Curtis Jones is ready for the next step

There’s a ton of hope towards academy talents once they make it to the first team. This is multiplied for those who are also from the area, often getting chants of being one of the club’s own, a staple of English football. The pathway towards consistent playing time can be tough, especially at the highest level when superclubs are at the part of their cycle in which they’re trying to compete for major trophies. 

Curtis Jones and Liverpool have been an example of this phenomenon ever since he broke through into the first team squad as a teenager in 2020-21. Because of the combination of unlucky injuries and depth of talent in central midfield, minutes have been hard to come by. He’s not logged 2000 or more minutes in a single season, and at 25 years old, it’s nearing now or never for him in Merseyside. Even this season, a portion of his minutes have come from him having to perform as an emergency right-back.

The reason why there’s hysteria over Jones’ situation is he’s been a quality option in midfield, previously under Jürgen Klopp and currently with Arne Slot. Both managers have been able to depend on him to provide solid impact if there are injuries across the squad or they need a different profile in the middle of the park.

If there’s one word to describe Jones, it’s control. Whenever he is on the pitch, and especially on the ball, the rhythm of the match slows down. What makes that interesting is how it runs counter to the lack of control at the team level Liverpool has exhibited this season. Even in their season opening victory over Bournemouth, one of the key takeaways was how it looked more of a high octane match even when Liverpool were in a winning game state.

Part of what allows Jones to dictate matches is his ability to escape pressure in different areas of the pitch. This includes moments where he drops into the backline to receive from the center-backs or trying to occupy the space that Milos Kerkez has vacated whenever he sprints forward. Jones can show impressive escapability during early phases of buildup, due to his comfort with utilizing both feet under duress and quickly switching between the two when needed. As well, he won’t pass up an invitation to carry into space if given the opportunity.

With Liverpool’s constant struggle to balance control and the desire to play faster, it’s interesting that Jones himself plays like the kind of midfielder who has a solid understanding of knowing which moments to change the tempo. Part of the value he brings is through attracting pressure in deeper areas to open up space for the attacking talents in the squad. He’ll try to not force forward passes for the sake of it, but rather when it’s advantageous for the side.

This isn’t to say that Jones simply recycles possession and does nothing otherwise. While a longstanding argument against him has been of him slowing down the tempo a bit too much, he’s still prolific at getting the ball forward. According to Statsbomb, among Premier League midfielders with 1200 or more minutes played, he ranks 4th in deep completions per 90 and 3rd in line breaking passes into the opposition half. His numbers hold up even against pressure. This season in particular, he’s shown promise in producing penetrative passes, evidenced by Scout Lab having him in the 87th percentile among midfielders in the top 5 leagues for completed throughballs. Jones’ performance vs Fulham from January showed how dangerous he can be when trying to be more direct with his passing.

Where Jones provides unpredictability is his off-ball movement. We’ve already made mention of him dropping lower to try and create space further up for others, but he’ll also sprint forward himself. A regular sight is seeing him trying to crash the penalty box, attempting to create a numerical advantage. Some of his off-ball movements include halfspace runs as the third man, and even occasionally sprinting in behind to chase onto long balls. Throughout his career, he’s had seasons of attempting 1.5 or more shots per 90, a noteworthy output for a midfielder. It’s not been long range shots either, regularly having a greater than 50% share from inside the box.

Combine all of those traits, and you get an above average midfielder who can help control matches for bigger clubs. At his best, he’s been able to shift the tempo of matches into higher gear as a dual threat via progressive carrying and passing. He also provides value through varied off-ball movement, which helps when trying to stretch the opposing defensive block. We’ve not even made mention of what Jones provides out of possession, which has improved throughout his career. In particular, the intensity of his pressing runs and how he jumps to press are impressive at peak performance. Maybe this isn’t star level impact on the whole, but it’s not far off.

In theory, Liverpool should be looking forward to having Jones in the squad for several more years to come. Despite this season’s disappointment, he’s shown enough to have a notable role while they try to build their next great team. However, various factors have led them to a situation where there’s a real possibility they have to sell him this summer to avoid him leaving for nothing. It would be the second summer in a row where a similar situation occurred involving a Liverpool academy graduate. Trent Alexander-Arnold ended up being sold to Real Madrid for €10 million instead of leaving on a free a few weeks later to ensure he was available for the Club World Cup.

Should Jones be available, he certainly will have several suitors in the PL and across Europe. With out of possession structures arguably never being tighter than today, midfielders of his archetype who can control the flow of matches and help create gaps higher up the pitch are quite valuable. Previously, the clubs with the most talent could simply control territory and gradually push their opponents into a low block for large stretches of matches. However, the proliferation of man-to-man pressing across the division means new ways of destabilizing a defensive block have emerged. One example is moving backwards to reset and then quickly passing forwards between the lines to find openings. In theory, this play style should suit a midfielder like Jones and make him a hot commodity.

Warts and all, Jones is certainly one of the better academy graduates Liverpool have had in several years. His ball retention, purposeful passing, and fluid movement without the ball has made him an additive talent in midfield when he’s been in the starting XI. If this were to be his last season in Merseyside, there’d certainly be a level of sadness that another Scouser will be departing the club, and potential recruitment worries due to the homegrown player rule. For the rest of the Premier League and Europe, they’re hoping that Curtis Jones has hidden star-level upside and a change of scenery will unlock a new level during his prime.

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