‘A lot of talents struggle’; Jurgen Klopp hails ‘outstanding’ Curtis Jones

Add as preferred source on Google

Jurgen Klopp believes Curtis Jones has handled his first-team ascension very well. The Scouser has thrived where many players fail.

Curtis Jones has enjoyed a rapid rise in the first-team – and that impresses Jurgen Klopp.

The Liverpool boss spoke on Friday about Jones’s integration into the first-team. It’s clear the 19-year-old stands out for how well he handled the difficult task.

Klopp labelled Jones an ‘outstanding talent’ throughout the youth system. The difficulty, says the boss, is how a player adapts to first-team life where players are simply better than you.

“Most [players] are better because they are more experienced and that’s where a lot of talents struggle to adapt to that,” he said, per the Echo.

“From being the prince of any team to be a normal player in the next team they struggle, but Curtis never struggled and that’s because of the incredible leadership of our more experienced players as they showed him the pathway in football, what he can still be and where he can adapt.

“When you go to the first-team and have some success – he had big success when we became English champions last season and was involved around the Champions League final – then a lot of challenges are waiting for you but he passed that as well.”

Klopp goes on to say that the future is bright for Jones – if he stays on this path.

What RTK has to say

Jones’s maturity on the pitch is clear – and it’s nice to hear that it’s growing off the pitch, too. Right now, as a young player, that’s his biggest asset.

It’s easy to forget that Jones was just a promising youth player at the start of the year. We wanted to see more of him, sure, but he was far from a first-team fixture.

Now, though, he’s at the level where Klopp rests him for the bigger games.

That’s an incredible rise and that can only happen with an understanding of your own ability and standing. Jones doesn’t try to boss games at senior level but nor does he disappear.

Het gets involved in a supporting role, typically recycling possession and looking for the stars. That’s exactly where he should be, given his age and lack of experience.

What we want now is to see Jones gradually develop out of that role and prove he can be a star. And given how quickly he’s going, that could be his level in just a year’s time.