First off the title of the piece is based on descriptions that have been assigned to Phil Jones since he joined United and for the record I don’t class him as either. He is simply Phil Jones. Bought for £18m as a promising centre-back from Blackburn, Jones made an excellent start to his United career with some powerful & energetic displays. In particular, his drive & determination actually made him a surprising attacking threat from full back.
He has also been deployed in
central midfield & has made appearances in his preferred position at centre
back with varying degrees of success. This season has been a mixed bag for
Jones but, ultimately, I would call it a success. He was signed as a
promising 19 year old after Sir Alex Ferguson was alerted to interest from
Arsenal & Liverpool. For this reason he was probably signed a year before
Fergie originally planned but he has still gone on to make 40 first team
appearances this season; an excellent return for a 19 year old. At the same age
Gary Neville had made only around half that for United.
I have decided to structure the
article in the following way: I am going to look at his strengths &
weakness in the three positions he has played in individually before making an
overall assessment. Jones is an excellent talent & he is at the right place
to develop that talent.
Right Back
Right back is where Jones has
been used most frequently this season and he has put in some excellent
performances there, especially early on in the season. Like the team, Jones’
early season form was thrilling and exciting to watch. His powerful running
with the ball, work rate & determination surprised opposition defenders and
he found himself in very good attacking positions.
However, whilst he put
in some brilliant displays, the overall form of the team also masked certain
deficiencies in his game that have become more prominent in recent games. His
end product isn’t good enough. Jones’ crossing, passing & final ball is
poor illustrated most prominently in our game versus Swansea. He found himself
in very good positions but didn’t manage to put in any telling balls.
As United fans we have been spoiled with Gary Neville in recent times. His crossing ability was very much under-rated & he rarely lost the ball. If Jones is to ultimately play as a right back he will need to improve this part of his game.
Another aspect of his game that
has become more obvious with the team not playing well is his defending.
Playing as a full back is very different to playing as a centre-back. It’s not
simply a positional change. Your style of defending must change. Jones, being a
natural centre back, is often too square on against the opposition (when playing at right back) making it
easier to get past him with the drop of a shoulder or a simple feint. His
excellent turn of pace & tackling ability mean he is able to recover a lot
of the time but he won’t be able to do this as often against top opposition.
He needs to be more side on when confronting an attacker in wide positions. The stance he takes will be determined by what he wants to do with the player. Does he want to push him wide or encourage him to cut/pass inside? This will be dependent on who he's up against and he has to be more aware of this. Is the attacker right footed or left footed? Does he like to hit the by-line or does he cut inside? These things should be stuck in his head before a game and he needs to be more aware of them during the game so as to put himself in the right position to deal with the specific player.
He also tends to finds himself in very
narrow positions, no doubt because he is a natural centre back. This leaves the
right side open to overlapping full backs which is hard to defend against
without a proficient right midfielder. Luckily Tony Valencia has good work rate
and doesn’t shirk his defensive duties. However, the more he has to track back
the deeper his starting positions are meaning he is less able to affect play
further up-field where he clearly does his best work.
The beauty of all this is that
they are coachable weaknesses; things that can be coached out of his game with
practise & drills in training. There is no inherent deficiency & at 20
years old there is plenty of time to get rid of these bad habits. If Jones is to eventually play at right back I am sure that he can excel. This will be down to the United coaching team & Sir Alex making a definitive decision to play him there.
Central Midfield
After watching his dynamic,
energetic & aggressive displays at right back many of us, me included,
thought he would be perfect in the middle of the park. Maybe we had found our
box to box midfield replacement for Roy Keane that we’ve all been crying out
for? Again, his physical & mental attributes made him look like a perfect
fit & he excelled in this position in certain games.
However, his distribution is his
main deficiency if he is to play in central midfield. His passing is nowhere
near the standard of even an average midfielder. Against the top sides this is
hugely detrimental to the team. Playing in midfield his natural starting
position will be relatively deep and if he loses possession in this part of the
pitch he puts us immediately on the back foot (as do Scholes & carrick if they lose the
ball there). The difference is, the likes of Scholes & Carrick have very
good passing ability & tend not to lose the ball.
Against top teams & in
Europe, we cannot afford to give away possession cheaply & to control the
game we need to control possession. Unless he improves his passing and
composure on the ball I do not see Phil Jones as a midfielder.
Unlike positioning &
defending in wide positions, passing is not as easily coached. It is one of the
more natural skills. It can certainly be improved but Phil Jones will never be
as good a passer of the ball as Scholes or Carrick or even Darren Fletcher. In the end, I firmly believe that
anyone who plays in the United midfield needs to be able to retain possession
& control play with excellent passing. For this reason I don’t see Phil Jones’
long term future in midfield.
Centre Back
Centre-back is Jones’ natural
position; this is where he played throughout his youth development and also in
the Blackburn first XI and the general consensus is that he is a future England
international in this position.
You can see why he is suited to
centre back. Physically he’s imposing and he’s excellent in the air. In
addition he’s a hard tackler but doesn’t dive in recklessly. He’s also a
brilliant man-marker due to his determination & dogged defending. His
attitude & other mental attributes make him an excellent leader and he does
marshal the defence well...when confident.
Unfortunately, this is the
position Jones has made his most high profile errors including an own goal
against Newcastle United. That game is the one people remember when they think
about Phil Jones as a centre back and for that reason he is now being labelled
a ‘jack of all trades’ in the same way that John O’Shea was. Since that game
Jones has not started at CB and this has been compounded by Jonny Evans’ superb
form alongside Rio Ferdinand.
Despite his setbacks as a
centre-back, this is where Jones’ long term future resides. He was born to play
in that position in my opinion; and his deficiencies in this area, namely his
positional play are easily coached. Remember he is only 20 years old and has
the time to develop into a top player. Rio Ferdinand was not the finished
article at 19-20 yrs old and even when he came to United, aged 23, he was prone
to making individual errors.
It doesn’t help Jones that he has
been moved around & played in different positions. How is he expected to
get consistency in his game without a consistent position? Not only has this
affected his form but that in turn has affected his confidence which was clear
to see against Swansea. Like any footballer, confidence is key but I fully
expect Jones to recover & fight back.
In the long run, Jones’ natural
attributes marry perfectly with the central defensive position. Then add to
that his natural leadership abilities you have someone who could captain
England & United for years to come. Phil Jones is not the next Duncan
Edwards or the Next John O’Shea but he is a supremely talented young footballer
who will become an asset to United for years to come. Some day someone will be labelled the next Phil Jones.
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