Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones was on the scoresheet with a delightful goal for England U21s this evening.
Despite now being twenty-two, the Scouser was still part of Lee Carsley’s young Lions squad as they took on a stacked-looking France team in Leicester tonight.
Without regular game time for Liverpool this season, it was a chance for Jones to send a reminder of what he can do. In that respect, it was very much mission accomplished for Curtis at the King Power.
Coming off the bench in the second-half, Jones first set up Chelsea’s Noni Madueke with a clever little pass inside the area. Just two minutes later the same duo combined. As seen on England’s official Twitter page, Madueke’s low ball into the six-yard box was flicked home with characteristic style by Jones.
As the 22-year-old wheeled away in delight, you could see exactly what the goal meant to him – his first at this level. Is right, Curtis!
Jones displays attacking edge
Few will be more pleased with Jones’ little cameo this evening than Jurgen Klopp. The Liverpool manager must have been punching the air with delight.
Throughout his time in the Reds senior team, we haven’t seen this kind of run into the box anything like often enough from Jones. But his goal tonight shows that he certainly can do it.
His instinct as an academy player was always to get forward whenever possible. During his years in the underage sides Jones made a habit of scoring plenty.
But since his promotion to Klopp’s first team, he’s been unusually reserved. Eight goals in 86 appearances isn’t enough. With Liverpool crying out for a goal scoring midfielder, there is still a chance for Curtis to make that slot his own.
So yes, Jurgen must have been so pleased to see his No.17’s attacking contributions this evening. Not only the goal, but the assist too. Jones is showing that he can affect the play in the oppositions half – that hasn’t always been a given.
The challenge now is for the Scouser to kick on from here. This is only one game. Now he’s got to stay fit and show that he is still capable of becoming the goal-scoring midfielder he always threatened to.
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