Manchester United began their 2017/18 campaign in style. Jose Mourinho’s men stuck four past a hapless West Ham United team with Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic stealing all the plaudits and headlines.
However, there was another hero in this game: Phil Jones. The English centre-half has had an injury-ridden Old Trafford career, which has seriously hampered his development and quite frankly, it made Sir Bobby Charlton’s bold comparison to Duncan Edwards look rather stupid. But, after getting a full pre-season under his belt, things are looking up for the former Blackburn Rovers defender.
Now 25, he’s lost that naivety of youth. He was up against former teammate Javier Hernandez over the weekend, and Jones didn’t give the clever little Mexican a sniff of an opportunity. Positionally, he was absolutely superb, aerially, he was dominant and in tackles, he was aggressive.
It genuinely was one of Jones’ best ever displays for United, and manager Jose Mourinho would have been absolutely delighted, while feeling that his faith in the Englishman has been repaid.
On the flip side of that, you wonder what it means for new signing Victor Lindelof. The former SL Benfica defender didn’t cover himself in glory throughout Manchester United’s pre-season tour – culminating in a sub-par performance in the UEFA Super Cup.
I still thought Lindelof could have started on Sunday, but the fact that he wasn’t even included in the squad was a real eye-opener. Mourinho has always been an advocate of the tough love approach, and obviously, that is the case again here.
Lindelof has made some rash decisions already and it’s fair to say that he hasn’t made the best start to life in England and the Premier League. Mourinho has noticed that and taken him away from the limelight, which is probably in his best interests right now.
The one they call the Iceman now has a big job on his hands. It isn’t going to be easy to work his way into the United starting line-up, but at 23, he does have time on his side. The self-proclaimed Special One is a master when it comes to man-management, just look at the wonders he worked with Henrikh Mkhitaryan last season.
My main concern for Lindelof would be displacing the guys in front of him in the pecking order. Eric Bailly is a shoo-in to start, meaning that the Swede will be fighting against Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo (when he returns from injury) and the aforementioned Jones. That’s some hefty competition, and he may have to look for minutes elsewhere on the football field – which presents its own problems.
For now though, it’s up to Lindelof to keep putting in the work on the training field and try his best to impress the manager. As for Jones, it feels as though he’s approaching the last chance saloon. We’ve become accustomed to him spending months out of action on the treatment table and although he’s made the perfect start, that has to continue.
