Topic: Curtis Jones

[tubby]

Is anyone having 'sly' digs?

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Is anyone having 'sly' digs?

Saw a couple but not read everything.

[SamLad]

Is anyone having 'sly' digs?

someone complaining that he'd not improved in his past 2 games goes way beyond a "sly" dig.

[afc tukrish]

someone complaining that he'd not improved in his past 2 games goes way beyond a "sly" dig.

Which I think was Tubby's point with the, what the fuck do you lot call them, inverted commas?   

[SamLad]

Which I think was Tubby's point with the, what the fuck do you lot call them, inverted commas?   

well in that case ....

(I call them quotation marks myself - I don't know which "lot" you're referring to)

[afc tukrish]

well in that case ....

(I call them quotation marks myself - I don't know which "lot" you're referring to)

No insult intended, just meant the other side the pond, apologies duly rendered...

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Another cracking game.

[Xanderzone]

He just needs to start trusting himself more.

Try more through balls, try more strikes from distance.

[newterp]

He had an interesting game - some slow sloppy touches, and then a bunch of really nice touched where they couldn't touch him.

[Passmaster Molby]

He is playing like he doesn’t believe he should be out there, and he really does have the ability to be out there for us. Needs more confidence in his own ability and to start doing the simple things. Too many times he was caught in possession, dithering on what to do with the ball. Just pass it and move lad and you will be alright.

[DangerScouse]

I like Curtis alot but christ he is going to get caught out big time at some stage if he persists in trying to hang onto the ball when under pressure and there is a pass on.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

I like Curtis alot but christ he is going to get caught out big time at some stage if he persists in trying to hang onto the ball when under pressure and there is a pass on.

That is one of his talents though.

[Lynndenberries]

That is one of his talents though.

Holding onto the ball too long when there’s already a pass to be played?

[jooneyisdagod]

I like Curtis alot but christ he is going to get caught out big time at some stage if he persists in trying to hang onto the ball when under pressure and there is a pass on.

I don't mind that so much except that he seems a bit casual with playing out at times. He also could really do with some more variety to his passing. More lifted passes, slightly different angles etc. He probably has not needed to develop that as much given his ability on the ball gives him a huge advantage over most players but I for one would like to see him try to play in tighter spaces and back himself more, especially higher up the pitch.

[number 168]

I just wish he would show more urgency. He is skillful and can pick a pass but he is a bit ponderous and slows things up. I wonder if it's confidence given the quality he is in competition with?

[SamLad]

No insult intended, just meant the other side the pond, apologies duly rendered...

not the least bit offended, mate.  I just don't know what side of the pond you think I'm on

[SamLad]

I like Curtis alot but christ he is going to get caught out big time at some stage if he persists in trying to hang onto the ball when under pressure and there is a pass on.

yep, it's so frustrating to see him do that.

[DonkeyWan]

He's still very raw looking to me. Mostly I cannot make my mind up as to what type of midfielder he is. Is he a DM? Box to box? AM? He looks to have a little of everything but not quite enough of something. It looks like he is still trying to figure out his own game.

[SamLad]

tonight he seemed to be consciously trying to play like Gini.

[Alan B'Stard]

Never seen a 20 Yr old player critiqued so much as if he was a seasoned International.

This lad has the talent there is no question but he is going to go through flashes of brilliance and flashes of below par performance. It's called learning your craft.

I know RAWK is all about opinion but this lad is from the academy and we should be all about encouragement not bemoaning him because he dwells on the ball.

[Lubeh]

Some of the critism is very unfair, as he is a very young player, howwever, i do understand where some people are coming from especially if u say  in midfield is Fab , Tiago and a young'un  would you rather Harvey  Elliot , Carvalho (if we get him ) or Jones and i think with the teams dynamic approach  Elliot and Carvalho would be better suited,  should we keep him deffo, few years time a midfield of Elliot  -  Carvalho - Jones ,  might be a interesting setup

[JackWard33]

thought he was good tonight - not sure what others were watching

[Lubeh]

i think alot of people see harvey eliott and see how good he is and could become compared to Jones, but ppl forget its the underated by alot of ppl that make the team work , say without hendo our team would maybe not have had the sucess it has had.

