Steven Gerrard light-heartedly suggested fines for the Football Association and England’s coaching staff after Curtis Jones put on a show in England‘s triumph over Greece.
The Liverpool icon delivered his playful comment following Jones’ striking debut for the Three Lions against Greece. The 23- -year-old finally celebrated his first cap for England with a stunning goal, artfully flicking Morgan Gibbs White’s cross to clinch a 3-0 win.
Jones has been outstanding at Liverpool under Arne Slot‘s guidance and successfully carried his stellar form onto the international scene. Gerrard, who previously managed the Liverpool protégé with the club’s under-18 team, mockingly scolded the English football hierarchy for their slow uptake of Jones’ prowess after his standout display.
“What a player,” Gerrard shared on Instagram, reports the Mirror, before joking: “Fine the FA and all the coaches for being late.”
Lee Carsley, the interim Three Lions manager, was also full of praise for Jones, who has been instrumental in recent weeks for the Premier League leaders and is now taking his impressive form at club level to the international stage. Speaking to ITV, he lauded the midfielder’s contributions: “Curtis Jones is an outstanding player.”
(Image: Carl Recine/UEFA)
On the subject of freedom on the field, Jones himself praised his England colleagues. The Anfield nurtured talent credited Jude Bellingham for providing the support that allowed him to net his impressive goal.
“If you’ve got a team like ours, like that, I can go high, I can come low, I can get on the ball, I can play,” he explained. “There’s lads there to help, there’s also lads who said I can go as well. Jude [Bellingham] stayed back and I saw I had a chance to go. That’s what I did and luckily enough I scored.
“The lads around helped as well. I just went out there, I was playing free, I had a smile on my face, I was enjoying it and I’m happy that I came away with a goal as well.”
The Liverpool sensation credits Steven Gerrard for being pivotal in his emergence, influencing Jones’ approach towards making it big. Reflecting on that impact, Jones admitted, “I say it now, still, I feel like Steven was the one who came in and made me really think, ‘Look, if I lock all the way in, now I can go to the top’,” something he has acknowledged before.
Remembering a particular incident, Jones shared, “I’ll never forget the time, we’d been away on pre-season I don’t know what country it was we came back and he got the whole team in on a one-to-one and he’d been speaking about the things you did well and what you needed to improve.”
(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC)
“When he sat down with me I don’t want to say what he said it was positive but also pretty tough to hear. It was like getting hit with the truth in its rawest form.”
Jones reluctantly shared a glimpse into Gerrards words: “I’ll say a little bit: ‘I gave you the 10 shirt on your back because I want you to be my main lad in my team and I want to build the team around you, but you didn’t show enough’.”
“There was a game that he said, this is was what stuck in my head a lot where I wanted to show him that anything you need from me I’ll do it we’d been beaten by Fulham and he said I’d been tackled and the lad had stood over and said something while I’d been on the floor.”
“He turned around to me and said, ‘What did you do about it? ! ‘ I said, ‘I can’t remember’, and he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you, you did nothing! ‘”.
“I sat there and thought, ‘you’re right’. This is my club, there are people like you who have played your whole life here and even came back to the academy and now you’re a coach, you want to give your all to the club.”
“There are people like me, I’m a Scouser myself, I don’t understand the situation I’m in. I need to grow up here and need to be a man.”