Liverpool supporters' unacceptable abuse of Curtis Jones online reveals a dangerous truth about modern fandom, writes IAN LADYMAN
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Curtis Jones posted a simple photograph on his Instagram page this week showing himself celebrating Mohamed Salah’s goal in the Champions League by sitting next to him on an advertising hoarding. Many of the comments posted beneath were pleasant and many were not.
![[Jones joined Liverpool as a nine-year-old and has gone on to make 160 appearances for them]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/23/15/94438019-14317975-image-a-21_1737646280387.jpg)
‘You should learn to respect our legend’. ‘Don’t talk too much kid’. ‘Stay humble’. ‘Salah’s left foot is better than your whole career’. That was just a sample taken from the first dozen of more than 500 comments left by Thursday morning. More will come, for sure.
![[Jones has had to work hard and be patient and respectful in order to build his career]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/23/15/94438015-14317975-image-a-22_1737646317275.jpg)
The origins of the discourse lay in an interview Jones, the Liverpool midfielder, did with Rio Ferdinand in the run up the game against Lille in which he suggested that the former Chelsea and Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard may have been more talented than Salah, his team-mate.
![[Liverpool-born Jones is a homegrown player, but that brings with it its own unique problems]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/23/15/94438259-14317975-image-a-23_1737646417763.jpg)
In the real world, this is called an opinion. It is called being a human being. It is called being honest and real in a sport occupied by too many fakes and bluffers. Cutis Jones posted a photograph of himself on his Instagram, celebrating Mohamed Salah's goal against Lille, which attracted an unreasonable amount of fan ire.
![[Jones was an Anfield favourite from his very first game, scoring the winner against Everton]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/23/15/94438299-14317975-image-a-24_1737646485734.jpg)
Jones joined Liverpool as a nine-year-old and has gone on to make 160 appearances for them. Jones has had to work hard and be patient and respectful in order to build his career. But in the world of modern football fandom and particularly social media, it is treacherous and disloyal. That is a point that has been rammed home to Jones all week.
![[Trent Alexander-Arnold (left) will inevitably receive more stick in his contract battle than Salah]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/23/15/94438339-14317975-image-a-25_1737646552418.jpg)
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