Phil Jones

I have to say, I like Jones at RB. Offers plenty going forward and even moreso offers plenty at set pieces, offensive as well as defensive. And as stated before, he is only 19, plenty time for him to learn his CB trade from 2 of the best in Rio and Vida. What young defender would not love to learn from those 2.
 
I tell you what Jones did Vidic a favour yesterday on the Bendtner chance that rolled across the box, Vidic got caught square with the ball over the top to Larsson and had Jones not come across to put off Bendtner who had gotten a free run on Vidic then he probably would have a easy tap in. Good work from Jones.
 
OliverKayTimes Oliver Kay
One last thing. @Ph1lj0nes's 1st football memory is of Matt Jansen at Blackburn. First England memory is 2002 World Cup. How scary is that?

That is terrifying. I'm only 22 myself and this scares even me!
 
Nice nugget of info from the Sun:

Jones said: "Centre-back is my more natural position. That is what United signed me as and it is where I grew up playing. "
 
Bread said:
OliverKayTimes Oliver Kay
One last thing. @Ph1lj0nes's 1st football memory is of Matt Jansen at Blackburn. First England memory is 2002 World Cup. How scary is that?

That is terrifying. I'm only 22 myself and this scares even me!
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Can't remember seeing England before he was 10, hard to imagine for somebody who has gone on to be a pro player with the worlds biggest team and now England. you would think he would have been quite into the game by that age.
 
Versatile Phil Jones will be captain of England, declares mentor Sam Allardyce

Phil Jones will captain England, says the manager who gave him his Premier League debut after realising that Blackburn Rovers possessed “the biggest hidden gem in the country”.

Sam Allardyce yesterday hailed the 19 year-old, along with Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere, as the future of English football, and said that Jones is the most talented young player he has worked with.
“I was never in doubt that he was going to make it,” said Allardyce, who is now in charge of West Ham but who plucked Jones from Blackburn’s academy. “But I was slightly surprised just how quickly and how comfortably he has played in the biggest league in the world at such a young age and the diversity of positions he has played.”
Allardyce handed Jones his Premier League debut as a central defender in March 2010 against Chelsea at Ewood Park and he was asked to mark Didier Drogba. After the 1-1 draw, Jones was rightly named man of the match with Allardyce declaring that he had unearthed the successor to John Terry. It’s a claim he stands by.
“He’s proved me right,” Allardyce said. “He is already growing into what I consider to be a leader. When he gets more experience he will be able to control his team-mates and eventually he will wear the armband for England. It’s a lot to ask of such a young man but he has the all-round outstanding ability to be a very top player.
“The biggest asset that Phil has is his mental strength. Football is played at the highest level because of what is between the ears more than the motor skills. What he is doing at the moment is way beyond his years and he has the ability to accept the responsibility of the position and carry out the need for the team in whatever position the manager asks him to play in.

“He is able to listen to those instructions and deliver and then the game-understanding he has comes through. It does not faze him. It’s ‘I’m here, I should be here, this is where I should be’.”
Allardyce was brutally sacked by Blackburn’s new owners, the Venky’s Group, before Jones was sold in the summer to Manchester United for £16.5 million but Allardyce was already well aware of the interest in the teenager.
“He made the right move for me going to Manchester United,” Allardyce said. “There’s the history of the club and the fact that they are the biggest club in the Premier League and one that plays football to win medals and trophies. It’s the place where he can fulfil his ambitions but it was also a difficult decision for him as he had the five biggest clubs in the country all after him.”
The biggest debate over Jones is what will be his best position. But Allardyce said that his “diversity” — is he a central defender, a right-back or a midfielder? — is also his strength. “He’s so good that I don’t think it will hinder him in any way, shape or form,” Allardyce said.
“As a footballer, if he’s limited to one position, then he might not play as many games this year as he would like to and that’s what Sir Alex [Ferguson] has seen. He’s seen his diversity as much as I did. No doubt at some stage or other he will settle into one position and make one position his own and then it will be more difficult to move him.”
So what does Allardyce believe is Jones’s natural role?
“It’s difficult to tell because there’s a great attacking ability to Phil’s game and if you played him at centre-half you might curb that,” he explained. “At centre-half, the vast percentage of your play has to be about trying to acquire a clean sheet before joining in the rest of the play. The attacking ability he possesses from right-back, the way he goes forward I look at the quality of his crossing, his delivery and the number of goals he has assisted in. His final delivery, without wanting to go too far, it appears to be as good as any wide player in the league. He’s a model professional.”
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Versatile Phil Jones will be captain of England, declares mentor Sam Allardyce - Telegraph
 
