Jamie Carragher has praised the contribution of Curtis Jones to Liverpool so far this season by drawing comparisons with a former Reds midfielder.
The Sky Sports pundit dubbed the 22-year-old’s role within the side as ‘[Gini] Wijnaldum-esque’ in a nod to the Netherlands international, who had five years at Anfield before departing in 2021.
The 45-year-old was speaking to the Liverpool Echo about a variety of players in Jurgen Klopp’s current squad and has been highly impressed with what he’s seen from his fellow Scouser.
Carragher said of Jones: “Curtis has done really well. The best way to describe the role he is playing is that it’s a bit Wijnaldum-esque. It is not eye-catching, but I think everyone appreciates the job he is doing.
“The big turnaround that has happened with him is that he is moving the ball on much quicker and is just playing two-touch. That’s all he needs to do, keep moving the ball on with speed. He presses really well, he’s got great energy and is good at winning the ball back – and that is a bit Wijnaldum-like.
“Wijnaldum didn’t get lots of goals or create lots of goals, but you have got players in midfield already to do that. That’s Szoboszlai’s role.
“The role Curtis is playing is not being missed by people who understand the game and watch what he does. He is playing most games for Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp as the manager.
“Klopp has spent a lot of money on midfield players and he is still playing Curtis Jones every game, which shows how well he is doing.”
Wijnaldum mightn’t have been the glitziest name among the title-winning vintage of 2019/20, but it’s beyond question that he was one of Klopp’s most reliable operators in that exceptional Liverpool team.
The Dutchman played in all but 11 of the Reds’ 190 Premier League matches in his time with the club (WhoScored), a remarkable consistency which speaks volumes for how much the manager trusted him and how rarely he was unavailable.
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Jones is growing into a similarly vital player for the current crop, starting all but one top-flight game for which he’s been available this season (Transfermarkt), and he’d almost definitely be in the line-up against Brighton today were it not for the suspension he’s picked up following his red card at Tottenham last weekend.
As per FBref, only four Liverpool players have made more tackles than the 22-year-old in the early weeks of the league campaign, with the midfielder’s ball-winning ability indeed reminiscent of Wijnaldum during his time at Anfield.
It’s a shame that he’ll miss our next three top-flight matches, and only now will we see just how much of a loss he could be to Klopp’s side.
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