Arne Slot pinpoints Curtis Jones change and when Liverpool performances became 'great'

Arne Slot said that after the Liverpool midfielder welcomed his first child last month.

Jones as his long-term girlfriend, Saffie Khan, gave birth to the pair's daughter, Giselle Delilah Jones.

When the club season resumed, Jones produced a superb individual display as beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield, and in the Champions League.

Slot was asked about what he had done to help Jones improve his level this season and said: "With Curtis, maybe it's not me who did it, because he became a father and I had nothing to do with that! You never know if that plays a part or not, but since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in.

"He already did this in the first few weeks that we worked together in pre-season, but his performances dropped a bit after that, but since the moment he became a father, he is outstanding again. It might have to do with that a bit, but in general I think it is to do with the way the team plays because every player that comes in has a good performance, and that probably tells you a lot about the quality of the team and how they play together, then as a result of that, individual performances are good as well."

Slot called on Jones to add consistency to his game, saying that he needs to deliver displays like the ones against Chelsea and Leverkusen with regularity in order to be classed as one of the world's best in his position.

"He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has the ball he's never afraid to do something special with it," Slot said when asked what makes Jones such a good player. "Sometimes that led towards a situation where in my opinion he touches the ball a bit too much, because sometimes he's a bit too confident, but confidence is an important tool and that's what he has.

"He combines this with an incredibly hard work rate and we can trust him in defense as well. You saw how well he played against Cole Palmer. So he is quite complete, but for him now, it's all about consistency. Because if you are a quality player, to have a good performance once in a while is not a big accomplishment. The best players in the world show up every three days. And if he wants to continue progressing, that's what he has to show now, to be every three days, the player he's been for us in the last few weeks."

Slot's comments come after Jones was included in an England squad for the third time this year, with interim manager .

"Curtis is an all-round player," Carsley said in a press conference on Thursday. "He plays in various positions and he’s a player I highly rate. He’s probably one of the best players I’ve worked with in terms of his ability. He’s shown a real consistent level of performance, playing every week, now. Most weeks he’s at a really high level and he’s shown he can score goals. He’s a player we’ve had a lot of success with working in the past."

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Jones is yet to make a senior appearance for his country, despite being included in two previous squads, but could finally make his debut this month.

Jones was called up to a senior squad for the first time earlier this year, when Gareth Southgate named him in England's provisional squad for Euro 2024. However, he was an unused substitute in a warm-up game against Bosnia before leaving the camp after being omitted from the final 26-man tournament squad.

Injury ruled Jones out of selection contention for Carsley's first England squad in September, before he was called up for the October break. However, he was an unused substitute for the Three Lions' chaotic defeat by Greece before leaving the squad for the birth of his daughter ahead of the win over Finland.