In a team as talented as Liverpool’s, heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
Match-winner Mohamed Salah cannot be handed the cape, as his trademark strike that killed an impressive Brighton off is right out of the Egyptian’s coaching manual – a stunning curler having cut inside.
It was also the 32-year-old’s 48th match-winning goal in the Premier League, with only five players netting more in the competition’s history. To be classed as a hero, you have to do something out of character, something few, other than the Anfield masses, have seen before.
Managers like Arne Slot need Curtis Joneses. A player who will do anything, at any time, for their boss.
Jones spoke so glowingly of Slot in the summer that he had to explain that he meant no disrespect to Jurgen Klopp. Some players just suit certain managers down to the ground. Slot just gets Jones, and vice versa.
Klopp put less emphasis on the midfield and more on that now famous Gegenpress, from the front. Slot is all about control, which comes from the midfield. Hence why Jones thrives in such a unit.
It looked like the writing was on the wall for Liverpool at Anfield, with Brighton playing some bedazzling football in the first half to make the hosts to look rather foolish.
With injuries to key attackers hindering Slot’s options from the bench, he elected instead to revamp his favoured part of the pitch, withdrawing Alexis Mac Allister and the even more ineffectual Dominik Szoboszlai.
Neither of the outgoing Liverpool pair could string more than a few passes together, nor could they win a tackle.
Jones immediately got the crowd off their feet, and when Anfield gets its back up, more often than not opponents are sent packing with their tails between their legs. Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler admitted as such after the match, his players getting dragged in.
The equaliser that cancelled out Ferdi Kadioglu’s superb first-half opener was on the fortunate side, with Cody Gakpo’s cross evading everyone before finding the far corner.
The winner 128 seconds later, however, was much more vintage Liverpool, instigated by a driving force conspicuous by its absence before his second-half introduction.
Driving from the edge of his own box, holding off several challenges, playing a one-two to create space, before finding Salah, Jones could let the Egyptian do his thing, moving to outright eighth position in the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer charts.
That hunger and desire is why Slot values Jones so highly. Teams when they are down need a spark.
“We didn’t show up in the first half,” Slot said. “We faced a very good team, but we needed something else in the first half. The players understood that we needed more.
“When you bring Curtis Jones in, it is not much of a risk. You know these players can play with the intensity that we need.”
Another of Slot’s changes deserves a mention, with Joe Gomez putting in a flawless second-half display in place of the injured Ibrahima Konate.
But in Jones, whether from the start or off the bench in his hour of need, Slot know he has someone he can turn to, safe in the knowledge he can depend on his return.
Salah will continue to be the headline-grabber, but without the Joneses of this world, Slot cannot begin to dream of being a Premier League success, and in a season where there will be more twists and turns than a Snakes and Ladders board, the unsung heroes can have a big say.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/c4e3IA8
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