Q&ACurtis Jones on working with Slot, season aims and learning from LeBron

The midfielder is part of the Reds squad currently continuing preparations for the forthcoming campaign in the USA, with work ongoing in Pittsburgh ahead of Friday’s friendly with Real Betis.

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Players are being put through their paces in high, humid temperatures – with daily double sessions a staple of their time across the Atlantic.

Nevertheless, Jones is relishing the opportunity to demonstrate what he’s capable of to the new head coach as he stakes his claim to build on the 36 appearances and five goals he tallied last term.

The 23-year-old was speaking at a press conference held at the Pittsburgh Steelers training facility on Thursday afternoon – read on to see what he had to say about his early impressions of working under Slot, his targets for the new campaign and more…

On returning to pre-season training...

It’s good to be back, of course. There is a change as well, so I am excited and the lads are as well. We’re all out there with a smile on our faces and enjoying the sun.

On what it’s been like for him working with Slot...

He’s amazing, actually. I’ve said it a lot, it’s probably the happiest I’ve been in terms of a style of play that suits me and the lads that we have in our team, it’s a clear plan. In the training stuff, he is fully involved, he coaches us a lot, he is big on the finer details in things. He has a certain way of playing and he knows it is going to take a little bit of time because it is obviously a big change. He and his staff are chilled about it and they know that the quality is all there. We have still got lads who are coming back as well, so it’ll be a step up again.

On whether it’s ‘a relief’ to have gelled with Slot already...

Again, yes. It is the happiest I’ve ever been, I’d say. It’s always been a hard time. I came around the team as a young lad, I always had a way of playing and the team I was coming around, I had to adapt [to], I had to change. But that was part of the plan. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t do, but I just feel now this is more me. I can get on the ball more, I can do me more, so I am excited.

On how this pre-season compares to previous ones he has experienced...

It is similar, actually. The goals are there, of course. It’s intense, but again as I’ve said, he is a man who has come in, he has a new style of play, so we’re out there and we’re trying to work, trying to learn his way of playing and his style. I wouldn’t say it’s harder, it’s just a big change.

On what Slot is like off the pitch as a person...

Great man, he always has a smile on his face. You can approach him at any single time. You can ask for him and he has brought in a thing where there is a guy we are working with who will be showing our clips from training and stuff, showing all the things we are doing well and the stuff we need to improve on as well. I find that a huge help.

On spending time with the England squad at the end of last season...

It was good. I only trained, [but] I was around lads that I had come away from and I knew I am not a long way away from. If anything, I am seeing that and I am going away with a smile on my face and thinking I am ready. I can be around it. But it takes time, I know what I have got to do, I have got to be in the team every week, I have got to improve a lot more as well at the same time. I need to score more goals, I need to assist more and I just need to find a consistent way of playing and stay in the team. I need to help our team as much as I can and I know that will come next.

On if being involved in pre-season since day one can bolster his claim for a place in the team to start the season…

That’s another thing as well that I thought of. We were told we were getting six weeks off but I went and trained for 10 days. I came back after four weeks and I wasn’t expecting to have another two off; I wanted to come back because I knew that lads were away and lads were going to be off, so I thought if I come back and I’m there, I’m under him [Slot] and from the first day I can take everything in as much as I can, which is what I am doing now. I have got a chance to hopefully start the first game and I know what I need to do, so that’s what I am looking for.

On whether Slot has talked about making tweaks to the midfield system and how it might allow him to shine…

I feel like my way of playing has always been a kid who wants to get on the ball and play and help the team and be comfortable on the ball. I then came around a team that have always had world-class lads out on the wing and up front. So I feel that the centre midfielders were always lads who were more runners and more disciplined, I would say. Of course, the principles are the same but I feel like now the centre midfield is going to be kind of more the heart of the team.

I say that in a way that of course Mo [Salah] is always still going to get his goals and things like that. But in terms of build-up and comfort on the ball and how calm we have to be in playing more as a team, we’re not in a rush to attack, we kind of just want to have the ball and break teams down. Of course that gives us then a chance that if we give the ball away then we can go and press. I feel more in the past it was kind of like a rush, we’d get the ball back and it was a little bit too direct I would say, it was up and down, up and down. Now he wants us to have all the ball and completely kill teams.

On feeling like he can step up and be a leader in the group, at 23 now…

Yes. I have been around the team now for a long time, I don’t see myself as a kid anymore, I’m experienced, I’ve played over 100 games for the club. I’ve played in the Champions League, the Premier League and all the cups. Of course there has been a big change in the team with lads who have gone and lads who have come in. I’m probably one of the lads who have been around the first team for the longest, along with the likes of Trent, Virg and Ali. I came into the team when I was 17 or 18, so I have been around now for long enough. I wouldn’t say I am the most experienced in terms of all the games that I’ve played, but in terms of I know what this club wants, what the fans want and what this team wants as well, I’d say yeah.

On his summer and meeting Steven Gerrard and LeBron James…

That [meeting LeBron] was just the other day, actually, in London. It was a nice experience. It was different, obviously it was basketball so a whole different sport – but I say all the time I always try to look at the elite in all the games around the world and he is one I have listened to a lot, in podcasts I’ve heard about how he prepares for games, how professional he is, how much he is inside the gym and things like that. He is known as being one of the best at what he does, so although we play a separate sport, he is still somebody I can learn things from. It was nice to see him play.

On if this current period is a chance to redefine his role in the team…

I have always had that mindframe. I have been around [Jürgen] Klopp since I was a kid. I came in and it wasn’t always that I was going to play games. But I’ve always had it in my head that I know the lads ahead of me are of course more experienced and they are older, but I always knew I’d still find an edge over them – I’ve always had self-belief in me and I always knew that lads around me were always there to help and guide me.

When Klopp was going, I thought I was kind of at the point where I was playing a lot more, I found our bond had become closer as well. It’s one of those things that is part of the game, there are changes all the time and I am happy that he can walk away as a legend of the club and he can go and experience life now with his family. Then of course the excitement was a guy is going to come in and I don’t think anybody has the edge over anybody yet, it’s a clean slate and that’s what I thought I needed. I came around the team as a young kid and lads had already been established. I came in as a kid who had a job on my hands and of course I still do, but I just feel we’re now at the point where everybody is equal. I think the ones who show it more now are the ones who will play.