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Is Jones The Solution Or A Stop-Gap For United?

Phil Jones' rise to prominence as Man United's midfield enforcer has been quite unexpected. But is he the long-term answer to a long-term problem or merely a stop-gap?

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Comments 1 - 10 of (34)

kingcantona4eva (Manchester United) says...

championselect2013(Manchester United) I have to say I find it rather amusing that people are saying that he should have been left at Blackburn for a couple of seasons or gone to a top ten side to hone his skills, get experience and develop his game. The potential is there for everyone to see. If he had gone to Arsenal-player lost, or if he went to another top ten premier league team to develop further and then came to united there would then be potentially a much higher transfer fee to pay along with much higher wage demands from jones who by then would have proved himself in the prem. Fans would then be moaning that we didn`t nab him for the 16 mill we could have got him for years ago. He`s young has loads of potential and he will develop! United have got that utility player they have needed for a long time and in 5 years it will look relatively cheap!

Posted 7:39am 26th February 2013

redgenesis (Manchester United) says...

quite unexpected? He's a defender / holding midfielder. That's why we bought him, because he can play in there. We don't need a dedicated player in that role, because there are only two teams you need to do that against. That said, i'll still be hoping we sign Fellani in the summer.

Posted 3:21pm 23rd February 2013

oioisaveloy (Manchester United) says...

Samextra (Manchester United) says Matt Stinker, this is a complete load of Botox ! I think Synergy is spot on, with it being a redundant role at United....unless of course you happen to be Stoke, whereby you have 10 outfield players performing that role. The lad is 20 FFS.....and his key asset is that he is 'Adaptable'.....players like this do not come around often. I for one agree, that long term he would make a great CB, but the real gem here, is that you have a player that could become a even better midfielder, if that's how Fergie sees him, wherever he eventually settles he will be all the better for the experience. To use so many cliches, and tired old Utd story lines to compile this load of hash is embarrassing Matt, for me this entire load of tripe can be para-phrased by: 'ehh yup the lad did guud....les hope he gets betta soon !" And your entire story is bettered by tonyv25....who is spot and more economical in his brilliant summary with. "when i won the champions league with wolves on football manager, phil jones played in central midfield against Juve in the final and was flipping fantastic. So there." Tony....top of the class Matt stay behind for detention......(preferably in Guantanamo for crimes against football journalism). Other than that of course, well done and keep trying. Needless to say this won't get printed....because of your bias!

Posted 1:31pm 21st February 2013

HarryBoulton says...

I think gerard1979 has got it spot on. I think Jones wold have benefitted from either staying at Blackburn, or a loan spell at another EPL or Championship side. He needs to play. It worked for Evans, Cleverley and Welbeck. Loans spells allow players to grow. They can't hide behind other quality squad members.

Posted 12:25pm 21st February 2013

redbornandbred (Manchester United) says...

@bitters, Jones 's most defining moments have been keeping Ronaldo and Bale out of key matches for long periods. Once in the champions league, and once to keep his team 10 points ahead in the premiership. This is a strange piece really for such a young player. Jones is highly rated by United - Bobby Charlton has compared him to Duncan Edwards and Sir Bobby is not known for hyperbole. Watch this space, provided the lad doesn't cripple himself by over-doing his tackling.

Posted 10:41am 21st February 2013

Synergy says...

@gerard1979> Your right, he would have benefited playing a year or two at Blackburn or some other mid to relegation club sharpening his skill as a centre back.

However once Arsenal showed interest United moved in to sign him. SAF basically promised him that he would feature in united first team and he has. He has some fantastic players blocking his path, but once they retire, I fully expect him to make one of the CB spots his own.

Posted 10:33am 21st February 2013

gerard1979 says...

I think the biggest problem Jones has is he went to Utd too soon in his career.He has undoubted quality at centreback but needs to play there on a regular basis to improve his game.off the top of my head I think he had played less than 50 games for Blackburn before his move. He may still become a top defender but it would have been easier for him to progress if he had spent a few seasons at a top 10 club before joining Utd

Posted 3:54am 21st February 2013

beijingisred (Manchester City) says...

To date his defining career moment has to be the gormless look on his face when it finally dawned on him that City were the champions.More brains in a rocking horse.

Posted 3:39pm 20th February 2013

raphy13 (Manchester United) says...

@HarryBoulton: lets not forget when 'the cat' went in goal against spurs and tackled Robbie Keane or the nutmeg against Figo which ended up ruining his career (okay so maybe I made the last bit up)

Posted 2:13pm 20th February 2013

teutonicfaith says...

On this topic, look back at Ferguson's comments only a couple of weeks ago about Phil Jones. He compared him to John Terry. Not Roy Keane, or John O'Shea. That should give you a clue where Ferguson sees Jones' future role. Jones will be a centre half. He won't play long term in midfield. As Synergy has said below, Ferguson decides to use a midfield enforcer only for specific games.

Posted 11:38am 20th February 2013

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