Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaks about Curtis Jones, the midfielder who excelled at right-back in the Merseyside derby win at Everton
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot (R) speaks with Liverpool's English midfielder #17 Curtis Jones (C) as he prepares to come on as a substitute during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Liverpool at the London Stadium, in London on November 30, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
Arne Slot (right) speaks with Curtis Jones (centre) during Liverpool's win at West Ham United in November(Image: Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)
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The Merseyside derby will always mean that little bit more for the Scousers in the team. And while it wasn't in the manner he would have ideally preferred, Curtis Jones again showed his propensity to shine against the oldest enemy last weekend.
Having become the latest to answer the call in Liverpool's problem right-back position, Jones delivered a man-of-the-match performance to help the Reds earn a dramatic 2-1 win in their first visit to Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
It was only a 13th Premier League start of the season for the 25-year-old, who nevertheless has played a part in all bar eight of 52 games this season under Arne Slot.
Indeed, his tally of 2,403 minutes in all competitions is only 34 short of his best-ever total achieved last season with still five games remaining, starting at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League this afternoon.
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Jones, though, is approaching a crossroads in his career, unable to nail down a regular starting role due to fierce competition in midfield that has seen him slip out of contention for England's World Cup squad while about to enter the final 12 months of his contract.
But Slot believes the Academy graduate brought something different in the derby to a role where Liverpool have struggled for consistent impact this term.
"Curtis showed mainly character in that game," said the Reds boss. "Playing not in your own position in a very difficult away game, difficult circumstances, and to have that performance is really good.
"But when I look a bit deeper into it, he is one of the players I spoke to this week that in certain situations he has to position himself a little bit more as a natural full-back. But it's normal that he hasn't done that yet. There is still room for improvement in that position.
"But what helped us is that he is really comfortable on the ball. That was a quality that a right-back had for a long time who played here before, a very, very comfortable player on the ball in Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"He gave I wouldn't say a copy of Trent, but Curtis gave us that quality on the ball - calm, finding the right passes, starting to dribble, he gave us that in the Everton game and that helped us."
Of suggestions Jones would have wanted more action this season, Slot responded: "Since I am the manager he plays much more minutes than he ever did before. That's down to me liking the player and the fact our squad has become smaller, mainly because of injuries.
"That means the same players have to share the playing time because we went to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup. If you have a lot of injuries, then in the top 25 there are five or six players of ours with the most minutes played.
"Curtis played a good game against Everton, although now all of a sudden everybody had a good game because we won.
"I can tell you we played much better games when we have lost or drawn. But that's how football works - if we win then everybody played a great game, and if we lose then it's all s***."
Jones could retain his place at right-back this afternoon although Jeremie Frimpong and the fit-again Joe Gomez are both pressing for a recall.
While only the bottom two teams have scored less in the Premier League goals than Palace, just title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal have leaked fewer.
It means the Anfield showdown could be a war of attrition with Liverpool seeking the victory that will edge them nearer a top-five berth and Champions League qualification after a season in which their style of play has led to "boring" accusations on occasion.
"I definitely don’t like hearing that, but in some moments it was true," said Slot. "I would like to react to that with 15 arguments that I can hold against it.
"Having watched Crystal Palace, how many chances do you think Man Utd had against them? How many chances did City have against them?
"So in general when a team loses, then it is either not good, or s***, or boring and there is a lot of criticism coming at you. Then you start to win and it’s, ‘well, you played a great game against Everton’. I can tell you we had a great result, but we did not play a great game over there. A good game, but not a great one. But fans see it as a great game because we won.
"There comes a lot of criticism with losing games and being boring and what is the style of play. I think we might still be number one in terms of ball possession (Liverpool are actually now second to Manchester City in the Premier League).
"But from that ball possession, you would like a team from Liverpool to generate more chances. I can tell you exactly why that is not happening but I don’t want to do that.
"It is not the moment for it, but if I will ever write a book I will explain exactly why these things have happened. But I am not planning to do that, by the way!"