Curtis Jones was misunderstood and laughed at due to early praise for Arne Slot according to the midfielder, but he has since been justified in lauding the new coach at the start of the campaign.
Just a few weeks into Slot’s tenure, Jones held an interview explaining how impressed he was with the new Dutch manager. Jones’ early praises for Slot have evidently since appeared not to have come too soon.
The midfielder’s comments praising Slot were made in July during the Reds’ pre-season tour of the United States.
Those comments at the time seemed premature, but following Liverpool’s 2-0 away victory over Manchester City on Sunday, which improved their lead over Arsenal to eleven points, Jones appears to have found vindication.
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Curtis Jones’ early praise for Slot plays out
According to thisisanfield, speaking after Liverpool’s Premier League triumph at the Etihad, Jones said, “They just laughed at me and said you know, it’s too early and stuff, but not now is it?”
Since then, Liverpool have gone on to have a blistering Premier League campaign as they sit top of the Premier League standings, eleven points ahead of their closest rivals.
The Reds also finished first in the new-look UEFA Champions League group phase and await a meeting with PSG in the competition’s Round of 16 next month.
When asked about the differences between Slot’s approach and that of Jurgen Klopp, Jones explained “Jurgen had his own plan, and now Slot has his. It’s a different style of play, focusing more on controlling the ball and playing with it.
Though pressing and some aspects are similar, Slot’s approach stands out in how he plans for each opponent, always having a strategy for how they’ll press, how we should move, and how to position the other players.”
At Manchester City, Liverpool proved their adaptive capabilities, as they only had 34% of the ball possession, which was their lowest total this season. However, they claimed the all-important three points from the encounter.
Jones is one of the beneficiaries of the new management this season, as he has already provided 9 G/A compared to his total output of 8 G/A in the whole of last season.
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