Kids like Curtis have to wait for their chance... but they know Liverpool way

I HAD fun with Liverpool’s Curtis Jones on social media last week, when I messaged to say, “Hands up all those from Toxteth to have scored in the derby”.

We are, in fact, the two youngest Reds scorers against Everton and I’m relieved to say I still hold that particular record… because just about all my others have been taken away by Jurgen Klopp’s remarkable side.

I think I beat Curtis by a couple of days and I have a feeling it may stand for a while – because football has changed.

The level of the Premier League and the financial demands of the sport mean that it’s getting harder and harder for managers to introduce kids into big games.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the best young players will always come through.

It annoys me when I hear people saying players from the past wouldn’t hack it now because, believe me, the best could play – and star – in any era.

I have supreme confidence in the ability I had as an 18-year-old when I scored in the derby translating to the modern Premier League. But I don’t know if I have confidence that the system would deliver me there so quickly any more.

When I was a young player, there was an obvious progression – B team, A team, reserve team and first team.

The gaps on the steps of that ladder weren’t too wide, the step up from reserves to first team manageable. Now, there are the Under-18s and U-23s. Then the first team. That is such a massive gap, both in quality and intensity, and in physicality too. You look at it, and think, “How does any kid make that leap?”

These days, you’re still classed a young player at 22. At that age, I’d played more than four years and scored 30 goals a season for three consecutive years. Trent Alexander-Arnold has done it and the chances are there at Liverpool, but even he came through later than he would have done in my time.

I reckon me, Steve McManaman, Wayne Rooney all would have come through –and I reckon Curtis Jones will come through too because he has quality and intelligence – but we would have done it later and found it much harder.

I’ve spoken to Curtis a few times because Alex Inglethorpe at Liverpool’s academy had the smart idea of getting some of the former academy graduates like me, Macca and Rob Jones to mentor the kids.

Rob and Steve did it far more than me and showed them the attitude required, the mentality and discipline needed to make it these days.

Steven Gerrard did that too when he was U-18s manager and Neil Critchley. What they have done, is produce the “right” type of young players.

You look at Liverpool throughout their squad and they all have a personality

Jurgen Klopp demands. He wants “nice” people in his squad and he gets rid of any with the “wrong” character.

I look at Curtis Jones and you can see he has the right attitude. He wants to learn, he wants to progress.

He has confidence and the right type of arrogance, but he is not one of these kids

I see so often these days who believe they’re the greatest player on earth before they’ve played 10 games.

I think that attitude and humility in the Liverpool squad is a club thing, but also a city thing. It’s a trait shown by the people of Liverpool themselves. I think people who don’t know me are surprised when they meet me because I’m not the caricature they’ve read about. That’s because, in Liverpool, if you get above your station, your family and friends drag you back down to earth.

And Liverpool is a club that has always been that way. Klopp embraces that, he has that mentality because where he is from in Germany, they share the same values and belief in humble, hard work.

That is what makes this Liverpool team so great – no one is going to start believing the hype.

MANCHESTER UNITED have the same problem that the Liverpool team I played in suffered from – they are judged on the deeds of the greatest sides in their history. I think perhaps one of the best things Jurgen Klopp has done at Anfield is ensure no one is judging his current team on the past, they are accepting them for what they are. That is the huge challenge Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (above) faces at Old Trafford. He has a good, young side, but how long can you keep saying that about them? How long can you keep saying they’re a young team who need patience? The problem is yes, they are not a bad side, with some decent players, but there are plenty of sides you could describe in that way. What United have is that unflattering comparison with Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams, with the best sides in their history. And it is a heavy burden to bear. I know what it’s like. We had a good side – one that could have won far more – but we were always compared to the previous generations, and that builds pressure. It takes a strong manager to overcome that, to imprint his own mentality and recruit in the right way. I don’t see that at United. In fact, it’s the opposite – they have been chasing the past instead of building a future, which means too many bad signings. It will take time to correct that, but, because of the constant looking back and unflattering comparisons, I don’t think Solskjaer has that time.

THE QUALITY OF MERSEY Toxteth lad Curtis Jones celebrates his winning goal in the FA Cup derby match with Everton