Liverpool manager Arne Slot has challenged midfielder Curtis Jones to add consistency to his game because “the best players in the world show up every three days.”
Jones has been in impressive form recently, scoring in a league win against Chelsea and providing a brilliant pass to set up Luis Diaz for a goal in Tuesday’s 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
He has been called up to the England team again for the November matches. The uncapped 23-year-old was drafted in as an injury replacement in England’s final camp but withdrew due to the birth of his daughter.
“With Curtis maybe it wasn’t me who did it because he became a father and I had nothing to do with it,” Slot said.
“You never know if that influences it or not, but from the moment he became a father, he started to put on great performances.
“He did it in the preseason, but then his performance dipped a little bit. Since he became a father, he’s been outstanding again. It might have a little bit to do with that, but overall, I think it has to do with how The team plays.”
In the summer, Jones spoke of how Slot’s style of play suited him “because I can have more contact with the ball and be free” after the Dutchman replaced Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
“He has a lot of quality with the ball,” added Slot. “He’s never afraid to do something special with it. Sometimes that leads to situations where, in my opinion, he touches the ball too much because sometimes he’s too confident.”
“Combine this with an incredibly hard work rate and we can rely on him defensively. He’s quite complete, but for him now it’s all about consistency. The best players in the world show up every three days.”
Liverpool top the Premier League table, with a two-point lead over champions Manchester City heading into Saturday’s game against Aston Villa and, after four wins in four, also top the Champions League group in its new format this season.
Slot has guided the Reds to 14 wins in their first 16 games since replacing Slot, but insists no one at the club is getting carried away.
“We are there to do our job and be better players day by day or continue having the same level,” he said.
“It’s not the first time this club is where it is at the moment. I think for most of these players it’s a normal situation and I don’t think they get carried away at all that we’re leading the league at the moment.
“They know how small the margins are when it comes to our results and how many points we have ahead of the other teams.”
He added: “I’m not trying to manage expectations with the team because we don’t talk about expectations.
“The only expectation I have is that they put in the same effort every day. That’s all we focus on.”
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