Mario Melchiot discusses the impact of Curtis Jones during his England senior debut vs. Greece.
With four Greece players converging on him inside Athens' Olympic Stadium on Thursday, England midfielder Curtis Jones remained the coolest man on the pitch. The 23-year-old received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area before shimmying past Anastasios Bakasetas and playing a neat one-two with centre-back Marc Guéhi to bypass the opposition press and set the visitors on the attack.
The whole sequence totalled less than 20 seconds, yet it is perhaps the purest encapsulation of why the Liverpool midfielder is regarded as a potential lynchpin for future success by both club and country.
Jones, making his international debut, further reinforced that sentiment late in the second half when, after a smart cutback from midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, he deftly backheeled the ball past Greece goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos to score the third and most eye-catching goal of England's crucial 3-0 win in the UEFA Nations League.
He was named Man of the Match and picked up praise from former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who coached Jones during his time in charge of the club's under-18s, on his Instagram story with the caption: "What a player. Fine the FA and all the coaches for being late."
Jones told ITV after the game: "The lads around helped as well. I just went out there; I was playing free; I had a smile on my face; I was enjoying it, and I'm happy that I came away with a goal as well."
The midfielder's talent has never been in doubt, but it taken him a while to get the recognition he deserves. Born and raised on Merseyside, he began his career with local grassroots club Mossley Hill FC, where he came through the ranks alongside Liverpool Women's alum Missy Bo Kearns, who now plays for Aston Villa in the Women's Super League (WSL), and former England youth international Bobby Duncan.
"He came to us when he was an under-6 player and played for us until U9s, which is when he went to Liverpool," Mossley Hill chairman Rob Wells tells ESPN. "He was a quiet kid, very dedicated to football with his training and with his attitude.
"He wasn't one of those who messed around in training. He was very dedicated, never missed a session and always wanted to be a footballer. The Mossley Hill tournament that we have in August every year, we have a lot of scouts coming to watch and Curtis always stood out there.
"He was a good little footballer, which he obviously showed for England against Greece. It's nice to see him make that grade. It's wonderful for him and his family and for the city. We're really proud of him."
That it has taken this long for Jones to be handed his first senior England cap is proof that his journey up until now has not been entirely plain sailing. Indeed, having initially impressed Liverpool's new head coach Arne Slot in preseason, a groin injury kept him sidelined during the early weeks of the campaign, with Dominik Szoboszlai given the nod alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister in midfield.
But once he returned, Jones has started six of Liverpool's last eight games in all competitions, including four of their last five in the Premier League. Encompassed in that run was a match-winning performance against Chelsea and a superb cameo against Brighton & Hove Albion, in which he teed up Mohamed Salah to score the decisive goal.
It is arguably his most consistent stretch of form in a Liverpool shirt since the end of the 2022-23 season, when he played an integral part in an 11-game unbeaten run under Jürgen Klopp. While Jones has previously been quick to acknowledge that he is indebted to the German coach for assimilating him into the first team, there is a sense that the midfielder is one of several players to have benefited from the introduction of Slot's more controlled, possession-based style.
"This is the happiest I have been," Jones said when asked about life under the Dutchman during Liverpool's preseason tour of the United States. "Arne is amazing. It is probably the happiest I have been. In terms of a style of play, it suits us and the lads we have. It is a clear plan. He is fully involved in the training, coaches us a lot, he's big on the finer details."
Despite Slot's insistence that he is not wedded to any particular formation, his deviation away from the 4-3-3 system traditionally deployed by Klopp to a 4-2-3-1, with two midfielders shielding the backline, seems to lend itself to Jones' skillset. And, so far, he has shown himself to be adept at playing both as a No. 10 and in a slightly deeper-lying role.
From the perspective of the Liverpool boss, however, it is developments in Jones' private life -- notably the birth of his first child in October -- which are to thank for his upturn in form.
"With Curtis it is maybe not me who did it but because he became a father -- and I had nothing to do with that!" Slot said earlier this month. "You never know if that plays a part or not, but since the moment he became a father he started putting in great performances.
"He already did this in the first few weeks that we worked together in preseason -- I was like 'wow, quality player' -- but then his performances dropped. But since the moment he became a father he was outstanding again. I think it might have to do with that a bit, but in general it has to do with how the team plays."
Now Jones has added a later of maturity and shown that he has what it takes to mix it with the best, the recognition will keep on coming. And don't be surprised to see him playing a crucial role for club and country in the coming months.