While their morale-sapping Wembley loss to Barcelona in May’s Champions League Final may have proved a chastening experience for Sir Alex Ferguson and co, the 3-1 defeat appears to have set the wheels in motion for a summer of restructuring as the club prepares for a Premier League title defence and another tilt at Europe.
With Paul Scholes and Edwin Van der Sar joining Gary Neville in retirement and with Owen Hargreaves’ contract running out, the winds of change are blowing through the Old Trafford corridors and Ferguson -renowned for his ruthlessness when it comes to shedding the club of players no longer required- is reportedly willing to rid the club of squad players such as Bebe, Darron Gibson and Wes Brown as he starts yet another rebuilding process. The United boss hinted just after the defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side:
“The challenge is always to improve yourselves. Over the years, we’ve done OK when confronted by things like this, and taking Barcelona on is another challenge. We’ve some very good players and, of course, where we start to find a way forward is something we’ll mull over the summer. We’re not lacking in ideas. Hopefully we’ll come up with the right ones.
“We want to improve. Of course, next season, we must improve even more. But we have a challenge with Barcelona. We all do. It’s no consolation being the second-best team. I don’t enjoy being second-best.”
The first player Ferguson has turned to is Blackburn Rovers’ highly-rated Phil Jones, with United beating off competition from the likes of Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool to snap up the youngster in a five-year, £16m deal. With their bid having triggered the get-out value in Jones’ contract last week, United were set to seal the transfer but, allegedly, a higher bid from Liverpool had the move on hold until today, when Rovers owners Venky’s finally agreed to the move. The deal will now officially be completed when Jones returns from international duty with the England Under 21 squad.
With Ashley Young’s move from Aston Villa imminent and David de Gea expected to arrive from Atletico Madrid, the next couple of months are shaping up to be a busy time for United.
The Statistics
Given his debut by Sam Allardyce in central defence against Chelsea in March only last year, Jones has proven to be a real inspirational character for Rovers, with a string of performances way beyond his teenage years both at the back and in central midfield.
Despite impressing in the middle of the park, Jones is ultimately seen as the natural successor to Nemanja Vidic, and the new certainly sees himself more as a centre-half:
“I’ve always said I aspire to follow John Terry, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand – I always watch what they do and try and learn from them. Defending isn’t just about tackling and heading, it’s also about getting the ball down and playing, starting the attack from the back“.
Jones’ subsequent 9 appearances at centre-half in 2009/10 impressed to such an extent the player signed a new, improved five-year contract that summer. A knee injury interrupted a fair chunk of last season, as Jones was sidelined from gameweek 18 to 30 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), meaning he started 24 league games for Rovers. Only 6 were at centre-half, however, and the rest in central midfield or as an anchor in front of the back-four.
At international level, he’s represented England U19’s 4 times and the U21 on six occasions, but has yet to score his first goal in professional football.
The Prospects
Much will depend on where Sir Alex Ferguson initially sees Jones fitting in. With Scholes and Hargreaves gone, will he find himself in central midfield? Certainly it’s an area he’s more than familiar with in the Premier League so far and a look at Jones’ OPTA stats show he averages the same sort of defensive output as the likes of Marouanne Fellaini, Alex Song and Nigel de Jong in terms of Tackles and Interceptions playing in front of a back-four. Jones made more Tackles per game in central midfield than both Carrick and Fletcher combined and he’d offer United a real ball-winning presence in the middle of the park, particularly on the road, with the champions winning just five games away from home last term.
At the back, only injuries to others and rotation would see him get much game time. Chris Smalling was the main beneficiary of Rio Ferdinand’s back injury last term, making 33 appearances in all competitions, with 11 coming in the league, the same number as Jonny Evans. Ferdinand played the 90 minutes in just 19 of United’s Premier League matches last time round and his fitness needs to be monitored but Smalling is seen as his heir apparent and should be the one to step in as and when cover is required. Jones‘ versatility should prove advantageous, with time in both defence and midfield. It’s as a defender he’s tended to pick up the Bonus Points, though, with 7 from nine games in 2009/10 compared to 11 from twenty-four games last season.
In spite of his midfield appearances last season, Jones should still be expected to be classified as a defender in FPL and come in around the 5.0 mark, similar to Smalling at the start of last term. While the move will prove beneficial to the player’s long-term development, there’s too much uncertainty surrounding his game time and expected position in the side, and Jones may be resultantly cast into the Fantasy wilderness in the coming season, with his time as an established star in the Man United XI still yet to come.
