Chelsea boss confirms Jason McAteer was right about Curtis Jones weakness

“He is not a winger, but he has played there before, he told me,” explained the Chelsea coach.

The Blues boss then added: “But even when he plays left-back or when he rolls into midfield, his movement off the ball is of a real high quality – the timing, the understanding of when to do it.”

Most significantly from a Liverpool perspective, McFarlane admitted: “So it’s something that we knew with him in that position we could maybe expose.”

That assessment lined up perfectly with what McAteer said during his analysis.

The former midfielder argued that Jones needed to stay disciplined rather than drifting centrally, particularly once Chelsea started finding joy down that flank through Cucurella’s movement.

Liverpool’s balance continues to look wrong

It’s difficult to argue with the criticism because the tactical imbalance was obvious after Liverpool’s bright start faded away.

Ryan Gravenberch’s early goal should have settled Anfield, yet once Chelsea gained confidence, Liverpool completely lost control of the game.

The pressing disappeared, the defensive structure became stretched and Cucurella consistently found dangerous pockets of space.

McFarlane even admitted the Spain international was unfortunate not to register an assist.

“He was unlucky not to get an assist and he created a lot of problems for them.”

That will frustrate Liverpool supporters because Chelsea arrived at Anfield after six consecutive Premier League defeats.

Instead of building on a strong opening 20 minutes, Slot’s side once again became passive, and the growing unrest around the manager is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.