Around seven months ago, Curtis Jones found himself in a relatively curious place on Merseyside. The Scouse midfielder had spent years progressing through the ranks at Liverpool, but once becoming a member of the first-team squad, he seemed to struggle to break into the side as a regular starter.
Indeed, he confessed as much in a recent press conference. “As an academy kid I was always a kid who jumped up the age groups,” he said ahead of facing Toulouse in the Europa League last week. “Then I came into the first team and I kind of felt like I hit a wall, and I couldn’t really take the next step.” Jones was working on his game behind the scenes, but he couldn’t secure a place in the side ahead of seasoned performers such as Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho and Naby Keïta to name but a few. Then, suddenly, everything changed for the Reds starlet, largely due to a tactical change suggested by Pep Lijnders, Klopp’s assistant.
As Liverpool struggled for consistent results and performances on the pitch, the Dutchman advised his boss that a new offensive structure was in order. Trent Alexander-Arnold evolved to become an inverted full-back, playing in the middle of the park whenever his teammates had control over the ball.
His additional presence gave Liverpool more of a foothold over the game in the center. Lijnders explained the details behind the switch in an interview with the Training Ground Guru Podcast recently
