David James told the Football Show on Sky Sports (04/02/21) that it ‘surprises’ him that Jurgen Klopp opted not to start Curtis Jones during Liverpool’s defeat to Brighton on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, Jones came off the bench for Liverpool and made an instant impact and was involved in Mo Salah opening the scoring against West Ham.
Whilst Liverpool ended that match in a free-flowing fashion, they did take time to settle and Jones did make a difference in midfield.
Former England goalkeeper James shared why he was left ‘surprised’ by Klopp’s decision to leave out Jones and then bring him on with only ten minutes remaining against Brighton.
“I was covering the West Ham match the other day,” said James. “The first half of that game was similar to the 90 minutes that we saw last night.
“The thing that surprises me, and he [Klopp], talks about fatigue. The one player that stood out for me, of course, Mo Salah against West Ham scored a couple of goals, was Jones.
“I was surprised he didn’t start and I was even more surprised that he went on so late in the game to try and get something out of it.”
There’s no doubt that Jones has taken his game to another level this season, but there has been a little drop off during these past six weeks, hence why he has been on the bench.
But his ability to carry the ball forward, ask different questions of the opposition and make those attacking runs without the ball, is what’s needed for this currently attack-shy Liverpool team.
Not only that, he does have that spark back in his game and given how Liverpool have performed for a number of weeks now, he is deserving of a starting berth.
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