Phil Jones

Pogue Mahone said:
I thought he was outstanding for the U-21s tonight. Himself and Smalling are already starting to build a formidable partnership.

Love the way they're willing to take it in turns to maraud forwards. They're both so quick, well-balanced and comfortable on the ball. Exciting times ahead.

We'll be a much fecking tougher nut to crack in next season's Carling Cup, that's for sure.
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I can't remember Jones being in a foot race? Smalling and Jones did well especillay when you consider Jones is 2 years Smallings junior.

I think tougher tests will come but so far so good.
 
Jonhmufc and noodle probably think he's useless and arrogant already with his runs forward.

I love him already.
 
He's showing qualities that could mean he can be an excellent midfielder for us.

The "new not injury prone Hargreaves" maybe.
 
Ole's_toe_poke said:
He's showing qualities that could mean he can be an excellent midfielder for us.

The "new not injury prone Hargreaves" maybe.
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midfield is where I have seen him play the most.

a defensive midfielder until Rio or Vidic quit?

it will be interesting to see how Fergie plays the lad. I cannot believe we bought him to just sit on the bench.
 
Jones was a beast tonight, the combination of him and Smalling bodes well for United's future.
 
I don't think we'll see him in CM. However he could be useful in DM in a 451 would allow for the twins to bomb forwards from full back and it'd counter their lack of height from set pieces. He'sll still be understudy to Carrick in that role for now but perhaps we will see it in the Carling Cup.

Our CC team next year could be something like:


Welbeck - Macheda

Cleverly - Petrucci - Morrison
Jones
Fabio -- Evans -- Smalling -- Rafael

Lindegaard​

Loans/transfers in+out depending of course, and maybe add James/Norwood into the mix...but seriously, how sexy does that team look!?
 
I didn't. With the exception of Morrison the others are all older, and I almost didn't put Morrison in either but I thought it'd be more of a crowd pleaser than James. We have an array of young talents in CM though, it'll be very interesting to see what SAF does with them all.
 
Jones seems the type to improve rapidly and fit into the side straight away, possibly as a utility player. And he's a natural leader, which will help him settle in next to illustrious team mates. Forecast: he will play more games next season than Cleverley or Welbeck or Evans.
 
Deploy him as an anchorman in our team, who drops back into defence to allow the fullbacks to bomb forward. I like this.
 
Anyone else HATING the idea of a central defender being the answer to our midfield issues?

Everytime I see a poster suggest playing him in midfield I fecking cringe.
 
Sharky7 said:
Anyone else HATING the idea of a central defender being the answer to our midfield issues?

Everytime I see a poster suggest playing him in midfield I fecking cringe.
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I do too! I don't think he looks like a midfielder at this moment in time and I suspect his future lies as a central defender.
 
I've no problem with him taking on O'Shea's role as someone who is primarily a defender but can do a job in midfield, when required.

He won't fill the gap left by Scholes/Hargreaves/Gibson though, never mind improve our midfield from the season before.
 
He was beastly last night. The comfort with which he took it into midfield and played it around (less hoofing compared to the Spain game) showed he's got a lot more to his game than just being a pure defender.
 
Other getting stuck in, is he a good enough passer to be able to play in midfield? Mind you, it was only the U21s level last night
 
We're going to play 3-5-2 in the future with Smalling - Jones - Evans at the back, ready to step forward and act as DMs if we outnumber their forwards. :drool:
 
cj4_elmo said:
We're going to play 3-5-2 in the future with Smalling - Jones - Evans at the back, ready to step forward and act as DMs if we outnumber their forwards. :drool:
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No we're not.
 
To be honest I'm not raving about his performance last night. On the whole he did well but he hoofed too many balls (not entirely his fault) and had that cock up that very nearly cost the game.

He's really promising though and when you consider he's only 19 it makes it all the more impressive.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I've no problem with him taking on O'Shea's role as someone who is primarily a defender but can do a job in midfield, when required.

He won't fill the gap left by Scholes/Hargreaves/Gibson though, never mind improve our midfield from the season before.
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I guess that's fair. O'Shea in midfield wasn't half as bad as what some people let on. Wasn't ideal but he'd do a job.
 
Apart from the fact he had some lovely moments running with the ball, I loved how he was trying to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and charged forward into midfield/left wing/upfront whenever he saw space to try and get the game going. Great attitude, desperate to get the team going, completely unwilling to accept the lack of ambition and attacking intent being shown by the midfielders in front of him.

Jones looks like the natural leader in that U21 side and probably should be captain, in my opinion.

So glad we got him. Think he'd have really improved Arsenal and Liverpool if he'd gone there.
 
I think too many seeing his perfomance through the lens of being a United player. He was decent and did everything asked of him bar one error - otherwise he was overshadowed by Smalling.

It's too early to say how he will develop but in 6 months time we will begin to get a better picture. One thing is for sure you could drop him into the cauldron of an EPL game and I don't think he would go missing.
 
Commadus said:
I think too many seeing his perfomance through the lens of being a United player. He was decent and did everything asked of him bar one error - otherwise he was overshadowed by Smalling.

