England Under 21 boss Lee Carsley has challenged Liverpool’s Curtis Jones to add more to his game and said he cannot ‘play within himself’.
Jones starred for England during Friday's 2-1 win away to Czech Republic which left them within one victory of qualifying for next summer’s European Championship. The midfielder has previous experience of that tournament when he was part of Aidy Boothroyd’s England side that fell at the first stage during the 2021 Euros, finishing bottom of their group.
Jones burst onto the scene at Liverpool when he scored a superb curling effort during an FA Cup victory over Everton in January 2020 and has gone on to net eight times in 74 appearances for the Reds. He made 27 appearances in all competitions across 2021/22, but only 18 were starts and he will be expected to have a more prominent role next year.
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And for Carsley, he is a huge fan of Jones but believes he needs to continually be pushed. “It's important to me that Curtis doesn't play within himself," the Young Lions boss said. “He's got to be the best player every day, every game. I think he can score more, I think he can assist more. When he gets in front of goal, he's got that quality.
“He needs to show it on a regular basis, consistently, for us. You'd like to have this conversation at the end of the camp where you're swooning about him, saying ‘what a player’. I still think he's building his reputation with the Under 21s in that respect.
“He's got energy, he's fast, he's got real power, he's got a real natural balance on the ball, he can take it either side. He's got the ability to go either way, off either side, which is a real skill to have and an attribute of a top player.”
Jones has won 10 caps for the Under 21s, scoring three times. He is part of an England side that includes youngsters who have already become stars at other Premier League clubs including Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa and Emile Smith-Rowe at Arsenal.
Carsley, the former Everton midfielder, believes there are a clutch of players in his side who have a real chance of making a late push for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad. He said: “It's down to them. Gareth [Southgate] has shown in the past if you are playing well for your club, you're going to get a chance.
“You want lads to be inspired to go up [to the first team]. It's an open door, it's a cowboy door. As soon as you're ready, you go through it.
“I expect more from him [Jones]. The players that are almost your middle of the road ones - when they do well, you're like ‘that was brilliant, well done’. But the really talented ones, when they do well you actually want them to do better, you push them more than the players that are striving to get there. I'm not saying Curtis is there yet but he has such ability, as have three or four of them, that he can really kick on.”
