After seeing Curtis Jones turn in arguably his most complete Liverpool performance to date, Jurgen Klopp's message was a simple one 12 months ago. The Reds midfielder was the outstanding performer on a night when they took firm control of their apparent 'Group of Death' in the Champions League with a thoroughly comprehensive 5-0 win at Porto on September 28, 2021.
Jones may have walked away from the match with just the two official assists to his name but the No.17 had a hand in all five on the night as he helped Liverpool once more torment the Portuguese giants on their home turf.
It was the kind of display that offered a tantalising glimpse into what the long-term future of the club's midfield could look like with a marauding Jones roaming free, one that was made even more impressive by the fact that a stomach complaint nearly kept him out entirely before the match.
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“Curtis played a good game," Klopp said, perhaps deliberately underplaying the performance. "He had some problems a little bit with the stomach before the game; they told me I need to keep an eye on him but I told him after the game whatever it is, keep it because it was really a good game.
“He played a really good game, he was everywhere, he was involved in everything. Set up the first goal with a surprising finish, goalie cannot save it. In a lot of other situations he was really there - maybe not as spectacular as the offensive stuff, but defensively he played a top-class game.
“He defended really well, pressed from the blind side, a lot of things I liked a lot about his performance tonight. So, let's keep going, Curtis, it was not bad tonight.”
Exactly a year on, Jones has yet to truly build on that performance at Estadio do Dragao and has seen his season stall through an injury that has kept him grounded so far.
An eye injury that was described as a 'freak' one, picked up before the November international break last year, kept Jones out for two months until the end of December and hit at an inopportune time after he had started three games against Man City, Preston and Brighton while turning in an excellent cameo off the bench in the 5-0 win at Manchester United.
"It's a freak injury and very unlucky, but the important thing to emphasise is there is no lasting damage and his vision won't be impacted beyond the recovery period," said Liverpool's club doctor at the time, Jim Moxon. "However, the nature of the issue means caution is important; we need to allow it time to heal and we can't rush it, therefore it won't be a speedy return. It needs to mend before we are able to reintroduce Curtis to full training, but there are things he can do in the meantime to maintain fitness."
Jones has tried to listen to his manager's message to simply "keep going" but it has not quite gone to what would have been the personal plan last year, despite the team's collective successes of last term. That is mostly down to simple misfortune.
A late appearance from the bench in the Community Shield ended up resulting in an injury Klopp has consistently referred to as a 'stress reaction' which has, so far, denied Jones the opportunity to get started this time around.
At a time when so many of his midfield colleagues have struggled themselves for fitness and form, it must surely be a source of deep frustration that the Liverpool-born player has been unable to declare himself available.
After returning to training and finding himself in the match-day squad for the win over Newcastle in late August, it had appeared as though the 21-year-old was ready to finally get started.
However a recurrence of the issue kept the Academy graduate away from the flight to Naples for the Group A opener in Italy last month. Klopp said: “Curtis, when he was out previously, had a stress reaction in a specific bone around the tibia.
“It was absolutely fine, no problem anymore. [He] trained twice, felt it again. It’s not as bad as the first time, but it’s bad enough to not be involved in team training again, which is not very helpful.”
Nearly a month on, however, and Jones is yet to return to the fold. Klopp' s injury problems have gradually eased in recent weeks but he is still without one of the most naturally attack-minded midfielders at a time when invention and creativity has been lacking from that area.
The hope is that the international break - one that came on the back of the Reds seeing two games postponed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II - has at least helped provide the time and space to further rehab the problem as Liverpool look to finally see some light at the end of a tunnel that has been one of the biggest contributing factors behind a disappointing start.
Klopp is likely to deliver the latest on Jones on Friday when he meets the media to preview the weekend visit from Brighton, but a year on from his running of the show in Porto, the request to "keep going" remains as relevant as ever.
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