Liverpool are one of the two best teams in European football right now, having built up a rather commanding lead at the top of the Premier League table as they get prepared to exit the November international break.
The Reds have not missed a beat without Jurgen Klopp. Far from it. In fact, as Klopp may have predicted when he noted that his time had come to move on so that the club could progress, Liverpool have looked significantly better under the tactical innovation of Arne Slot.
He’s proven that he is an elite coach in world football already, and for those fans who clamored for Xabi Alonso or Ruben Amorim, there are certainly no regrets about the Slot decision now.
Slot deserves credit for helping several key players at Liverpool show their true levels, as the left winger duo of Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo have been absolutely brilliant across from the league’s best player, Mohamed Salah.
Behind them, Liverpool have unearthed two of Europe’s biggest breakout stars in midfielders Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones, who can make the case that, jointly, they have been the two best midfielders in the Premier League this season.
With another excellent performance on the international stage for England this month, Jones appears ready to receive a lot more attention as the 2024/25 season continues.
Even though he plays for the most scrutinized national team in the world – with the possible exceptions of France, Germany, Brazil, and Italy – and one of the most popular clubs in the world, it feels like Jones’s greatness in 2024/25 is flying under the radar.
Then again, Jones has been a solid rotational piece for Liverpool for some time, so the 23-year-old is probably used to flying under the radar. But now that he’s at an age where he can start putting it all together as a No. 8, Jones is proving that he’s a top-class player.
With four starts and four substitute appearances for Liverpool so far this season, Jones is making a strong case for being a weekly fixture in the starting XI, and given he started in the club’s last crucial Premier League matchups against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Aston Villa, he already is.
Jones’s only substitute appearance in the entire month of October, in fact, came against Brighton, and he still made his presence felt against the Seagulls with an assist off the bench.
He made a positive impact in all those games, but he honestly saved his best display for an even bigger stage, shredding Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen as part of a 4-0 victory for Liverpool.
The English midfielder created three chances with a combined four dribbles completed and fouls drawn, completing 90 percent of his passes in a nearly flawless all-around performance as an 8.
That Champions League performance to start November is a harbinger of what’s to come for Curtis Jones, who is on the cusp of becoming a household name on the lips of every football fan in England.
