Very impressed with his performance. Deserves a run in the team.
4
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 5
- Clean sheets
- 1
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
I like Lindelof too this season. Can we try Jones at RB?
He used to play there a bit way back in the day, no?Clearing a ball into that area is dangerous, even if you're sure of your own players being there.
Good match from Jones, though. He deserves to start the next match and have a chance to earn his place.
Our best player by some distance, it’s a shame how his career has gone as he was a great prospect at one stage. Hopefully he can salvage something from rest of his career elsewhere next season.
Our best player on the night. Hope he keeps maguire out and slabhead doesn’t just come straight back in. Well done
Solid display. More than anything we've seen of Maguire all season.
Yeah, but that means he wasn't faultless doesn't it?
Great performance, didn’t look out of place at all next to Varane considering he’s hardly played for 2 years. Deserves a run in the team now.. hope he can stay fit!
Who'd have thunk that, nearly a decade ago, when Jones was man-marking Ronaldo from central midfield, and Varane was escaping a red card for a foul on Evra as the last man at the Santiago Bernabéu, we'd be seeing them as our central defensive partnership to kick off 2022.
Better than Maguire but still a player who needs to be moved on in my opinion. We've been here too many times.
Wouldn't be dropping him based on what I saw. It's about time we started selecting players based on performance not their name.
Predictably decent performance by a talented player who's biggest issues have been injuries, subsequent match sharpness and the fact that he makes funny faces when he tackles people.
Fair play to him for that performance. Never thought I’d see him in a United shirt again.
Great, job done at the right time, now sell him.
Agreed and what a damning thing to say about our captain. Is Maguire on this season's form the worst defender at the club?
Also I am sure people will argue but I think when he has been fit for any period he is a far better version of Harry Maguire.
Sell him? This must be a joke? Clearly a better defender than Eric, would rather have him in the squad than without.
Its the area he can get the ball with the most distance because hes at full stretch to make it, not over the ball. If he goes diagonally it most likely goes to a more dangerous area. For example dropping in front of him at half the distance which would still be in the box. Thats much worse than clearing the box but centrally
Never as good in the air as Maguire, but far more mobile. Used to be really quick as well before the injuries killed him.
He was a serious talent as a youngster, should have been a top class CB for years.
Maguire is nowhere near as good in the air as he is made out to be and has a horrible habit of heading the ball down to the opposition.
I think one thing Rio and Vidic did brilliantly well is they did not just win a huge percentage of headers but they also managed to knock it into areas that gave us a good chance at winning the knockdown (Rio particularly was amazing at this). I think Phil Jones does that far better than Maguire, I know that sounds strange considering the goal today but I really do believe that. Then add the fact that he does so many other things better, he is even twice as good on the ball which was meant to be a big selling point of Maguire.
I have always been a proponent of the idea that he was a genuine footballing talent. His career is truly sad.
Hardly, if he can keep fit, and anyone is interested then get him sold finally,.
Well done Phil. He’s a cracking player. He’s been so unlucky. Always is good when he gets a run.
I actually recall him being relatively shite on the ball. But watching Maguire for a few seasons will make everyone look like Franz Beckenbauer.
Was brilliant tonight. On the ball and off the ball too. Hungry and aggressive. Fair play to him.
Jones showed more poise tonight that Maguire has since the beginning of last season. Given his fitness record it's probably best to sell him right now but on the other hand I wouldn't mind seeing him get a run of games while Maguire sorts out whatever has been plaguing him this season.
I gave him MOTM and there's no one else I would say was a close second.
I gave him MOTM and there's no one else I would say was a close second.
He was always very decent on the ball for a centre back in my opinion, put in some genuinely outstanding midfield performances. I do believe that him being bad on the ball was a narrative for a while, not sure why.
I like Lindelof too this season. Can we try Jones at RB?
He is probably the only player in the squad who would be worse in attacking positions than AWB.
If he’d have cleared it for a corner people would complain at that, too. He cleared the box with a defensive header. Has to expect his team mates to be there or thereabouts. He was on the stretch too not an easy header away.
I think if you look at the game against Burnley again you might just change your mind. Maguire is reasonably good at winning the ball in the opponents box. He is absolutely dreadful when pressed defending in his own box. The number of times that an international standard defender mistimed the bounce of the ball and got caught under it against Burnley was embarrassing. He creates huge pressure on the entire back four as they don’t trust him. Tonight, despite conceding, the back four looked stronger and more assured. As the game went on Jones’ confidence grew and we saw him joining attacks.
Given that Maguire is 28 & Jones is 29, I think Jones has a much higher ceiling. However, the big elephant in the room is fitness.
Motm but not for talksport
Yes, and he always has been. Injuries have ruined much of his career. It's trendy in here to say he's shite, but that's far from true. When fit, he's a beast. Unfortunately he's not fit often.
That flick was the best he could giving his current body position. There was so much defending to do that game, no one is expecting there not to be minor mistakes.
Fact is Moutinho was completely unmarked and even Ralf referred to that being the culprit of the goal. Seems like a far bigger problem than Jones making a split second decision to head the ball away from his goal.
Fact is Moutinho was completely unmarked and even Ralf referred to that being the culprit of the goal. Seems like a far bigger problem than Jones making a split second decision to head the ball away from his goal.
Historically Jones always lacked a little in the air, he is just around 6 Ft after all, guys like Maguire and Smalling had 4-5 inches on him, even Lindelof is taller.
Agree with you though, Jones if he could have avoided the injuries and had we paired him with an experienced pro instead of trying to develop he and Smalling(and Evans) at the same time could have ended up an excellent player. Chance is gone now though, he needs a move and the chance to play week in week out while his body holds.
Fantastic performance considering how long it's been since he played.
Result & performance aside, felt a little emotional watching a hold over from the ‘good ol’ days’ have one last hurrah. He could have been a top-top CB, absolutely devastated for him that injuries curtailed that. Remember reading he stopped with social media because of the idiots so we’ll done him for tonight.
Better than our £80mil captain has done in some time.
Better than our £80mil captain has done in some time.
He used to step into midfield making marauding runs from CB, played RB and CM regularly for us and even took corners at one point. What in all that would point to him being shite on the ball?
He was our best player but I think it’s just because he was literally the only one that showed effort and looked like he cared.
He also took corners under LvG
Injury prone means ‘shit’ to some caftards! He could have been a top player.
He also took corners under LvG
Injury prone means ‘shit’ to some caftards! He could have been a top player.
That was just crazy. We had Mata and Di Maria playing too i think who are no point having in the box. Jones, Smalling, and Fellaini maybe our best guys to head the ball then.
If he had stayed fit he would have become a very good defender. He would likely even be the captain atm. He hasnt played for two years and comes back and does fine. He has the talent but not the body.
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