‘Special’..  Jurgen Klopp says 22-year-old Liverpool player was amazing against Newcastle United

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Jurgen Klopp says his Liverpool team put on a clinic in counter-pressing against Newcastle United last night.

The Reds could have had 10 on the night, but settled for just the four, with Newcastle also helping themselves to two goals.

It was an even better performance than the scoreline suggested. And speaking to the press after the game, Klopp was keen to highlight the performance of one player in particular.

“Special game. Special game from Curtis [Jones], to be honest: his high press, his counter-press,” raved the Liverpool boss.

“We all know how good a player Curtis is, he is technically incredibly skilled, but he finds more and more direction in his dribbling, he gets better out of situations and his pressing and counter-pressing is meanwhile… he sets the level actually, how it should look. Really happy with that. He keeps every player in the game.

“How I said, the counter-pressing we played today was absolutely exceptional, absolutely. It was a school video, you have to show it if you want to do it. A lot of times people tell me my behaviour is not great and it’s not good for grassroots football. OK, maybe the grassroots team want to play counter-press, then watch the video of that game, that is really helpful.”

Klopp hails Jones masterclass

It was fitting in the end that Jones was able to get himself on the scoresheet last night.

Had he not managed to, there’s a chance that his brilliant performance may have just slipped under the radar.

But the goal is likely to ensure that Curtis gets the praise he is due. Klopp is right, the Scouser was absolutely fantastic against Newcastle.

With his ongoing battle with Ryan Gravenberch for the last slot in the Reds midfield, well, ongoing, this was a good time for Jones to turn up.

He knitted everything together beautifully. When he’s on his game like that, the academy graduate looks like the player Liverpool really need in their midfield.

One thing that has been missing from Jones’ game is certainly goals. But he popped up in the box a couple of times and was unlucky not to have scored before he finally did.

With three goals in his last three starts now, Curtis is threatening to become the whole package.

The challenge for him now is to find the consistency to keep doing this game after game. As Jurgen says, we all know how technically good Jones is. Now is the time for him to nail down that starting spot.