Curtis Jones treading thin line with Jurgen Klopp comments and Liverpool needs him to back it up

Curtis Jones has not had a go at Jurgen Klopp — it's important to get that out in the open right from the start. The Liverpool midfielder was asked some good questions, and gave some genuinely interesting, open answers .

But in sharing his thoughts on the early weeks under Arne Slot , he did stray into the territory of making comparisons with the Klopp reign. Liverpool supporters should be encouraged by what he said, although they were bold comments to make before a ball has even been kicked.

Forecasting a more prominent, technical role for the midfield, Jones waxed lyrical about how Slot's style will suit him better. He told Anfield to expect a version of Liverpool that will "completely kill teams".

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It was refreshing to hear such honest thoughts from Jones — not only on the last fortnight or so, but on the last few years, covering his breakthrough into the team under Klopp. He revealed, for instance, that his bond with the old manager had actually grown closer last season.

Even so, there were moments where Jones perhaps inadvertently questioned the old regime. Predicting a more controlled, methodical approach from the center of the park, he expressed a degree of dissatisfaction with previous instructions:

"I feel more in the past it was kind of like a rush," Jones revealed. "We’d get the ball back and it was a little bit too direct I would say, it was up and down, up and down."

Again, it's important to stress that this came in the context of praising Slot. If players were coming out and insinuating that they missed the old ways of doing things, that would be far more concerning.

But there's no denying that Jones was making some big claims, intentionally or otherwise. He spoke about wanting to take advantage of a kind of reset in the pecking order at Liverpool:

"Then of course the excitement was a guy is going to come in and I don’t think anybody has the edge over anybody yet, it’s a clean slate and that’s what I thought I needed," he said. "I came around the team as a young kid and lads had already been established.

"I came in as a kid who had a job on my hands and of course I still do, but I just feel we’re now at the point where everybody is equal. I think the ones who show it more now are the ones who will play."

There was still a slight doff of the cap to Mohamed Salah , whom Jones predicted would still be the one "getting his goals" even amid a change in system. But the Academy graduate does not feel that anyone is automatically ahead of him anymore, and intends to win his place.

Now, of course, he has to follow through and do it. Having professed that Slot's style suits him more, the onus is on him to make himself an absolute mainstay under the new coach.

Should he do that, nobody would be more delighted than Klopp, who always sought to bring the best out of Jones and give him opportunities in the team. But for one reason or another, the midfielder was rarely able to truly nail down a starting spot.

The closest he came was last season. It was not quite his best campaign in terms of Premier League game time, falling short of 2020/21 by a mere 12 minutes, but there were stretches where he was indisputably a part of the first-choice midfield.

But as has too often been the case, ill-timed setbacks came into play. He had to work his way back up the ladder after a harsh red card suspension, and just as he was the heartbeat of the team again, he picked up an ankle injury. Returning in April, he never quite made it back from the periphery.

Such things are more or less beyond Jones' control. But one way or another, especially having come out so strongly, he needs this to be his true breakthrough season.

He would probably object to that terminology, keen to stress he is now one of the more experienced players. But the reality is that he has still never really progressed beyond the cusp of making that last step — still just 23, there is time to make it, but Jones' comments have only served to underline that this is a huge season for him.