Phil Jones

KingEric7

Christ, we must be fucking sorted if even you admit that!

friendlytramp

He'll play as the defensive midfielder dropping back into central defence in the 31231 that the gaffers working towards at the moment

--------------de gea-------------
Rafael----Smalling--------Evans
---------------jones--------------
--------Pogba----- cleverly------
Valencia-----Rooney--------bale
-------------welbeck-------------

Cutch

apotheosis

I am surprised to find out Gallas and Vermaelen are under 6 ft, but there you go. Fair play they are both top quality, no denying that. On the whole though there are not many and players are getting taller by the year.

When you compare Jones to Smalling i find it difficult to see how anyone can thing Jones looks a natural CB. I might well be wrong, but in almost all his performances so far, he looks so much better suited to midfield, than CB.

apotheosis

No you are right of course, Height is not the be all and end all for a CB, neither is pace, but not having them leaves you with a fairly evident vulnerability. Pardew targeted it and caused us problems all game because you cannot do much about it. Apart from cuban heels i suppose.

Had Jones looked as comfortable as Smalling at CB, then i would not be so dubious, but he hasn't. He does not look a natural CB to me and his lack of height will not help.

Anyone who has watched his performances at CB compared to his performances in midfield, (especially when you consider he has hardly played CM before, never mind under the intense OT spotlight) he looked far more comfortable and at home in the centre of the pitch than he does at CB.

When he played with Carrick for those 2 games they were excellent displays, we were dominant in midfield, and solid at the back. There was a natural balance between linking with the forwards and helping Carrick and it just looked so natural to me.

Cina

Nah he's just very young, and CB is arguably the toughest position (well, along with GK) for youngsters because it's the one that exposes flaws/lack of experience the most. I think it's definitely where he'll be in the future.

golden_blunder

Cannavaro and Baresi weren't exactly tall

MikeUpNorth

If you let us have Wilshere we'll turn him and Cleverley into a dream CM partnership too. We're also doing it with Rooney and Welbeck up top. That's a nice English spine.

peterstorey

Nah, Wilshere, Song Ramsey looks like a nice midfield trio - I think we'll keep him. Go find yer own.

Sparky_Hughes

Ffs not you again.

Carl

ok.

Pexbo

bale Doesn't play For us? Don't think cleverly does Either?

711

Neville (the Gary one) always wanted play centre-back, but Fergie said his height stopped him. 5'11" or so? My point being that there's not much happens that hasn't been seen before.

Ole's_toe_poke

How much will Alec spend on Bale do you reckon? Is Alec planning to sell anyone?

Carl

Vidic... according to that team.

Pillock.

senorgregster

something doesn't look quite right here

Lastwolf

About half of the names don't start with a captial letter, that is what is wrong.

towcester_red

Solius

You're clearly not an intelligent man.

Ekeke

Ayala wasn't 6 feet either, but he had a huge leap. One of the biggest I've seen. And he dominated players in the air and was the main man at Valencia when they won titles.

Zen

dàt 31231

Sarni

Rodwell probably after he had signed him.

Cina

you are a special one

kouroux

Playing 3 at the back with Rafael as one of the defenders

ben_foster

i have serious reservation over him becoming a top centre half and its nothing to do with height etc.

his reading of the game and positioning is poor at centre back. whilst positioning can be worked on readig of the game is is a natural ability and cant be taught. he is young and this definatley will improve. however, the youth thing isnt so much a factor as it used to be. kids are taught from 11 and 12 now how to defend properley. they send hours and hours working on phases of play and attack against defence etc

johnny evens get a fair share of stick on here but he is a natural defender. he drops the occaisional clanger and could do with beefing up a bit but from the age of 19 it was clear he was a proper defender. he confirmed this against adebayor and fernando torres (northern ireland vs spain).

imo chriss smalling stands out a mile between the 3 of them and i think will form an excellant partnership with johnny evans.

phil jones will never let us down, will throw his body in the way etc but i think his ability to play many position well rather being exceptional in one will mean he ends up being the new john o'shea.

londonredmaniac

What.

The.

Fuck??

Zen

tbh it's essentially Barca tactics with Bale doing an Alves.....Jones as Busquets, Rooney Fabregas and Welbeck Messi.......Clevogba > Xaviesta innit

Ekeke

The tactic they usually have to change from at some point in the match yeah

towcester_red

Absolutely no chance. He has a million miles more ability than o'shea (who was a good squad player).

I think he will be a centre mid and not a centre half but I think Jones will go on to captain England and be a much better player for us than O'Shea and this isnt a slight on him.

Ace

Very excited about Jones. At one point he was our leading appearance maker this season.

Cheesy

You forgot the 1-5-4 formation we're going to play and the fact that we'll have Messi and Heskey as well.

gooDevil

Maybe FT was trying to make a 352 formation ala Barca?

Oh, and for the 10th time, Jones played MORE in midfield last year than CB, significantly more.

Cutch

As of tomorrow he will be no longer a teenager.

Brwned

Capello compared Jones to Hierro and Baresi in terms of their ability to make the right decisions consistently, doesn't this suggest that his reading of the game is very sharp but his positional play is just a bit ropey because of youthful exuberance and inexperience?

Ekeke

It also doesnt help that Smalling, another young CB we have, happens to have been outstanding with his reading, positioning and consistancy since we signed him. So we probably notice these areas of Jones even more-so as they often compete for a place and we're looking for reasons why we think one should play over the other. Still, these skills happen to be very important for a defender and its an area where Jones can still improve a lot.

McLovin

Genuine heart-felt laugh before going to bed. Cheers.

Rood

I agree with that - to me he looks more comfortable in midfield than CB at the moment - he just has too much forward drive to be a CB IMO. I could also see him turn into a Dani Alves type at RB.

Aboutreika18

He had an excellent debut at CB up against Drogba in his 37 goal season:

A superb debut from Blackburn’s Phil Jones | Zonal Marking

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

Yes

Solius

He's 20 today. Too old, get rid.