It's too early to say how he will develop but in 6 months time we will begin to get a better picture. One thing is for sure you could drop him into the cauldron of an EPL game and I don't think he would go missing.
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That's not true at all.

Smalling was much the better player in the game against Spain but last night Jones really stood out on his own merit.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
That's not true at all.

Smalling was much the better player in the game against Spain but last night Jones really stood out on his own merit.
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I don't think I can bare watch the game again to re-assess my opinion.

I'll just leave it that lets hope he plays well against the Czech who seem to have a big bull dozer of a forward.
 
Smalling was MOTM against Spain.

Jones was far better last night, he was a beast infact.
 
cw1984 said:
To be honest I'm not raving about his performance last night. On the whole he did well but he hoofed too many balls (not entirely his fault) and had that cock up that very nearly cost the game.

He's really promising though and when you consider he's only 19 it makes it all the more impressive.
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Hoofing the ball is the consequence of years of coaching at Blackburn. You'll find he'll be playing it short once he spends a few weeks at United.
 
Sultan said:
Hoofing the ball is the consequence of years of coaching at Blackburn. You'll find he'll be playing it short once he spends a few weeks at United.
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And a seemingly woeful game plan by Stuart Pearce. He seems to have good technique on the ball, i have no fears about how good he'll be at keeping the ball. Also pretty encouraging is his confidence/drive to step out of defence with the ball when need be. Good attribute for a young centre back to have.
 
Blackburn owners: We let Jones go because we feared harming his career by fighting a legal battle

The owners of Blackburn Rovers claim they were ready to take Manchester United to a disciplinary tribunal over the transfer of England Under-21 defender Phil Jones but backed down for fear of damaging the teenager's career.

Anuradha Desai, the Indian businesswoman who heads the Venkys conglomerate which owns Rovers, has written to the Premier League to express concern that United may have spoken to Jones's agent about a move to Old Trafford before Rovers had given them permission to do so.

Blackburn's letter, which was received by the Premier League on Friday, is not a formal request for an investigation or an official complaint over United's conduct.


Nor will it affect 19-year-old Jones's move to Old Trafford, which had looked to be in serious doubt after Liverpool made it known they would pay up to £22million for the defender.

But Desai said: 'We have reasons to believe that the player's agent and maybe the player had been in touch [with United] for two to three months before permission was granted.
'I was ready to take Manchester United on, ready to go to a tribunal if that's what it led to. But we spoke at length to [Blackburn manager] Steve Kean and we knew Phil wanted to go to United.


'We concluded that the person who would be most damaged by a delay and legal action was Phil. That wasn't fair on him. There was a release clause for £16.5m and the total deal was £4m more with the add-ons. We wish Phil well.'

Kean flew to India eight days ago for talks about Jones.

Desai, her co-owner brothers and the family's lawyers discussed the practicalities of making a formal complaint to the Premier League under section K of their rules, which governs unauthorised contact between players and clubs. But they stopped short of pursuing that course.

Desai explained: 'We're just asking whether the rules are appropriate. If our case brings clarity for others, that's good.

'I don't actually mind that a player or his agent talks to another club. My personal opinion is anyone should be free to explore their professional options and deal with contractual issues as necessary.

'But there are a set of rules that are meant to prevent a contracted player or any representative talking to other clubs without permission. So I don't know why they are there if they cannot be policed and enforced effectively.

'It's almost impossible to provide hard proof of infringements unless someone admits to it.'

Negotiations over Jones's move to United were complicated by interest from Arsenal and Liverpool.
Desai said: 'These are great clubs and they acted entirely properly in all their dealings with us. It is a shame for them that they didn't get him, and it is a pity for us that we lost him.
'Phil is an outstanding young English player and I'm proud of the role Blackburn played in developing him. We made him an enormous offer to stay with us and we wanted to keep him.'

United announced on Monday afternoon that they had 'successfully negotiated' the transfer.

While Jones had a £16.5m release clause inserted in his contract when he signed a new deal at Blackburn in February, Desai confirmed that the move to United is worth £20.5m, including add-ons.

And if United subsequently sell Jones, Blackburn could earn further millions, over and above that sum through a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
Jones is due to play tonight for Stuart Pearce's England youngsters against the Czech Republic in a game the English must win to progress to the latter stages of the European Under-21 championship.

Manchester United said: 'We had the appropriate permissions to speak to Phil Jones.'

Asked to clarify whether permission had arrived before contact was first made - and who had given the permission - a United spokesman said: 'We have nothing further to add.'

Jones's agent, John Colquhoun, of Key Sports Management, said: 'I won't be commenting on the confidential process that was undertaken. Everyone is telling me they're happy with what went on so, unless I hear different and unless I've got questions to answer, I don't feel I have to comment.'

Desai's next challenge will be to keep Jones's fellow defender, Chris Samba, at the club. Arsenal have already tabled at least one offer.
'We don't want to let Chris go,' said Desai. 'I'm confident that we can keep him and I hope he'll stay.

'I know he has an ambition to play for Arsenal but I hope we can keep him for another year at least and prove our own ambition.'


Blackburn owners: We let Jones go because we feared harming his career by fighting a legal battle | Mail Online
 
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