Great post mate.
4
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 24
- Clean sheets
- 7
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He still has a few dodgy moments in him, but he really has come on in the last month or so. I remember it used to drive me crazy how indecisive he was bringing the ball out - he'd come to about the half-way line, put his foot on top of the ball, think about it for a second and then pass back. Now he's driving forward, skipping past would-be tacklers and basically showing the same kind of promise he did in his first season here. Jones and Smalling has the making of an excellent partnership. I'd even be tempted to pass on the likes of Hummels and go with these two, with Rojo, and dare I say it, Evans as back up.
Put it this way - if there were a 23 year-old defender from Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, etc. who was displaying the promise that Phil Jones is currently showing, we'd be desperate for United to sign him. If he can stay healthy, things are really starting to look up for Jones (and Smalling.)
Two months ago, I would have completely agreed with you, but that's not the Jones that has been on display since the Tottenham game.
Valencia is the most glaring example to me (although I love how versatile he has been.) I think a top-notch RB would make a huge difference.
Was impressed with Jones. He was a bit nervy early on, and dodgy on the ball at times, but was an absolute monster defensively. Hope we stick with this partnership for a while.
I think in terms of performance he's pretty similar, in my opinion (obviously completely different in the way he plays) .
Does the job, makes mistakes, sometimes doesn't, occasionally does something decent (when he sprinted back and guided the attacker (Silva was it?) out for a goalkick in the box today).
Super post
Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with the job Valencia has done. However, I think we could clearly use an upgrade, especially when you consider it isn't his natural position and he isn't that young anymore. Jones, on the other hand, is still young and is finally getting a proper run in the position that best suits him (rather than being shunted out to RB or into a DM role.) He's still rough around the edges, but the potential is there for all to see.
Yeah I agree, Valencia isn't ideal but he does enough of a job that it puts the priority of signing a RB down a peg for me, although we definitely need one sooner rather than later.
I'm quite happy with Jones being given the proper chance too. I just don't agree with those that are saying everyone is undeservedly having a go at him. He's been poor prior and has had a couple of ok games where he still fannys about a bit but gets away with it. People were crying out for 2 new CBs not that long ago. While I think Jones is one of the weaker links in the team at the moment, given his age it'd be worthwhile seeing what he's like paired with a genuinely decent CB and how he progresses.
I was nervous about him but he had a good game. Credit where its due.
He's a significantly better footballer than Smalling, how anyone can think differently is beyond me. He actually looks like he has some fundamentals while smalling looks like he's having a constant battle with the ball. We can't play both of them at the same time in the long run imo, just not good enough with the ball at their feet which is crucial in todays game as most of the heavy hitters in europe press defenders.
Rojo and Evans just aren't good enough for the level we aspire to, so we pretty much have to hit the market for a center half. The only reason I'd have him as back up to smalling is because I think smalling is a better more dominant center half(reminds me of chiellini) than him, but he'd be a more than able second choice imo. Neither stays fit for too long so its good to have both at the club.
Rojo and Evans just aren't good enough for the level we aspire to, so we pretty much have to hit the market for a center half. The only reason I'd have him as back up to smalling is because I think smalling is a better more dominant center half(reminds me of chiellini) than him, but he'd be a more than able second choice imo. Neither stays fit for too long so its good to have both at the club.
Its fairly obvious why. Jones needs plenty of space on the ball. If hes closed down he has a habit of running himself into trouble and then punting it long in panic. His ball play is looking better at the moment because he is learning to aim his long balls at Fellaini, but hes definitely not better on the ball than Smalling right now, or Rojo.
Hes a reactionary blood and guts defender. Smalling is not.
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I was impressed with him today. I thought he had a very good game, bar the first 15 mins where most of the team seemed to have fallen asleep.
The poor passing tells a wrong story. The times Jones and Smalling misplaced long balls - was because they were under heavy pressure from City and we still insisted on using them to play our way out of defense. If anything - they did brilliantly for not getting into dangerous positions after the break
I think some want every defender to be a Rio, Nesta type who is elegant on the ball and rarely go to ground. Because of that some will be overly critical of a CB like Phil Jones.
