Phil Jones

Baby Faced Assassin said:
You're right but his off the ball play is not at that level yet.
Click to expand...

This is very true. Just in case it needs to be said, he's still a level below Rio and Vida at CB, Evans and Smalling are as well.

The younger players may have more energy and be able to run about more, but Rio has the best defensive positioning I've ever seen, the man is amazing.

Jones will likely end up on the left side of defense, playing Vida's 'hard man' role while Smalling does Rio's 'silks' role, so he won't have to be able to read the game as well as Rio to succeed.

He's improved at CB already since his debut against the Chicago Fire, I'm sure he'll make it to a very high level with experience.

But he's obviously as far along at 19 as anyone could hope, and probably further.
 
gooDevil said:
Jones will likely end up on the left side of defense, playing Vida's 'hard man' role while Smalling does Rio's 'silks' role, so he won't have to be able to read the game as well as Rio to succeed.
Click to expand...
The amazing thing about the two of them is, you could easily see both of them filling either of Rio's or Vida's roles.

Smalling isn't as aggressive as Vidic and Jones, but he has the size and power to still bully most strikers. I had to laugh when Anelka had a run up and attempted to shoulder-barge Smalling as we broke from a Chelsea corner; Anelka went bouncing off while Smalling was barely budged.

Meanwhile Jones, the Vidic style player, is completely comfortable with the ball at his feet and pushing up past players, receiving and delivering passes in fairly tight areas.

Neither are as good as Rio with their positioning or awareness, but hopefully with experience they'll get close. Combine that with their skill on the ball, their power (neither should have any trouble with the big powerful strikers that Rio can occasionally struggle against), and their speed (although Smalling can take a few steps to really get going), they could go on to be an amazing partnership for us and England.

And then we have Evans as well...
 
I want to see Smalling Jones partnership this season. But we keep on playing Evans its difficult to assess.
 
RedRonaldo said:
I want to see Smalling Jones partnership this season. But we keep on playing Evans its difficult to assess.
Click to expand...

dont think we'l see too much of that in the league tbh. with vidic back, he'l be playing every game in the league bar a few.
 
We might see a fair bit of that in the FA Cup, CC and even in the league between CL games, once Rio and Vida are back, Evans won't play at CB every time, though he's done pretty well himself.
 
The early rounds of the FA cup and the CC for sure. but it wont really be games where they'l be tested is what i was getting at.
 
I suspect they will get some pretty good tests, Sir Alex loves to challenge his players, I'm usually very impressed with his ability to pick games for young players that might seem too early to others. And they usually come through quite well.

Sir Alex does take a bit out of the forum, there's really no future in the 'I doubt SAF is doing it right' line of thinking. Back in 2006 there was doubt in this forum, no one criticizes SAF much anymore.
 
well, i'd love that because i think they are good enough. they should form a very good pair, just like vida and rio.
 
It's frightening to think just how could this guy could become. I got it very wrong with him.
 
This thread needs a bump. How can we not have talked about the greatest living person on the planet it in more than 36 hours?
 
I love his runs but he needs to be able to pass the ball while being on one of his berserk runs. Ashley Young were all alone during a Jones run in the second half but Jones just kept lumping forward until he lost the ball.
 
Playing at CB he made more dangerous runs than Anderson or Fletcher.

I just can't help but be fascinated to see what he could do from midfield.

Still, a good performance, did well enough against Crouch to put him off balance, not much you can do to stop him from winning a header.
 
gooDevil said:
Playing at CB he made more dangerous runs than Anderson or Fletcher.

I just can't help but be fascinated to see what he could do from midfield.

Still, a good performance, did well enough against Crouch to put him off balance, not much you can do to stop him from winning a header.
Click to expand...

It won't necessarily be better I think.As a CB he benefits from the surprise effect and the fact that his runs is helping his team to outnumber the opponents in certain area of the pitch.From midfield, he would surprise less
 
His driving runs are actually incredible. feck me does he know how to attack the space.
 
kouroux said:
It won't necessarily be better I think.As a CB he benefits from the surprise effect and the fact that his runs is helping his team to outnumber the opponents in certain area of the pitch.From midfield, he would surprise less
Click to expand...

True, maybe.. but I'd be very interested to see him get a few games in central mid.. surprise or not, he's an Essien style bulldozer, and that would be very very useful..
How about right back, though ? More license to get forward, and his crosses aren't bad at all...
 
gooDevil said:
Playing at CB he made more dangerous runs than Anderson or Fletcher.

I just can't help but be fascinated to see what he could do from midfield.

Still, a good performance, did well enough against Crouch to put him off balance, not much you can do to stop him from winning a header.
Click to expand...
I'd argue that making those runs from defense are a bit easier for him than from midfield, simply because he is unlikely to get the same amount of time and space in midfield. Basically i think he'd be most dynamic and have the most impact playing exactly where he did tonight.

