“What’s Curtis Jones doing as well?! He doesn’t even score goals!”
Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson couldn’t hide his shock and grievance at the identity of Liverpool’s two-goalscorer as the Reds ran out 3-0 winners away at Leicester City on Monday night.
The result moved Jurgen Klopp’s side, who currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, back to within a point of the Magpies and Manchester United. While both sides possess a game-in-hand on Liverpool, the Reds have at least kept the pressure on in the race for Champions League qualification.
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Wilson was recording the latest edition of the Footballer’s Football Podcast with West Ham United’s Michail Antonio when he realised that Liverpool were on course for their seventh-successive victory.
“Ahh, Liverpool 2-0 up, I don’t want to hear that right now, blud!” screamed an aghast Wilson. “Come on, I need them to lose!
“Oh my God! What’s Curtis Jones doing as well?! He doesn’t even score goals! He is scoring two. Curtis Jones, two out of everyone?! He’s banging them and that!”
Jones’ sudden emergence as a key part of Klopp’s Liverpool side in their new ‘3-2-2-3’ formation has been a feel-good factor at Anfield in recent weeks. In a campaign wrecked by injury, where many onlookers had written off the 22-year-old ahead of a Reds midfield revamp this summer, he has silenced his doubters emphatically.
Handed only his second Premier League start of the season against Chelsea last month, the England Under-21s international has started all of Liverpool’s nine-game unbeaten run to help reignite their top four hopes. Meanwhile, his brace against Leicester means he has three goals and an assist from such a run. Not bad for a player who ‘doesn’t even score goals’.
Of course, you can see where Wilson’s outburst has come from. Before Jones opened the scoring against Tottenham Hotspur last month, he hadn’t scored for 582 days since a 3-3 draw with Brentford in September 2021.
Yet he only played 40 times across that 19-month drought, with 24 of those outings being starts. While not a record to be writing home about, it is still not as bad as it looks on paper.
Jones has made 95 appearances for the Reds since making his Liverpool debut in January 2019, scoring 11 goals and recording 10 assists. A goal contribution every 4.5 matches is respectable enough for any young midfielder.
But break down the 22-year-old’s record to starts alone and it makes a mockery of Wilson’s claim. Jones has returned 10 goals and seven assists from 58 starts - AKA he scores every 5.8 starts and contributes to a goal every 3.4 starts. While Liverpool might have often lacked an offensive threat from midfield during Klopp’s reign, the 22-year-old is showing that he is capable of changing that narrative.
In truth, that should be no surprise to anyone that has witnessed Jones progress up through the Academy, where he often found himself lining up in the front three as opposed to his now accustomed midfield role.
Breaking into the Liverpool Under-18s side in 2016/17, when just 15 years old, he would return four goals and an assist from 12 appearances. Then establishing himself as a key player under Steven Gerrard in 2017/18, he recorded 16 goals and six assists from 25 appearances for the Under-18s and Under-19s in the UEFA Youth League.
Such form would see him called up to the Under-21s on occasions in the second half of the season at the age of 17, before he cemented his place with the age-group in 2018/19 - the same season he made his senior debut.
Recording seven goals and two assists from 19 games in Premier League 2 and UEFA Youth League, he would then boast 14 goals and six assists from 18 appearances in the same competitions in 2019/20. No wonder the same campaign saw him become a first team player under Klopp.
His record in PL2 and UEFA Youth League combined, discounting one appearance back in January when feeling his way back from injury, stands at 26 goals and nine assists from 50 appearances. Curtis Jones has always been a player who scores goals.
And now he could be the same player that makes Wilson eat his words if he maintains such form in the final weeks of the season and helps Liverpool qualify for the Champions League at Newcastle’s expense. Even in the Reds’ fall short, given a top four finish admittedly still looks unlikely, you wouldn’t bet against him remaining a crucial member of Klopp’s side next season post-midfield revamp.
Wilson should know better than most the perils that could come with dismissing the midfielder’s abilities. After all, it was less than a year ago when Man City’s Jack Grealish infamously belittled one of the Magpies’ striker’s team-mates.
Drunkenly celebrating City’s Premier League title-win, the England international joked that it was only possible after Pep Guardiola had withdrawn Riyad Mahrez, as his side fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and clinch the title.
"Riyad, take him off the pitch, as soon as possible!” Grealish teased. “He played like Almiron."
At the time, the Paraguay international was something of a flop at St. James’ Park having joined Newcastle from Atlanta United in a £21m deal in January 2019. He would only score one goal and fail to register an assist during the 2021/22 season as he started just 19 of his 32 appearances for the Magpies.
The worst return of his Newcastle career, he had at least been a regular starter over the previous two and a half years as he returned a combined 13 goals and five assists from 91 appearances in all competitions. As a result, with the Magpies backed by Saudi billions, Almiron’s future with the club was in doubt last summer as Grealish’s drunken comment seen as, at best, an unnecessary jibe aimed at a fellow professional.
So 14 goals and five assists from 123 appearances over three and a half seasons. ‘Almiron?! Out of everyone?! He doesn’t even score goals!’
Yet it’s been a very different story for the forward this year, with the 29-year-old emerging as one of Newcastle’s players of the season.
Boasting 11 goals and an assist from 31 Premier League appearances, he also set up a further two goals in the Magpies’ run to the League Cup final. Meanwhile, only Wilson has outscored the Paraguayan at St. James’ Park.
His Premier League goal involvements have been crucial this season too, worth 11 points to Newcastle’s cause. Scoring nine times during a 17-game unbeaten run, as well as seven goals and an assist from eight appearances immediately prior to the World Cup, without Almiron’s efforts the Magpies aren’t in Champions League contention.
Asked about Almiron’s response to Grealish’s jibe last October, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: “I don’t think Miggy is motivated by anything other than trying to be his best for Newcastle and for the supporters, who absolutely love him and rightly so.
“For me, he’s given me everything from day one, very committed to the team. He’s a real team player and he’s getting the recognition that he deserves. You can’t under-estimate the quality of the goals that he’s delivered for us.
“I don’t think I’ve noticed a difference in his character. He’s been very consistent – that’s a strength – he’s been very happy every day, very pleased to be part of the team, has very close friends within the squad.
“What I have noticed is a real confidence in his training, in his technical delivery of what we’re asking him to do – I think that’s definitely gone up a level.”
For the record, Grealish would apologise from his comments about the Paraguayan. While ill-advised, there was no malice intended.
The same as Wilson will have meant no offence to Jones. Yet the Newcastle’s man naive comments lack wisdom and are also ill-educated, given Jones' actual overall record.
And having witnessed first-hand the transformation in Almiron this year, with the Magpies’ dressing room inevitably discussing Grealish’s dismissal at some point or another, he should be wary of what could come next.
Jones is a player on the rise and has certainly gone up a level in recent weeks. Playing with a new-found confidence, there is no stopping him on the pitch at the moment.
Klopp could just send him out and watch him go, with the 22-year-old not even needing the extra fire that Wilson could have just provided. But if the German wanted to motivate his in-form midfielder further, the England international has done his talking for him and delivered perfect 'team talk'.
And while that is great news for Liverpool, Wilson and his big mouth will be hoping that the Magpies aren’t made to suffer as a result.
At least Grealish had the excuse of alcohol, while celebrating winning the Premier League, when besmirching a struggling colleague. In contrast, as the Newcastle frontman 'disrespects' the wrong target, Howe's side haven't achieved anything yet.
Having poked the bear, only time will tell if Wilson is made to eat his words.
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