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| Source: Essentially Sports |
Many fans want to sell him – and they have reason to. He has cost us multiple own-goals, penalties, and other defensive errors – that’s when he’s not with the Manchester United physicians, trying to recover from yet another injury. His name is Phil Jones, and he may seem like he has more cons than pros to his name, but I’m here to convince you otherwise.
Just what does ‘Big Phil’ have to offer?
Phil Jones may produce some of the biggest bone-headed mistakes (see our 2018 FA Cup final disaster), but despite all of that, he still gives 110% for the United badge, and that’s more than you can say for some players. Jones is United through and through, a very loyal player. And in today’s game where transfers happen in a blink of an eye and players openly talk about (possibly) moving to other teams, loyalty is somewhat of a rarity. Take Pogba for example; speaking just last week on the possibility of a Real Madrid move, the Frenchman said that it would be a “dream” to play under Zinedine Zidane in Madrid. Now, Jones doesn’t necessarily have the kind of talent to be able to speak about possible moves to a team like Real Madrid like Pogba does, but if he did have the talent, I know he would still be all in on United. Players like Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera, and David De Gea – players that give their all for the United badge, are players that I want on my team. Phil Jones falls under this category.
In addition to his loyalty to United, Phil Jones doesn’t come with a lot of drama either. He simply does his job the best way he knows how, giving his all for the badge whether it be throwing his face in front of an attacker’s foot to clear a ball, or simply being at the ready to play wherever we need him, whenever we need him. This is because Phil Jones is a simple man who enjoys watching the club he loves win football matches. You’ll never see Jones’ name at the top of a headline involving drama, much like you do with Pogba (i.e. the Mourinho debacle, the “dream” Real Madrid move).
The Injury problem.
Unfortunately, since Jones arrived at the club in 2011, he has been plagued with injuries (19 to be exact), which total a whopping 744 days out with injury in his United career, along with a total of 135 games missed. However, Jones is still relatively young (age 27), and I believe he still has more than a few good years ahead of him. Just look at Gareth Bale who has been riddled with injuries as well, and he is older than Jones (age 29). The injury problem is what concerns me the most about Big Phil, but I still believe he has a few good years left in him at Manchester United.
Is he really worth it?
Injury-plagued, error-prone, but a dedicated player nevertheless. Phil Jones plays with heart and passion – traits we need in our players. Although he may not be good enough to be a regular in the starting XI, Big Phil still needs to be on the squad. Manchester United need him for those tough, grind-it-out sort of games, because, as cliché as it sounds, when the going gets tough (like the quarter final against Wolverhampton, when some of our players seemingly gave up), we will need players like Jones who throw their body to the wayside trying to win us the game. Plus, I definitely want to continue seeing those famous Phil Jones faces week in and week out.
