On the weekend, Manchester United finally put their domestic troubles behind them, defeating Swansea at the Liberty stadium 3-1, much to the delight of the Red Devils propping up the bar.
Whilst Swansea rolled over in the first half and had their tummies tickled, United certainly regained their ruthless touch which has been missing in the past couple of matches, particularly at home to Burnley where they squandered over 30 attempts on goal.
The world’s most expensive player, Paul Pogba, opened the scoring with a wonderful goal on the edge of the box.
The other superstar summer signing, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, netted the other two goals to end his 6 game drought.
However, it was the appearance of Phil Jones which appears to have gone under the radar and yet, could be more vital than United’s return to goalscoring form.
He has been absent for 10 months but returned on Sunday afternoon and looked as if he’d never been away.
He was calm and composed on the ball and maybe he could plug the defensive hole that has been left since Vidic and Ferdinand retired.
With that in mind, here are THREE reasons Phil Jones must start every game for Man United.
He’s brave, strong and determined
Mourinho’s comments post match were very interesting regarding some members of the Manchester United squad.
He seemed to take particular displeasure at Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling and Anthony Martial who apparently ducked the chance to play for the Reds because of small niggling injuries.
Mourinho lamented their disability to play through the pain barrier and suggested that all the top sportsmen in the world come through minor issues.
All the more poignant then that Phil Jones, who has suffered injury nightmare of his own over the past 11 months came back despite not being 100%.
He’s been desperate to play and that determination and strength of character enabled him to lead United’s defence, alongside Marcos Rojo, and take three points back to Manchester.
He’s tactically aware
Whilst he’s still only 24, he has amassed plenty of Premier League game time to understand his role in the side.
He’s featured at right-back, central defensive midfield and at centre-back for Manchester United, which gives him the versatility to know what’s expected of him.
Playing in a number of positions gave the Englishman a chance to explore a variety of different requirements before allowing himself to blossom as a centre-half.
His ability to read the game is very good and can only improve the more chance he gets in the United starting XI.
Whilst Smalling and Bailly were the original centre back pairing that seemed to be playing reasonably well, they were carved open by Chelsea. Bailly was subsequently injured in that game and Smalling seems to have fallen out of favour so it’s a good opportunity for Jones to grasp.
The shirt means something to him
To most United fans, one of the most important characteristics Jones possesses is the genuine desire to play for Manchester United.
He clearly understands what that shirt means. Unlike a lot of the mercenaries who currently ply their trade in the Premier League, Phil Jones does appear to be like a real fan, one you might expect to go to the pub with before a match.
In fact, there’s even proof of Jones’ joy and togetherness with the fans as he joined the raucous United away support for their 1-0 victory against Liverpool last season.
It’s scenes like this that inspires fans to actually think that players do care about their clubs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWcyU7a0VjU
