Liverpool was left unhappy with Curtis Jones’ red card at Tottenham, but it could present Jürgen Klopp with a chance to revisit his ‘super smart’ plan.
The pain of Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham and the injustice of Luis Díaz’s goal being disallowed still sting a day later. There is no doubt that the consequences of this decision are far from over.
However, despite PGMOL director Howard Webb’s apparent apology (per The Independent) after the organization admitted to “serious human error”, there was little or nothing that could please Jürgen Klopp. heart after being denied another win this season.
What will hurt the Liverpool manager is that he will now be without two players for at least the next Premier League match against Brighton, with Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota both wearing red shirts for Saturday’s defeat.
Liverpool can of course appeal the decision to send Jones off, although opinions expressed on social media appear to be divided between neutral observers, one would think the Red Devils are unlikely to succeed. labour
Klopp will therefore have to plan without Jones in mind for upcoming Premier League games against Brighton next Sunday, Everton (October 21) and Nottingham Forest (October 29), but the academy graduate will still have a part to play this month.
The ban of course only applies domestically, and so Jones will be available for the Reds’ Europa League campaign, which continues with two more group games before the end of October.
Assuming Ryan Gravenberch takes his place during his league absence, Jones might well be used as a straight swap for the Dutchman in Europe, but Klopp has already shown an alternative option.
The 22-year-old replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back in the Carabao Cup against Leicester and appears to be a more natural choice in the reversed role compared to Joe Gomez and Stefan Bajčetić.
Jones’ presence at right-back would allow those two to potentially occupy their preferred positions in the center of defense and midfield, and Alexander-Arnold has only just returned from injury. Saturday is the most reasonable thing to do. so he will be rested again on Thursday against Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise.
Klopp himself admitted he wanted to use Jones in his natural midfield role “as often as possible” last week, after being forced to choose him at right-back following Gomez’s injury, but did not rule it out Scouser ability. returning to the right-back position, especially after impressing against Leic
“Curtis was always in my mind as a potential solution because he is very intelligent when it comes to football. He likes to have the ball and the deeper you sit, the more often you can win the ball back.”
Jones’ subsequent dismissal from Spurs could cause Klopp to rethink and see him explore Jones at right-back again this week. If the plan is successful again, there will be another opportunity to use it against Toulouse on October 26.
It certainly wasn’t intentional but Klopp may have found a replacement for Alexander-Arnold and could be set to see him again this month.
