It’s safe to say that Arne Slot’s reign as Liverpool manager has started better than many had imagined, with the Reds currently eight points clear top the Premier League – they’re also leading the way in the UEFA Champions League.
A couple of players have enjoyed something of a resurgence under Arne Slot's coaching style, one of them being local lad Curtis Jones.
In the previous two Premier League campaigns, Jones featured in 41 games for Jürgen Klopp’s team, with the midfielder struggling to cement his place in that midfield unit.
Talks of a move away from Anfield were rumoured and even hoped for by some corners of the club’s fanbase, but Arne Slot has seemingly found a way to get the best out of Jones, who has 14 appearances in all competitions this season for the Reds.
The resurgence of Jones in a Liverpool shirt also earned him his England debut – something that, for many, should’ve come some time ago.
This Curtis Jones scout report will provide a combination of data analysis and tactical analysis to paint a picture of Jones’ impact on Liverpool this season
Curtis Jones Style Of Play
Curtis Jones has been deployed in several midfield roles already this season, but our data shows that he has been most present as an attacking midfielder, which is reflected in Figure 1 and all other data graphs that follow in this scout report (however, data is taken from Jones’ time in total, not just as an AMF).
As you can see, Curtis Jones's style of play has several areas of strength—namely, his reliability on the ball, evidenced by his high percentile for pass accuracy; the high percentile rank for received passes suggests that Jones is trusted by his teammates on the ball and also indicates that he has good movement/support positioning.
As we will see later in the analysis, Jones rarely directly impacts proceedings in the latter stages of an attack, instead playing an important role in the build-up phases.
Jones also offers some defensive presence, with a decent percentile rank for defensive duel engagement.
If you’ve watched Curtis Jones, you’ll know not to expect an ultra-aggressive midfielder, but he can pick his moments in terms of defensive application.
Curtis Jones Heatmap
His heatmap from this season shows us some of what we just discussed regarding defensive and attacking involvement.
Figure 2 indicates that Jones isn’t present in the final third/in the box regularly – aside from occasional arrival at the centre of the edge of the box.
The heatmap also tells us that Jones is no stranger to being defensively present – something required when playing roles such as an 8 in a 4-3-3, for example.
Curtis Jones' Passing Ability
While Jones’ role isn’t one focused on chance creation, his importance in Liverpool’s build-up phase cannot be understated – as we mentioned earlier, he is extremely reliable on the ball.
One of Curtis Jones’ biggest assets is his ability to operate in tight spaces.
Figure 3 shows several elements regarding Jones’ role in Arne Slot’s tactics, including his positioning in build-up phases and his role on the ball.
We see Jones pushing into wider areas to combine with the winger and/or full-back quite regularly.
Jones’ footwork and composure on the ball can help him be very effective in those areas.
Awareness of teammates’ position/movement is another trait that Jones possesses.
This is also visible in the example above, as Jones can be seen holding the ball up in that wide space as he awaits Conor Bradley's overlapping run.
Figure 4
As evidenced by the graph above, Jones performs more than effectively in pushing possession forward for Liverpool.
Compared to other central attacking midfielders in the Premier League this season, Jones is higher than average in both engagement and accuracy when it comes to passes to the final third.
That data tells us how reliable Curtis Jones can be in midfield in terms of helping his side get into more promising positions.
Figure 5
We’ve seen Jones progress this season in his ability to execute his actions quickly.
In the example above, upon receiving the ball near the halfway line, his body positioning and language suggest that he already knows what his next move will be, and his first touch sets the ball up nicely to initiate that next move.
In this case, the next move was a pass out wide, where Liverpool had a 2v2 situation—Jones followed his pass with an overlapping movement to create an overload on that right flank.
That kind of movement from Jones tells us that Jones has a good football IQ and understands the role Arne Slot has assigned him.
Curtis Jones' Dribbling Ability
Dribbling is another action that isn’t regularly required in Jones’ role.
Slot’s tactics encourage Liverpool to make the ball do the work, which helps the midfielders provide positional support to build up phases and remain structurally disciplined as a unit.
Nevertheless, there are moments when dribbling is necessary, and Jones has displayed great technical execution in this area.
Figure 6
We mentioned earlier that regular dribbles are not something to expect from Curtis Jones in a Liverpool shirt.
The data above supports that – so far this season in the Premier League, he has averaged 1.55 dribbles per 90, which, as you can see, is one of the lower registers compared to other AMFs in the EPL.
However, when he is tasked with carrying the ball, Jones can be extremely effective and reliable – more so than any other EPL AMF, in fact, completing 77.8% of his carries.
While we can’t get too carried away with that high success rate due to the low attempt average, it is clear that Jones can be effective in travelling with the ball when asked to.
Figure 7
We’ve mentioned that Curtis Jones can be effective in tight-pressure situations thanks to his good footwork and composure, but he also offers good awareness of the ball and can exploit space left by the opposition in midfield.
On several occasions, we’ve seen Jones burst forward in central midfield areas with little to no opposition presence—an example of that can be seen in Figure 7.
Despite receiving the ball facing his own goal, just outside his own box, Jones was aware that he was unmarked and unchallenged and was also aware of the space in central midfield—he wasted no time in turning and bursting forward into that open space, taking Liverpool’s possession into a promising area during a transition.
Curtis Jones Penetrating Carries Map
Figure 8
Jones has displayed the ability to execute similar traits in more advanced positions, including carrying the ball into the box 17 times this season, often from central midfield areas.
Once again, that close footwork helps him to be effective in these moments.
As you can see from the graphic on the right of the two above, Jones rarely makes long journeys with the ball in midfield areas – instead, he tends to use close control and/or quick bursts to evade danger or to propel himself into a better passing position.
Curtis Jones' Defensive Contribution
Some have misunderstood Curtis Jones’ ability to be effective off the ball, but he is currently doing a fine job of silencing his critics.
Sure, he isn’t a defensive rock in midfield the way Rodri is for Manchester City, for example.
As we mentioned early on, Liverpool’s midfield does not require Jones to be highly aggressive for prolonged periods of time—he picks his moments well to engage in a defensive fashion.
Figure 9
Intercepting opposition passes is a vital aspect of being a midfielder.
Jones makes a good impact, making 2.41 interceptions in Premier League action so far this campaign—higher than the average AMF.
Curtis Jones High Regains Map
Figure 10
As the graphic above shows, his ability to be defensively effective does not stop at interceptions.
18 counter-pressing recoveries in the opposition half in 821 minutes of football show a real ability to time his defensive action—when to hit that counter-press.
There is some interesting tactical content in Jones’ data here, though.
Hardly any general ball recoveries and just two dangerous recoveries tell a story of a more reserved approach off the ball from Arne Slot compared to the tactics deployed by Klopp during his reign.
Conclusion
At 23 years of age, Curtis Jones looks to be finally realising his potential – he’s been in excellent form in Slot’s midfield setup this season.
He has even been impressed with his international duty for England recently.
He has shown an ability to consistently carry out simple tasks that may not get attention but are nonetheless important, as seen in a couple of the match stills we have analysed in this scout report.
Jones will be keen to add more goals and assists to his game – one goal and three assists in all competitions to date this season is a foundation to build on, but if he is to really elevate his game, adding G/A is a must, especially if he is deployed as the 10 consistently.
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