Watch and learn: Curtis Jones must follow 29-year-old club tried to sell

Add as preferred source on Google

Curtis Jones must learn from Liverpool teammate Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss is a player the Reds reportedly tried to sell ahead of this season.

Curtis Jones is undoubtedly the future of Liverpool’s midfield but he has much to learn. But of course he does – he’s not even 20 yet.

Despite his lack of experience, though, we do have a good idea of the player he’ll become.

Liverpool typically use him as a centre-midfielder but one with more license to get forward towards the opposition box. That’s different to, say, Gini Wijnaldum, who plays more of a covering role in midfield.

Jones still has to get a hang of the all-around stuff, though. While he may have that license, Liverpool will still want him covering full-backs, holding a shape, and pressing in a unit.

But if he’s to truly shine, he needs to master his speciality – being a threat near the goal. And for that, he should watch and learn from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Mentor

It’s a strange situation as Liverpool reportedly tried to sell Shaqiri ahead of the season. The Liverpool Echo claims they hoped to get £20m for him.

Instead, he’s playing games at Anfield. Shaqiri even started against Manchester United – Liverpool’s biggest game of the season.

And as we recently noted, he played very well in that game. Shaqiri shone as a player between the lines, linking up with Thiago.

That’s the player Jones must become. He’s got to learn how not to get lost in the crowd breaking forward, someone who can find the spaces between defensive lines and offer a passing option.

Then it’s all about managing to turn and attack an exposed backline. Jones already does that part quite well.

But learning how to create that situation again and again takes experience and know-how. Shaqiri, a very experience 29-year-old, is a fine example of just that.

He can find those spaces at the drop of a hat and it immediately creates threatening opportunities.

There suggestion is there that Liverpool want Jones to copy Shaqiri, in fact. When Jurgen Klopp replaced the Swiss against United, he kept the system the same by bringing on Jones.

This can be Jones’s speciality, the role that makes him a great player. To become a great, though, you’ve got to learn from the players around you.

And Shaqiri, despite being a one-time outcast, is undoubtedly one of those players.