I firmly believe that Jones was not purchased solely as a CB. With Hargreaves and Scholes leaving we need another holding CM who can break up play. If needs be sure he can play in a second string CB partnership with Smalling who he can gel with in the U21's in a few weeks time. But IMO he has been signed primarily as a Hargreaves replacement and will feature regularly next season. I also think Cleverly is the replacement for Scholes.
Thoughts?
Jones Wont Replace Evans!
posted on 9/6/11
possible.. wrote a similar article yesterday - agreed!
posted on 9/6/11
I think he's a versatile player. It's not X will be a direct replacement for Y etc.
Like Valencia, he plays RW, like Ronaldo did. It doesn't make him directly responsible for doing what Ronaldo did and scoring a ton of goals, that became Rooney's role.
Phil Jones is good because he is a versatile young player, he can play CB, FB, or CM. He will be good backup to begin with and he can develop into a specific position, personally I think he will form a partnership with Smalling at the heart of defense in the future.
Ashley Young who we look to sign is an out and out winger, and at the moment we have Park, Nani and Valencia, all are better on the right hand side. Don't forget that Young can also play in the centre.
If Gibson, O'Shea and Brown are all leaving then in the short term, Phil Jones will be good defensive backup if nothing else, and in the long term he can become a world class centre back.
posted on 9/6/11
The good thing about SAF is that he always tries to find players who can play in multiple positions. This gives him more options in his team selection and gives more cover in the event of injuries.
posted on 9/6/11
NO way is Jones a long term midfielder, hes a defender
His recent interview with the Sun showed thta he much prefers CB. He says his idols are Terry and Ferdinand and he played midfield because he was asked to
Plus, with us selling Brown and Oshea, our defensive options arent actually all that vast. So Jones will proabbly get a fair amout of games enxt season
Rio, Vidic, Smalling, Evans, Jones, Rafael, Fabio, Evra
Thats all our defenders. There's only 8 there and only 3 full backs
posted on 9/6/11
O'shea is not going anywhere! Brown will leave and thats it. Maybe Gibson and Kuscack also.
De Gea Lindegaard Amos for GK
Rafael and O'shea for RB
Fabio and Evra for LB
Rio Vidic Smalling and Evans for CB
Jones CB/DM
Carrick Fletcher Anderson Giggs Sneijder for CM
Park Valencia Nani and Young for RM/LM
Rooney Owen Berba and Chica for ST
Perfect 25 man squad