Still needs to work on his defensive skills though, especially from set pieces. He lost Crouch far too easily i thought.

Then again i remind myself that he is only 19 still! :devil:
 
kouroux said:
It won't necessarily be better I think.As a CB he benefits from the surprise effect and the fact that his runs is helping his team to outnumber the opponents in certain area of the pitch.From midfield, he would surprise less
Click to expand...
Fully agree.
 
Given there's usually so much praise for him it's only fair to say that he did seem to lose Crouch on the corner that they scored from. He'll get better defensively as he matures.
 
I'd love to see him given a proper run at full back.
 
iAm20Legend said:
True, maybe.. but I'd be very interested to see him get a few games in central mid.. surprise or not, he's an Essien style bulldozer, and that would be very very useful..
How about right back, though ? More license to get forward, and his crosses aren't bad at all...
Click to expand...

He'd be perfect there.He's good defensively and offensively we have seen he can cross and can make the right forwards runs and the right time
 
Sam said:
His driving runs are actually incredible. feck me does he know how to attack the space.
Click to expand...

Hopefully come the end of the season, he'll learn to pass the ball after the 1st couple of players are beaten, you can't try to always bulldoze your way through....

Of course it's worked a couple of times for him, but that's me being super criticial, he is 19!
 
Neutral said:
Hopefully come the end of the season, he'll learn to pass the ball after the 1st couple of players are beaten, you can't try to always bulldoze your way through....

Of course it's worked a couple of times for him, but that's me being super criticial, he is 19!
Click to expand...

Anderson should take the cue, actually. He has it in him to do the same thing more often. I know a CB doing to it can often take teams by surprise but I can see Anderson doing it a bit more often to lethal effect.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
Given there's usually so much praise for him it's only fair to say that he did seem to lose Crouch on the corner that they scored from. He'll get better defensively as he matures.
Click to expand...

I though He lost Crouch, but the commentators seemed intent on pasting it on De Gea... I think he was a little switched off after the restart.
 
I'm still trying to figure out how good he actually is defensively. He's a great athlete and very good with the ball at his feet, but I think he's a little defensively naive. Not quite as solid as Smalling, and I'd probably say Evans is more solid in most scenarios as well (although a team like Stoke with all their height and power is the type of match he'd probably struggle in).

But...he's 19. He'll certainly improve, and hopefully it'll be enough that he can become as good as he promises to be.
 
Jones is going to be an immense player. He has so much confidence and is technically very good.

He's not at fault for the goal - it was a superb delivery from Etherington and a good finish.
 
MadDogg said:
I'm still trying to figure out how good he actually is defensively. He's a great athlete and very good with the ball at his feet, but I think he's a little defensively naive. Not quite as solid as Smalling, and I'd probably say Evans is more solid in most scenarios as well (although a team like Stoke with all their height and power is the type of match he'd probably struggle in).

But...he's 19. He'll certainly improve, and hopefully it'll be enough that he can become as good as he promises to be.
Click to expand...

My feelings too. Sure Torres and Crouch both made good runs, but he was the defender responsible for stopping them in both cases. No doubt he'll get better with experience.
 
Plan M said:
Jones is going to be an immense player. He has so much confidence and is technically very good.

He's not at fault for the goal - it was a superb delivery from Etherington and a good finish.
Click to expand...

He lost Crouch - there is no getting away from that. It's not the end of the world, but to say, he had no part in it, would be incorrect.

While it was a very good delivery, the finish was quite simple, he had a free header from a couple of yards out - he was hardly going to miss.
 
He's definitely a little defensively naive, but still a very good CB. I have him as my first choice RB at this point, though. As others have said, allows him to get forward more and he doesn't have to be as defensively solid.

But with his running style I think he's not the 'run down the wing' sort but likes to get infield so he can go left and right and use his agility to lose players. And he has a great engine so I'm sure he'd be good at pursuing runners as a central midfielder.
 
Jones, Cleverley Anderson in midfield vs Barca.

They won't know what hit them :D
 
There was 1 run he went on where had he got his head up Owen was free in the box with acres of space. He needs to get his head up more. Gunna be a fabulous player though.
 
clearly he has been taking pointers from boss

10213326.jpg
 
He's only 19 and seems to have captivated the mind of the greatest football manager ever.

This kid will be an absolute super star provided he is looked after and looks after himself.
 
He reminds me ever so slightly of a pig. But, its a very technical pig. Technical Jonesy pig.
 
Hectic said:
He reminds me ever so slightly of a pig. But, its a very technical pig. Technical Jonesy pig.
Click to expand...

♫Pigs...pigs will tear you apart again...♫
 
You must log in or register to reply here.