Arne Slot has embraced the change in Curtis Jones since becoming a father last month, but outlined the next step Liverpool’s “complete player” must now take.
Jones and his partner welcomed their daughter in the middle of October, with the midfielder pulling out of international duty with England but promptly returning to availability for Liverpool.
His first game back saw him named Man of the Match, having won the penalty for the first goal and then netted the winner in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
The midfielder has featured in all six games since his daughter was born, starting in four of those, and has excelled – including assists against Brighton in the Premier League and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Asked about Jones’ progression under his coaching, Slot joked: “With Curtis it was maybe not me who did it, because he became a father – and I had nothing to do with that!
“You never know if that plays a part or not, but it is since the moment he became a father he started putting great performances in.
“He already did this in the first few weeks we worked together in pre-season, I was like ‘wow, quality player’, but then his performances dropped a bit.
“But since the moment he became a father he’s outstanding again – it might have a bit to do with that, but in general I think it has to do with the way the team plays.
“Every player that comes in has a good performance, and that probably tells you a lot about the quality of the team, how they play together.
“Then as a result of that, individual performances are good as well.”
Jones himself has acknowledged that he has long been a player touted for the top, but with a number of false dawns primarily due to injuries.
But the hope is that, now 23 and in his sixth season as a full-time first-team player, he can fully establish himself under Slot.
Asked to assess Jones’ abilities and what he offers to Liverpool, Slot hailed him as “quite complete,” but explained “what he has to show now.”
“What makes him such a good player? He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has the ball he’s never afraid to do something special with it,” the Dutchman said.
“Sometimes that led to a few situations where, in my opinion, he touched the ball a bit too much, because sometimes he’s a bit too overconfident.
“But confidence is an important tool and that’s what he has.
“He combines this – at the moment and probably for a longer period, but as long as I’ve worked with him – with an incredibly hard work rate.
“We can trust him in defence as well, you saw how well he played against Cole Palmer.
“So he’s quite complete, but for him now – and I used this word a few days ago – it’s all about consistency.
“If you’re a quality player – I think they’re all quality players – to have a good performance one in a while, that’s not a big accomplishment.
“But the best players in the world show up every three days, and if he wants to continue progressing that’s what he has to show now.
“[He needs] to be, every three days, the player he’s been for the last few weeks.”