Was he injured?
No. van Gaal explained that he wanted to give Rojo some minutes, so he took off Jones for that. Plus, at that point, we were already in control, so it was better to get Rojo in to sustain possession at the back.
Said it before and I'll say it again, Jones will always look nervy on the ball when he's playing at left centre half. Imagine being pressed by your biggest rivals in arguably the biggest game of the season yet and the ball is constantly on your weaker foot. Whilst looking uncomfortable, I thought he did well on the ball all things considered.
Seriously, Smalling is terrible with the ball at his feet...did you see him when he tried to bring the ball out? Smalling is just terrible on the ball by any measure.
Neither of them are particularly good at bringing the ball out (although both are getting better). What Smalling is far better at is keeping the ball safe at the back. Jones gets himself into trouble far too easily. Smalling knows to play it to a teammate before it gets to that stage.
Always said the only thing stopping Jones from being a top player is his injury problems. He's brilliant.
Really I'd say his lack of a brain is the main thing! Always looks like he's concussed in games, he fills me with dread like an accident waiting to happen.
If that's the way he seems to you, maybe he's not the one who's concussed.
Don't think a player without a brain gets into this LvG team right now. Especially not a 23 year old centre back.
He's clearly more switched on than people give him credit for.
from that vid you can clearly see that smalling has the responsibility of marking the little argie. which gives jones more of the ball and more time which is perfect. they have both looked sharper in the past 4 weeks. keep them as a pairing and don't faff with it.
He's 'raw' still but he's been a good buy. You hope he will keep on improving but I've no complaints. We can talk about them being beaten by aguero but he's world class. He's got a good record against us so Jones and Smalling need to watch his movement and learn from it.
i've not been his biggest fan but he's playing better let's hope he doesn't do an evans and back slide. but for me those two are first choice cb's until the end of the season. they've played some good strikers lately and they can get better.
Its official that this lad has no luck. He's had a run of games where he's played really well, and he's injured for the Chelsea match. Sadly sums up his career thus far. I'm gutted.
Hopefully it's just a week and no more. Fingers crossed.
Ye, well Van Gaal said in his press conference that Jones was close for the Chelsea game, which hopefully means he'll definitely be fit for Everton.
And that is why I think it might just be best to cut ties in the Summer, We cannot possibly carry on preserving with the 3 injury amigos next season.
Is it simply case of luck again because at times something tells me football is bad for his health.
We've got 75 starts in 38 games from the 4 senior CBs (Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Evans) - that's one short of 2 per game. It would be nice if Smalling and Jones stayed healthy enough to start significantly more than half the games but, when it comes down to it, that's why you carry 4 senior CBs. In the current situation there would be a whole lot less gnashing of teeth if Evans hadn't got himself the 6 game suspension. Then we wouldn't be dipping into the junior ranks again (although we would be starting Evans - which, to my mind, might be worse than dipping into the juniors).
The problem is we have also turned players who weren't injured much at all in Shaw and Rojo into injury prone as well somehow. So who do we even buy ?
And people want a already quite Injury prone Hummels.
I thought he was actually getting somewhere. I remember reading, when he was injured at some point this season, he was taking up yoga then he returned and managed to stay fit for several weeks if I'm not mistaken (which for Jones must be some sort of record) then he got injured again... returned... and is injured yet again.
I'd still probably keep him, though. Partly because I'm not sure who would realistically take him on due to his injury record and we'd probably get a mediocre fee for him.
I'd still probably keep him, though. Partly because I'm not sure who would realistically take him on due to his injury record and we'd probably get a mediocre fee for him.
As soon as he starts gaining some momentum he gets injured. Always seems to happen.
He should definitely be kept, we just shouldn't be relying on him as much. Sign a new CB, sell Evans and push Jones slightly further down the pecking order.
Yeah, would be a mistake to sell him, but he shouldn't be a first team starter in the long-term unless his fitness and overall game both improve.