I've seen real version of Liverpool talent before and Arne Slot has just unlocked him

There are some who will always find fault with how Curtis Jones performs, no matter the evidence in front of them. He takes too many touches, so goes the most common criticism of the Liverpool star, while others suggest he wouldn't have so many appearances for the club had he not been born in the city.

Both claims — the latter far more than the former — are ludicrously wide of the mark. There are, admittedly, times when Jones should be more decisive in possession (that was the case against Chelsea at times too), but he is also being asked to perform a role where his primary aim is keeping hold of the ball.

Sometimes that extra touch goes wrong; usually, though, it is designed to move an opponent out of position or wait for a better moment to play a pass. While he doesn't always perfect the execution, it is usually an instruction rather than a frustrating habit that needs ironing out of his game.

When Jones won the first penalty kick that Mohamed Salah converted at Anfield on Sunday — and when he thought he had won a second and Robert Sanchez was fortunately given a VAR reprieve — he should arguably have shot when he was brought down. In pretty much every other aspect of the game, though, he was faultness.

Unquestionably, this was Jones' best performance for some time and arguably his best ever showing in a Liverpool shirt. As well as scoring the winning goal, he kept the midfield ticking and ran things from the middle of the field. Alexis Mac Allister was arguably Liverpool's Player of the Season last year but he wasn't missed.

Jones demanded the ball from his teammate and popped it around in the middle of the field with supreme confidence before driving forward upfield. He has the capacity to take big games by the scruff of the neck and he did that here. He also has the tactical intelligence to know the right type of pass to be making at the right time.

Now fit again having frustratingly missed part of the beginning of the Slot era with another muscle problem — an annoying theme of his career to date has been ill-timed injury setbacks — Jones was flying. In the week that he became a father for the first time, he took another step on the pitch too.

The fact is, Jones has been capable of magical performances like this since he emerged from the Liverpool youth academy. He was always a more attack-minded midfield player and his goal here typified exactly what the Reds are trying to get from him more often: a late run into the penalty area saw him net the winner.

Able to knit things together, to provide ample off-the-ball work, and then to pop up in the final third too, the combination of skills that he provides — a far more well-rounded midfielder than the one who first emerged into the senior set-up — is exactly what Arne Slot is looking for from that number eight role.

With so many matches coming up, Jones will have plenty of chances to play in each of the three midfield positions, in all likelihood. He could easily slot into any of them because of his varied skillset, but the more advanced positions — the Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai roles — suit him best, even if he might have to deputize at times for Ryan Gravenberch too.

In Kirkby, on the Liverpool academy pitches, it was a given that you would see Jones demand the ball from his teammates, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't give it away and he would likely create something as he did here, and he never lacked confidence with the ball at his feet. Now far more reliable in a defensive sense, but clearly still with the attacking instincts to go with that, he has the perfect blend.

If Slot can unlock that every week, he will have a new dilemma surrounding how to fit in a devastatingly good midfield option who so far in his tenure hasn't been close to being a first pick. On this evidence, though, you simply have to find a way of getting Jones in.