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Jurgen Klopp has revealed he had a “long talk” with Curtis Jones over his situation at Liverpool this month, urging the midfielder to “show how good he can actually be.”
Tipped to be a breakthrough campaign for Jones, so far, 2021/22 has been a frustrating one for the 20-year-old midfielder.
Harvey Elliott began the season as de facto Gini Wijnaldum replacement – a spot expected to have been filled by Jones – while injury and COVID-19 have furthered impacted the No. 17.
This term, Jones has only played 12 times, with seven of those being as a starter, averaging just 61 minutes on the pitch per outing.
But he is likely to return to the lineup as Liverpool host Brentford on Sunday, following a “long talk” with Klopp over his form and his lack of opportunities.
“First and foremost, I had a long talk last week with Curtis,” Klopp told reporters.
“I love the boy, I love the potential he has, but we have to come now to where we really make the next steps and that he fulfils the potential he has on the pitch very often.
“We have these kind of conversations when you are not 100 percent happy with the moment.
“He’s young, very young, but how I see, his potential is incredible.
“That’s where we both together have to find a way to show that much more often. We are there really in this development, let me say it like this.”
Klopp added: “It’s an ongoing process with Curtis and me.
“I know he had a tricky time with the eye, [he was] long out, and then after that with Covid.
“So it’s not helpful, but now we try to make sure that he gets rhythm and can show how good he can actually be.”
Jones came off the bench and impressed despite Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Thursday night, having also caught the eye in the 4-1 victory over Shrewsbury in the FA Cup.
That win at Anfield saw Jones start on the left wing and end in midfield, with Klopp hailing the versatility of a player who clearly needs to find consistency to push on.
“Yes, he can play different positions in different ways,” the manager continued.
“[Against Arsenal] we just wanted him to really dribble, to be there in these tight areas to just change the way they had to defend us.
“Because [before] we passed the ball out to Robbo and he could cross or not, if not then we passed the ball back and crossed from there.
“So we needed a different dynamic and dimension in the game, and that’s why we brought him exactly in that way.
“But he cannot only play that, he can of course play as No. 8 as well, he did already really well for us. That’s it.”
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