Curtis Jones reveals what Arne Slot and the Liverpool coaching staff are saying about him in private

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Liverpool showed off their impressive squad depth as they dismantled West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

The Reds had rotated a relatively small pool of players for the opening six games of the season.

However, that changed against the Hammers, with Arne Slot realising the need to utilise the full Liverpool squad he has at his disposal.

This meant that nine changes were made to the Reds’ starting XI, leading to rare opportunities for the likes of Wataru Endo and Joe Gomez to start.

Another who was given the nod by Slot was Curtis Jones. And after a frustrating start to the season Jones repaid the faith put in him by the Liverpool head coach.

The Scouser was instrumental in the build-up to Diogo Jota’s second goal of the game and Jones later revealed that some of the credit for the goal lay at the feet of Slot and the Liverpool coaching staff.

Curtis Jones reveals Arne Slot advice

Jones badly needed a big performance against West Ham. Having been bumped for Ryan Gravenberch in Liverpool’s starting XI so far this season, the pressure was on him a little.

But, as he often does, the Liverpool academy graduate rose to the occasion. It was a good 90 minutes in the tank for Jones and hopefully his season can now properly begin.

Although he did move to the more advanced midfield position later in the game, Curtis started alongside Endo in the ‘Gravenberch role.’

And it was from that position that the 23-year-old set off on a mazy run which eventually led to Jota putting Liverpool 2-1 up.

READ MORE: Curtis Jones shares why he was ‘playing with a smile’ against West Ham

Commenting on that piece of play for LFCTV after the match, Jones revealed that Slot and his coaches have been telling him to run with the ball more. So, that’s what he decided to do.

“I was nearly nicked on the ball actually! It was lucky!” smiled the No.17.

“But it’s a thing that the gaffer and the staff have said about me, if I pick up the ball I’ve got to run more [with it]. It’s a strength of mine.

“So, it’s what I’ve tried and I’ve picked it up again [from Cody Gakpo] and slipped in Jota and I knew he was going to score,” Jones added. “So, I already had a smile on my face once it went through his legs.”

When will Curtis Jones get his next chance?

Jones looked the part on Wednesday and will certainly have put himself in Slot’s thoughts for the game against Wolves on Saturday.

However, as long as there are no new injuries to contend with, we don’t see Curtis starting the match at Molinuex.

Gravenberch was given a rest on Wednesday. The 22-year-old was not even in the matchday squad.

Unless that is something fitness related we don’t yet know about, Gravenberch will surely pick up his place in the team for Saturday’s match.

Jones will likely be on the bench, though, and he should certainly have his eyes on making an impact if he’s brought on. From there, he seems likely to start next Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Bologna.