From relative obscurity during Louis van Gaal’s reign, Manchester United centre-back Phil Jones is now back in fine form, proving to be one of the key cogs in the Reds’ defensive line this season under new manager Jose Mourinho.
Jones, who hails from Preston, had been plagued by injuries most of the time last season, causing him to miss out on more than a handful of games. Indeed, he made only 10 league appearances last season under Louis van Gaal, and started in only four of those matches.
The 24-year-old centre-back instead found himself frequently playing for the reserve team, although something didn’t seem quite right. True enough, even if he was declared fit to play, it appears he was not in Louis van Gaal’s good graces – something that made Jones doubt himself on the pitch.
“For whatever reason [the manager] thought I needed to be fitter,” Jones said in an interview with the Manchester Evening News recently.
“I did what I could do to get back in the team and unfortunately it didn’t really work out under him.
“No question, there were thoughts about my future. It was in the back of my mind. If you are not playing games that speak volumes,” Jones added.
Last season was abysmal for Jones, as his defensive contribution, or the lack of it, showed. He barely made a successful block, had a mediocre pass success rate of less than 85%, and overall just didn’t do well on the pitch.
This season, however, the defender has heightened his game significantly: he now averages one successful block per game and has won 100% of his tackles so far. His pass success rate is now at 89.5%, making him the fourth-best passer in the team, even better than the likes of Ander Herrera, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Paul Pogba.
Clearly, Jose Mourinho’s man-management and coaching approach has done wonders for Jones, and the England international has been quick to heap praise on his manager, saying, “Jose, this season has just given me so much confidence in training.”
With Jones doing phenomenally well at the back this season for United, helping the Reds maintain a 16-match unbeaten run in the league so far, then it’s clear that whatever Mourinho has been doing in terms of the defender’s progress has been successful – and the manager deserves the plaudits for such a feat.