Liverpool star Curtis Jones has said that Jurgen Klopp has turned him into a press machine.
After coming through the Reds youth system, the 22-year-old made his senior debut back in 2019 before establishing himself as a key player for the Merseyside club in recent years.
Speaking on the We Liverpool podcast, Jones has revealed that he wasn’t a hard-working midfielder during his time in the youth team but after joining the senior squad Klopp has urged him to improve on that.
The player further says that he has managed to develop his off-the-ball attributes and is now the first player to press the opposition high up the field.
Jones said:
“He’s[Klopp] spoken about it a lot the way I’m the first one to go and press and things like that. Now, I was a kid who came in and pressing and defending were never a thing for me! ‘No, I don’t need that part of the game.’ Now that he’s picking up on it loads and he’s spoken about it, just goes to show how much that I’ve actually changed.”
Jones says Klopp has made him a press machine
Jones has been used as a squad player by Klopp over the last few years, however, the 22-year-old has managed to display promising performances whenever he has been given the opportunity.
The midfielder came under the spotlight after his controversial sending-off against Tottenham Hotspur a couple of months ago. Plenty has been said regarding that decision, but the midfielder had to go through a three-match suspension having picked up the red card.
Since then he hasn’t featured for Liverpool in the Premier League as he has been sidelined after sustaining a hamstring issue versus Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup. He is now likely to return when the club football resumes after the international break.
Although Jones is a highly talented player and possesses the potential to become a top-class midfielder going forward, his injury problems are a real concern as he has continuously been sustaining injury issues over the last few campaigns. So, Jones will have to overcome that problem if he were to reach his full potential over the coming years.
