Die-hard Liverpool fans will have known when the Reds' line-up against Everton was confirmed that Curtis Jones was not going to be playing at right-back for the very first time.
When Jones was breaking through under Jurgen Klopp in 2020, he made a couple of substitute appearances on the right side of Liverpool's defense, and three years later he reprised that role as he captained the club to victory in a League Cup game against Leicester last season.
A Merseyside derby is one or two steps up from the third round of the League Cup, but Jones did not look out of place as Arne Slot's men kept a clean sheet en route to a 1-0 victory. Jones' performance garnered praise from boss Slot, who talked up the value of versatile players, but Gary Neville had a strange take, one which he admitted himself was "ruthless".
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“I’m going to be quite ruthless here," Neville said on Sky Sports. "There’s no doubt that there are games where Curtis Jones could play right-back, but I think he (Slot) may play Quansah on Sunday at Fulham purely because it’s away from home and the away of doing a lot more defending, you’re going to get a lot more pressure.
“But I think the idea that Curtis Jones can play full-back remains to be seen, because if he’s playing against PSG or the top teams, you will get found out if you’re not competent defensively. I know there’s a feeling in football that everyone can play right-back, but I’m going to push back a little bit and say it’s more challenging when it comes to the big games and playing against fantastic players.
“Will he be able to play at the Bernabeu and play against Real Madrid or City away or United away? I’m not so sure, he might have some problems, but he’s got the physical attributes for it and the ability on the ball, it’s just has he got the concentration, has he got the positional sense. He can work on it, but let’s see.”
Neither Trent Alexander-Arnold nor Conor Bradley are expected to return from injury any time soon, so Jones may well have a few more outings at right-back during the run-in, but Real Madrid is not on Liverpool's fixture list, nor are Manchester City or Manchester United, so there is little point speculating about how Jones would perform in games that are not going to happen.
There is no jeopardy involved with playing Jones at right-back between now and the end of the campaign: Liverpool has the Premier League all but wrapped up, and that is the only competition that the club will compete in over the next two months following last month's elimination from the Champions League.
When either of Liverpool's right-backs are available again, either this season or next, Jones will not be chosen to play there, and there will be no need to talk about how well he might play there in a hypothetical game at the Bernabeu.