[FlashGordon]

thought he was good tonight - not sure what others were watching

Xavi or Iniesta with a ketwig. Is he tall enough to be a 6 for us?

[Drinks Sangria]

The lad is 20 in a position where most don’t mature until 23-26 and he’s good enough to get minutes for one of the best teams on the planet.

Lad will be fine, he’s quality and will be part of our squad for the next decade I’d wager. Who’s better than him in midfield, in his age group in England? Probably Foden, who’s a year older and that’s about it really.

[CanuckYNWA]

thought he was good tonight - not sure what others were watching

Well i watched him lose the ball 3 times in dangerous positions and put us under risk. I also watched him time and time again dribble into dead ends and just pass the ball back ending any progression forward.

Hes a good midfielder and at no point should he be sold as there is room to grow, but right now he has clearly stagnated and is struggling.

He should not be starting over Elliot, Henderson or Keita. And Thiago and Fabinho are clear as day nailed on starters when fit. Its 4 people fighting for 1 position and imo hes at the back of that queue.

[Lubeh]

If you look to the future in say 5 years times even if we did not bring any1 in other than Carvalho in mid  then Eliott  - Carvalho - jones would do for me

[Bobsackamano]

If you look to the future in say 5 years times even if we did not bring any1 in other than Carvalho in mid  then Eliott  - Carvalho - jones would do for me

Whatever you think of the general quality of those 3 players none of them can play the Fab role. These are all young players and it's very unlikely that all will make it into regular starters for teams of the level of Liverpool/City, the very top level. Harvey looks different gravy right now but it's not a given even for him.

[RedG13]

Any chance of some people just supporting a young player?
Or is it more fun writing them off?

It's not a case of being defensive about Jones, but he's young and so will have good and bad games, he's already played 60 odd times for us, so he must have something.

Love watching him. He young and has great coaches in managers plus players to keep getting better.

[RedG13]

I don't mind that so much except that he seems a bit casual with playing out at times. He also could really do with some more variety to his passing. More lifted passes, slightly different angles etc. He probably has not needed to develop that as much given his ability on the ball gives him a huge advantage over most players but I for one would like to see him try to play in tighter spaces and back himself more, especially higher up the pitch.

Thiago still done this one time or twice sometimes in games too. The benefits outway the reward overall expect for your heart once a game. He very good overall under pressure too

[RedG13]

Xavi or Iniesta with a ketwig. Is he tall enough to be a 6 for us?

He is 1.85 Meters(6'1) which taller then hendo and an inch shorter then Fabinho(1.88 Meters). He is but he better suited to the 8 role a little more. He played 6 in a cup game earlier this season

[AmanShah21]

I get the feeling he's not comfortable in his role. He was decent today but I just feeli that his natural game is still adapting. Really talented lad and you see sparks of it every time he plays, but needs to get more consistent in his performances to earn more regular game time. Still think he's become a bit of a scapegoat at times because that half8/half10 role is a difficult one with so much ground to cover and do hope he gets to where we all think he can be as a player.

[Lochgelly Violet]

Never seen a 20 Yr old player critiqued so much as if he was a seasoned International.

This lad has the talent there is no question but he is going to go through flashes of brilliance and flashes of below par performance. It's called learning your craft.

I know RAWK is all about opinion but this lad is from the academy and we should be all about encouragement not bemoaning him because he dwells on the ball.

I think most would agree with this but isn't the issue more to do with the fact that the side he's trying to break into is one of the best ever assembled? He's fine. He's 20 years old and, in previous years, his talent would have stood out more. If you compare him to other midfielders his age we've integrated over the years, (i.e. Lucas, Can, Shelvey .) I think he stacks up really well But he has a bad game in him here and there. He's being held to a very high standard because the team is of a very high standard.  Whoever said he was better than Hendo at 20 was possibly right but when Hendo was 20 we had Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing in midfield.

