Jurgen Klopp aimed a light-hearted dig at Curtis Jones in his wider praise of the 22-year-old as a ‘role model’ for Liverpool’s current academy hopefuls.
The Toxteth native has successfully made the leap from the youth ranks to the first team at Anfield, scoring his fifth goal of the season in today’s 5-2 win over Norwich in his 120th senior appearance (Transfermarkt).
Two academy players in Conor Bradley and James McConnell provided assists, while Trent Alexander-Arnold made his comeback from injury off the bench on a day which clearly highlighted the enormous success of the LFC youth system.
Speaking to ITV Sport after the victory over the Canaries today, Klopp said of Jones: “Curtis is in a great moment for us. He’s super important in different departments for us.
“He’s a very good player and he’s kind of a role model as well for all our academy guys. Coming up from the academy, all our boys are good footballers, all of them. Otherwise they would not go through all the different age groups.”
The manager then joked: “If Curtis Jones can learn defending, everybody can learn defending!”, before adding with sincerity: “This high press, this intensity, he is setting the rhythm for us.”
Aside from his goal, Liverpool’s number 17 contributed one tackle, three successful duels, two key passes and a 100% dribble success rate, while also misplacing just two of his 35 passes all afternoon (Sofascore).
Jones turns 23 on Tuesday, and his performance today further underlined that he’s now a hugely important first-team player, and the perfect example for the likes of McConnell to try and emulate at Anfield.
You can view Klopp’s comments on Jones below (from 1:00), via @itvfootball on X (formerly Twitter):
'The atmosphere today showed everything. It's wonderful and I love it…it's unnecessary but I won't say don't do it' 😊
Jurgen Klopp tells @gabrielclarke05 it was a special Anfield afternoon#ITVFootball | #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/t9i80TdtFL
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 28, 2024