Jurgen Klopp singled out midfielder Curtis Jones for his brilliant performance before aiming a playful dig at him.
The Liverpool academy graduate has been one of Liverpool’s best players this season, putting in solid performances in the midfield consistently.
And he was brilliant once again during Liverpool’s FA Cup win. He opened the scoring for the Reds, with a lovely header from a James McConnell assist. This was his 5th goal of the season.
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In addition to his goal, the local talent contributed defensively with one tackle, three successful ground duels, two key passes, and a 100% dribble success rate.
Curtis Jones??????? (22) – Central Midfield VS Norwich City???????
?55 minutes
??1 goals
?94% accurate passes
?1 big chances created
??2/3 long balls
?1/1 dribble attempts
??3/5 ground duels won
?2 key passes
?1 tackles pic.twitter.com/nFhjbpZGXG— Pablo-Scout (@PearlsFootball) January 28, 2024
He has shown the most improvement in his defensive work, gradually transforming into a midfielder who increasingly resembles a complete player.
Klopp took a light-hearted jab at Jones, highlighting the player’s significant improvement in his defensive capabilities. During an interview with ITV Sport after the win, Klopp remarked:
“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.”
“If Curtis Jones can learn defending, everybody can learn defending!”.
“This high press, this intensity, he is setting the rhythm for us.”
'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