age of nine. He’s a Liverpool lad, as well as a Liverpool player.
But while he clearly has big support among the Reds’ fanbase, he also has a lot of doubters still to win over. Plenty are unconvinced as to his role in the team, and whether he has the tools to become a regular, a real regular, in Klopp’s side.
Maybe some of that comes down to that early hype and expectation. In Liverpool’s youth teams, Jones was a creative hub, who would pull off outrageous tricks, dribble past players for fun, and create and score goals.
We have seen flashes of that player at senior level, but there has also been a clear plan to smooth off some of those edges and to turn the showman into a far more functional, safe kind of player.
At times, indeed, it can feel a little too safe. There are occasions when Jones needs to move the ball quicker, to back himself with a shot at goal or a decisive final pass. Where some of his age – Foden, Saka, Jude Bellingham – influence games through goals and assists as well as their tactical and physical qualities, Jones has 18 goal contributions in 91 appearances for Liverpool. Not enough for an attack-minded player of such talent – even if only 54 of those 91 appearances have been starts.
The feeling generally, even among his backers, is that there is more in the locker, more levels to be found. He’s shown, in spells, that he can do the things Klopp wants him to do, and which will get him into the team, but can he make the next step? At 22, that is a question still to be answered.