What Pep Lijnders said about Curtis Jones has FINALLY come true

Liverpool are known for producing homegrown talents and whether they earn a spot in the first-team, get sent out on loan or leave the club entirely, they are always rated incredibly highly.

Steven Gerrard is the classic example of a Scouser born and bred, developing on Merseyside from a young age and scaling the dizzying heights of club football.

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Many have followed in his footsteps, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Jarrell Quansah, who are all featuring for the senior mens team at the moment under Arne Slot.

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And all three have caught the attention of the England national team - Trent featured in the Euros last summer, while Jones and Quansah are in Thomas Tuchel's squad for the current international break.

Over-rating players is something we can all be accused of from time to time, and when ex-Liverpool boss Pepijn Lijnders was asked about some of his former players, he couldn't help but indulge in praising them.

But while you might think his comments came from a place of bias, it turns out he was thinking on the right lines all along.

Jones emphatically proves Lijnders claim

Curtis Jones is a player you could classify as being under-stated. He doesn't feature in Slot's first-choice midfield three, but he does a job when he comes on as a substitute and you rarely see him make a fuss - he just gets on with what he's been tasked to do.

As such, more flashy players have often been called-up for England in place of him, such as Robbie Mainoo.

But in order for a midfield to work, you need workhorses who will leave all their energy out on the pitch, working tirelessly to help the team to succeed, and Jones typifies that role.

Speaking in Liverpool's documentary about Jurgen Klopp's last season with the Reds, Lijnders was pictured claiming that Jones fits into England's most complete midfield, alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.

The claim was regarded by most to have come from a place of bias, with many people dismissing the notion. With Lijnders having struggled to succeed in his management role at Salzburg, many might also have been sceptical about his ability to assess players.

However, in England's World Cup qualifier against Albania last night, the new national team boss Thomas Tuchel decided to take the Dutchman's advice and started that very midfield three.

Across the 90 minutes, Rice created the most chances (5) despite playing as the team's defensive midfielder, Bellingham was awarded man of the match for his all-round game and delivering the assist for Miles Lewis-Skelly's opener, and Jones dictated the play - completing 94/99 passes.

Now, one caveat is that Albania are 65th in FIFA's ranking of national teams, so it is clear that England will have tougher challenges ahead, but you would struggle to find a more complete display from three players than that.

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Moving forward, we will have to see whether Jones gets the nod for England's Monday night fixture against Latvia, but Tuchel might just stumbled across a Lijnders-inspired masterclass move.