Curtis Jones was interviewed after making his 200th appearance for Liverpool in their victory over Brighton & Hove Albion
Curtis Jones speaks to LFC TV after Liverpool’s win over Brighton(Image: LFC TV)
Curtis Jones has revealed what Mohamed Salah made clear to the Liverpool squad after speaking out against Arne Slot and the club following last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United. Salah claimed his relationship with the head coach had broken down and that he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ after being benched for three successive matches.
The Egyptian would be left out of the Liverpool travelling squad for the midweek victory over Inter Milan following his comments. Having also suggested that yesterday’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion could prove to be his last for the club, his Reds future remained in doubt as a result.
However, Salah, who was criticised for speaking out publicly and the timing of such comments, was recalled for the visit of the Seagulls following productive talks with Slot on Friday.
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And while he would start the game on the bench, he was introduced midway through the first half in place of the injured Joe Gomez and played a decisive role, setting up Hugo Ekitike’s second goal of the afternoon, as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners.
Liverpool will now be without Salah for a number of weeks. The 33-year-old will report for Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt, meaning the uncertainty about his future is set to continue in the interim ahead of the January transfer window.
But speaking after the 2-0 home win over Brighton, Jones played down Salah’s comments as he revealed that the forward had made it clear that what he said was not against the team or any individual team-mates.
“We all love Mo. I love Mo,” Jones told Viaplay. “At my hardest times at the club, you know, he was always one of the ones who was there. I could always speak to (him). And it’s exactly the same now.
“Mo’s his own man, he’s got his own opinions. And, you know, I don’t think his intentions were to affect the team or anything like that. It was just a personal thing.
“And as everybody knows, the team, the fans, the staff, we all love Mo. He’s a great guy.
“I don’t really like to speak on another man’s issues or his business and stuff – that has to do with Mo. But at the end of the day, I think the important thing that Mo made clear was that it’s not against the team or anything like that, just a personal issue, and that’s it.”
Jones made his 200th appearance for Liverpool against Brighton, becoming the youngest Reds player to reach such a landmark since Steven Gerrard in 2003.
Having played under the Liverpool legend for the Under-18s and Under-19s, Jones was quick to pay tribute to Gerrard as he revealed how some heavy-handed treatment from his old boss had set him on the right path during his academy days.
“Not a bad person to follow, is it? Steven has obviously been a huge part of my career and life,” Jones told LFC TV. “And I say life because he was probably the first man to really have a pop at me at the academy!
“And that changed me to think I’m not better than anybody else or anything like that. It was a reality check in terms of how I played and the role that he gave me.
“Steven would be the first to say that once I overcame a thing where I’d complicate things and I thought I was the man because I had the 10 on my back and all things like that, that I’d be the first man that he’d pick on his team.
“I’d always been a kid who was top of the age group and all things like that. At times you can become a little bit passive, I’d say.
“And Steven was the first one to give me a real, real check. Coming from a man like him, a man who has played the game, a man who I idolised, I’ve got to change if it’s him who is telling me.
“From there, he stuck with me and I stuck with him and we worked. A year after I’m around the first team and now I’m stood here on 200 games so he’s obviously a man who I would like to thank.
“It’s mad. I actually had a chat with Trey [Nyoni] and Rio [Ngumoha] was there as well.
“I just said, ‘Boys, I know you will hear it all the time from staff and family around you, about how fast it goes. But my God, it goes so fast’. If I think about my first game, Wolves away, and how fast the whole thing has changed.
“I can only thank the staff around me and the team-mates around me who have always got the belief in me to keep me at the club and when I play, to trust that I can play in that many games.
“I can only thank my mum and the family around me, who have obviously played a huge part… the times when it was taxis into training and things like that.
“And the environment I was obviously around as a kid, a Scouse kid, it’s quite easy to take another route. But I only had one goal in my mind: that was to play at this club.
“And that’s what I’m doing so I’ve got a massive smile on my face. It’s 200 down – and hopefully there’s many, many more to come.”
Jones has started Liverpool’s last three matches, impressing at times in a deeper midfield role alongside Ryan Gravenberch, while also flourishing when implemented in a diamond set-up.
At times during his Reds career, the 24-year-old has been criticised for taking too much time on the ball and slowing down play.
But Jones addressed such claims directly as he reiterated his desire to keep his place in Slot’s starting XI.
“I’m just one of them who loves to play, I just enjoy having the ball at my feet,” he said. “I’ve obviously heard that there’s criticism at times that I don’t move the ball quick enough.
“That’s just because I’m comfortable on the ball, I don’t want to be in a rush and then I give a ball to a lad who is not as comfortable as me on the ball and he is kind of in a little bit of a challenge and then he gets the blame.
“I’d rather just take it on me and know that a lad who comes to press me is going to have to do an awful lot to take the ball off me.
“I’m adapting always, I’m trying to improve all the time. I want to score more goals, I want to get more assists.
“In terms of the role that I play, I’m happy to be part of the team and if the gaffer picks me, he picks me. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.
“I’m always going to be there to show that I deserve to play. That’s what I’m trying at the minute.”