'Final delivery as good as any player in the league'. That is high praise indeed from someone who has worked extensively with the lad. Jones really is an amazing success story, so glad we beat the pack and ended up signing him.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I just can't take interviews with Sam Allardyce seriously any more, thanks to his alter ego on twitter. I keep expecting him to drop in a sordid sexual revelation.
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:lol:
Was just about to say the same.
 
Widnes said:
Can't remember seeing England before he was 10, hard to imagine for somebody who has gone on to be a pro player with the worlds biggest team and now England. you would think he would have been quite into the game by that age.
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In fairness he may have been but just not remembered england friendlies/qualifiers. I can say I dont remember any England games before 98 world cup, even though i'm sure I watched them.
 
He did ok. There were a couple of occassions when he broke from midfield and maybe lacked the confidence or experience to make the right pass but he was solid enough and put himself about.
 
He wasn't great. OK at best. Firstly the English midfield barely touched the ball. Secondly he just looks a little lost there.
 
But he couldn't have been too mediocre as he was part of a midfield that help Spain scoreless. Was his energy useful in staying after Spain's constantly moving midfield?
 
He looked like a 19 year old centre back put into midfield against the world champions.

He has the character to ensure that he could 'do a job' in any position. But I dont get the impression that he's going to be groomed into a regular midfielder. It's all good experience for him though.
 
I didn't think he was very good. But then it was a very tough task to be honest. He was playing further forward than Lampard most of the time. Like charleysurf said, he looked like a 19 year old put into center mid against the world champions...playing offensively. Can't really blame him for anything he did wrong. And he didn't do much wrong. He's not going to play against a harder midfield than that....Unless we play them again, and they've got Xavi back
 
I'm glad Fergie has tried this, and now Capello.

Hopefully they've both now, gotten this experimentation out of their system. Phil Jones is not a midfielder, Phil Jones will never be a midfielder.

Play him where he belongs, CB/RB.
 
He did well and was a bit unlucky with his final ball at times. Just needs a bit more practice in using those specific skills to make sure its the right weight and timing of pass. Having he, Parker and Lampard in front of the defence made Lescott and Jagielka look a few classes better than they actually are because it made things easier for them and made the game easier to read with these midfielders making it hard for Spain to play a final ball through the middle as they always like to do. Overall he did the exact job he was in the team for and whether that blows you away or not, we're likely to see more of him there at certain times in the future.
 
He always looks like a player in a rush, which is not the right ingredient for a midfielder. He needs composure in his game to become a midfielder, which I'm sure will come with experience. He also needs to play it simple and minimise his fondness for taking on players deep in his own half when playing central midfield.
 
Ridiculous that he ended up in Centre-Midfield yesterday, I can understand why he'd be there for us but Capello has a far greater pool of players to choose from. For me he doesn't really seem to have the touch of a midfielder, his youthful exuberance in the position showed yesterday too. He seemed keen to press higher, which is the right thing to do, but obviously the England game plan was to make the final third as crowded as possible to stifle Spain and reduce the danger from Iniesta and Silva going in between the lines. A very good experience for Jones though, very easy to forget he's only 19.
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Ridiculous that he ended up in Centre-Midfield yesterday, I can understand why he'd be there for us but Capello has a far greater pool of players to choose from. For me he doesn't really seem to have the touch of a midfielder, his youthful exuberance in the position showed yesterday too. He seemed keen to press higher, which is the right thing to do, but obviously the England game plan was to make the final third as crowded as possible to stifle Spain and reduce the danger from Iniesta and Silva going in between the lines. A very good experience for Jones though, very easy to forget he's only 19.
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It really is. For him just to settle so well for us, and be consistant in his performances despite being played out of position in almost all of his appearances is fantastic. He isnt a midfielder that's for sure, but in a similar style to JOS he just gets the job done if needed to play there. Love his drive forward with the ball too :drool:
 
Pogue Mahone said:
So I didn't watch the Sweden game.

