‘He has turned up’ – One Liverpool player has prompted Gabby Agbonlahor to change his tune | OneFootball

Gabriel Agbonlahor has acknowledged that one Liverpool player of whom he was previously ‘critical’ has now won him over with his performances of late.

The win over Chelsea on Sunday was inspired by a scintillating display from Curtis Jones, who scored the decisive goal and won the penalty for the Reds’ opener in the first half, while he generally tormented the visitors throughout the 90 minutes at Anfield.

Agbonlahor praises Jones’ performance v Chelsea

The 23-year-old’s performance earned him a place in the former Aston Villa striker’s Premier League team of the week on talkSPORT.

Agbonlahor said: “For me, I have been critical of Curtis Jones in his Liverpool career, but this season – I don’t know why under Arne Slot – he has turned up.

“He’s doing what he should be doing. He’s making runs into the box, he’s getting on the ball, he’s driving, he’s making some nice touches, and against Chelsea maybe he should have had two penalties. He won the penalty for Salah and he took his goal well.

“That’s what you want to see from midfielders. Make that third man run, and that’s what he does for his goal. Great finish and I think Curtis Jones was the Man of the Match for the game against Chelsea.”

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Can this mark a turning point for Jones at Liverpool?

Jones hasn’t had the most straightforward of Liverpool careers so far, having had to contend with several injury problems and a barrage of criticism (ranging from legitimate to excessive) for a lack of goal output (17 in 140 senior Reds games) and poor decision-making in possession.

The midfielder turns 24 in January, so we’re well past the stage of talking about him as an up-and-coming player. This is his fifth season as a fully fledged member of the first-team squad, so he’s now at a point where we want to see him consistently grab matches by the scruff of the neck like he did yesterday.

However, looking at the enormous upturn that Slot has prompted from Ryan Gravenberch, what’s to say that he can’t do the same for the Toxeth native?

The challenge for Jones will be to hold down a starting berth in a midfield where competition for places is fierce when everyone is available, but the hope is that the Chelsea game proves to be a starting point towards consistent brilliance rather than an isolated day when everything came right for him.

The 23-year-old’s life away from football has changed massively in recent days as he became a dad for the first time. Perhaps this week will also mark a seminal staging post in his career, if he can build upon what he showed yesterday.