A closer look at Curtis Jones’s situation after the Liverpool midfielder registered his 200th appearance for his boyhood club on Saturday
Whether it has been through design or more organically, Curtis Jones has taken on a greater role of prominence for Arne Slot’s Liverpool this season.
After starring on Tuesday night as the Reds put aside a difficult few days by beating Inter 1-0 in the own backyard of the San Siro, Jones then brought up his 200th appearance for his boyhood club in the 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.
For a player to have reached that milestone in an era where both Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot have been able to guide teams to Premier League titles in 2020 and 2025, that is quite the achievement for a homegrown midfielder, who will no doubt be vying for a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad next summer.
READ MORE: Mohamed Salah branded ‘egotistical’ as Liverpool learn ‘dream’ transfer replacementREAD MORE: Virgil van Dijk uses Ibrahima Konate as ‘example’ in clear point on Liverpool improvement
Next month will mark seven years since Jones’s first senior appearance for the Reds, which came in an FA Cup defeat at Wolves when Klopp made a number of changes for the third-round tie at Molineux.
In the days since, Jones has gone from Academy hopeful, to young squad player through to the role he now occupies as an important cog in the midfield machine under Slot. The adaptation process has not been seamless or without its challenges along the way, but an in-form Jones has enjoyed a good campaign so far, even if there have been broader issues at Anfield.
And as Jones spoke about his 200th appearance on Saturday to LFCTV, it was interesting to note how he paid homage to his heroes of the past while also reflecting on what he can do to offer the stars of the future.
“Steven Gerrard has obviously been a huge part of my career and life,” Jones said, opening on his former academy manager who helped smooth out some of the rougher edges in his game during his teenage years. “I say life because he was probably the first man to really have a pop at me at the academy, and just changed me to think: ‘Yeah, I’m not better than anybody else.’“It was a reality check in terms of the way I played and the role that he gave me. Steven would be the first to say that once I overcame a thing where I complicate things and thought I was the man because I had a (number) 10 on my back and things like that, I’d be the first man he’d pick on his team. That came with him.“I’d always been a kid that was top of the age group and at times I’d become a little bit passive I’d say. Steven was the first one to give me a real check. Coming from a man like him, who played the game, who I idolised, I thought: ‘I’ve got to change if it’s him that’s telling me’.“From there he stuck with me and I stuck with him and we worked. A year after I’m around the first team and I’m stood here now on 200 games, so he’s obviously a man that I’d like to thank as well.”
Now aged 24, Jones also revealed how he has taken some of the younger players on the fringes of the Reds squad under his wing, urging them to enjoy their fledgling days at Anfield.
“It’s mad,” Jones said. “I actually had a chat with Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha was there as well. I just said, ‘I know you will hear it all the time from staff and family around you, about how fast it goes. But my God, it goes so fast.’
“If I think about my first game, Wolves away, and how fast the whole thing has changed. I can only thank the staff around me and the teammates around me who have always got the belief in me to keep me at the club and when I play, to trust that I can play in that many games.
“I can only thank my mum and the family around me, who have obviously played a huge part… the times when it was taxis into training and things like that. And the environment I was obviously around as a kid, a Scouse kid, it’s quite easy to take another route.
“But I only had one goal in my mind: that was to play at this club. And that’s what I’m doing so I’ve got a massive smile on my face. It’s 200 down – and hopefully there’s many, many more to come.”
Perhaps, though, of all the words of advice that have come where Jones is concerned with his new-found status in the Liverpool squad, it is a message from the iconic Gerrard that remains as prevalent as ever for a player who has now started the last three games for Slot.
“He needs to stay in this 11 now,” Gerrard said in 2023. “He needs to take the challenge on.” It is a challenge that remains as prescient today as it ever did for Jones. On to the next 200.