I've been waiting for him to have his breakout moment and you can see he could go on to become a fantastic midfielder and I could see him becoming a fist teamer for a long time. But he needs to cut a bit of stuff out to get there. If we were playing City tomorrow I'd have Fabinho, Hendo, Thiago and Naby in ahead of him for sure and I could see a case for Ox and Elliott too.

I think it's also a little unfair because he will always be compared to the previous academy graduate to break into the team, just as others were unfairly held up to the standard of Gerrard, Fowler and Owen who were phenoms from the off

[FLRed67]

Need to play week in, week out, to get up to speed at this level. Trent got to do that, even as he kept making mistakes (and he still makes them, although not as many). Curtis has never had that opportunity.

Also youngsters don't usually get thrown in to play in midfield at this level.

Yesterday he was playing alongside two of the best midfielders the club has ever fielded. Probably only 3 club teams in the world have a midfield two of that quality. Not many players in world football are going to look great next to them.

The two of them were almost flawless yesterday.

[Magix]

His inconsistency seems about right for a young player in his sophomore year in the first team, as a forward coming through the ranks now having to learn to play a midfield role with many demands on it. 

He has all the right attributes - height, technical ability, passing range, mobility. He can be quite the scary proposition if everything clicks for him.

[lamonti]

thought he was good tonight - not sure what others were watching

Thought it was one of his worse games but not a bad one because of his very high standard. He got caught on the ball three times and just about wriggled out of it, and I don't mean in the Gini-type way where he's never really in trouble of losing it but is absorbing pressure and creating space, but rather the caught dallying on it and had to perform emergency manoeuvres and just about got away with it.

[Clint Eastwood]

I think he's still getting up to speed. He looked better than last week, but he underhit a few passes.

Everyone needs to remember that he had a long period out where he couldn't even train because of his eye injury. He needs a bit more time.

[FlashGordon]

He is 1.85 Meters(6'1) which taller then hendo and an inch shorter then Fabinho(1.88 Meters). He is but he better suited to the 8 role a little more. He played 6 in a cup game earlier this season

Imagine the total football we would play if he was a 6 though. He has the work rate for it just needs to learn how to channel that properly. He's still 20 ffs, just out of nappies. Not everyone is a world beater at PL and CL level at 20 (this isn't aimed at you more a general point).

[Red Cactii]

Never seen a 20 Yr old player critiqued so much as if he was a seasoned International.

This lad has the talent there is no question but he is going to go through flashes of brilliance and flashes of below par performance. It's called learning your craft.

I know RAWK is all about opinion but this lad is from the academy and we should be all about encouragement not bemoaning him because he dwells on the ball.

Not to mention he’s had to come back from a tricky eye injury and Covid which has set his progress back. He seems to be doing what Klopp is asking of him and doing a decent job of it. Hopefully he can get a few more starts in February so he can get back into more of a rhythm.

[DonkeyWan]

Thought it was one of his worse games but not a bad one because of his very high standard. He got caught on the ball three times and just about wriggled out of it, and I don't mean in the Gini-type way where he's never really in trouble of losing it but is absorbing pressure and creating space, but rather the caught dallying on it and had to perform emergency manoeuvres and just about got away with it.

He did get caught a few times, but conversely I thought this was his best game last night. He was visible throughout, working hard and, for the most part, did all the right things. It was a good game for him to learn a few things, but I think what is most encouraging for me is that, while he is still shaping his game, he seems to be doing so intelligently, trying different things and different approaches at different times. Some players I watch never seem to change, he is actually a little bit different everytime. In previous games he looked too far ahead of the midfield to my eyes, almost drifting into the hole behind the front three looking to get shots off. Last night he sat deeper for most of the game and was much more disciplined. He looks the type who reflects on how he plays and tries to implement those lessons into his game. He could become a very solid player in the Henderson mould, maybe even more if he adds other strings to his bow.