Well? How'd he get on?
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First half I felt he was England's best player, used the ball well and was always showing for it. He was also playing deeper in the holding role today and again I felt his positioning could have been better, in the 2nd half I felt he looked a bit tired and lethargic. He should have scored today in the 1st half after one of his lung bursting runs through the middle. Good experience for him though, he'll be some player in 2-3 years with Rio's tuition.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
So I didn't watch the Sweden game.

Well? How'd he get on?
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IMO Sweden wasn't good enough to give a fair indication. Played OK but the pitch was bad and quality of the passes from both teams was less then average.

I'm in the "wait and see" mood regarding Jones as a midfielder. But I was wrong regarding Cleverley after the EC U-21 so I can misjudge again. It's always space for feck ups... but with a gun on my head - NEY. Not our new midfield solution.
 
I thought he was very good today. Should've scored as AC said, and he knew it too. When the HT whistle blew he did one of those little Ronaldo-esque frustrated hand flapping whinges to himself so you could tell he was really annoyed at himself. The fact that he tried to place it past the keeper rather than just welly it said everything about him though. He's a ridiculously assured footballer for a 19 year old center back.

That said I have no idea where he was playing or where he was supposed to be playing. He was just "about" now and then.
 
Odd one.

I don't see him as a natural midfielder, though if we or England insist on playing him there then he's definitely more natural in the holding role as opposed to being the most advanced midfielder.

You can tell his has lovely technique. When he does get on the ball, he strokes it about with a real assuredness and there is good range and variety of pass. That said, I found myself willing him to show for the ball more - quality midfielders always make themselves available to receive the ball, they're always on the dart, looking to make an angle. Jones seemed a bit static and often found himself marked.

Maybe it was him not wanting to overdo it. Maybe he's not comfortable there.

There's definitely potential there, but I'm not sure it's justifiable to keep him from gathering experience in the backline by experimenting with him in midfield.

Edit: as we've seen from him in defence, his positional play in defensive situations does leave a little to be desired. He is only 19 though.
 
If nothing else, playing in an alternative position will increase his understanding of how to connect with midfield, where midfielders like to collect the ball, et cetera. At around the same age Cleverley was playing LB for United youth/reserves, because he needed to work on his defense.

Of course this is England, not the time for strengthening a player by playing them out of position. But even if the experiment gets called off at some point, I think it will help his development.
 
He distributed the ball better than against Spain, as he would have been expected to do. I think he did it better than Barry or Rodwell on the day. A couple of fantastic passes in there. And yes he had that run through at speed and was unlucky not to score. I think the ability to do that is the reason he is getting games in central midfield. At CB if he tries to bomb forward through the middle like that it could cost the team dearly on a counter, and if you're playing a holding role in central midfield once again it would expose the area you're supposed to be protecting. So I feel thats why he's in there playing a normal central midfield role, no more restricted than the likes of Barry and Rodwell that he's playing with. He's not just doing a defensive job, you have to look at the full picture as he is providing the team with distribution and some attacks too. Its like with Anderson when he plays well, he doesnt really do 1 particular thing at an elite level. Doesnt protect the back four brilliantly, doesnt retain and distribute the ball like the best of them, doesnt get forward and become a threat in the final third like some midfielders, but the overall performance has a bit of everything. Thats what Jones is doing in midfield. He's not just a third CB playing in front of the defence, he's looking to make tackles further up the field than that
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I just can't take interviews with Sam Allardyce seriously any more, thanks to his alter ego on twitter. I keep expecting him to drop in a sordid sexual revelation.
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I can't take him seriously since he stated something about how he'd win the league every year if he was at United or Madrid.
 
Its Cappellos back plan if Parker gets injured. So Jones will only ever be played in that role again in a competetive match if Parker is out for some reason
 
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