Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones has suggested that one manager failed to capture the same influence as Sir Alex Ferguson in the dressing room.
Phil Jones arrived at Old Trafford towards the tail end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial career after he was signed from Blackburn Rovers in 2011.
The 32-year-old former Manchester United star was thought of highly by Ferguson and was tipped to be a long-term defensive solution at the Premier League club.
However, Jones’ United career was curtailed by injuries, despite remaining at Old Trafford under every manager in the post-Ferguson era.
The former United centre-back played 229 times for the Red Devils during his injury-hit spell before he announced his retirement from football back in August.
Jones on former Man Utd manager
Phil Jones lifted a Premier League title, a Europa League trophy and an FA Cup at Manchester United before he bowed out of Old Trafford in 2024.
The former England international linked up with ex-United teammate Rio Ferdinand recently and opened up about his time at the Red Devils.
Jones admitted that there was a massive void left behind after United legend Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from football in 2013.
David Moyes took over at United after Ferguson called it time on his legendary career and the Scotsman endured an ill-fated spell at Old Trafford.
The 61-year-old former Everton and United boss lasted only 10 months in the Old Trafford hot seat before he was axed from the Premier League club in 2014.
Speaking about David Moyes, Jones said on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel: “He [Sir Alex Ferguson] was so influential in that dressing room that when he left and David Moyes came in, like, it was just a bit more of a nicey hi-fivey, just didn’t feel the same energy that you felt with Sir Alex.
“Little things that you would never have got away with under Sir Alex. I don’t know, like turn up late at meetings or strolling outside five minutes after the warm-up starts or turn up late to the bus. Just little tiny details.
“Or things on Instagram or social media that would never have happened, you wouldn’t even have thought about doing it. It just slowly started creeping in.”
Moyes’ struggle with Man Utd culture
Jones isn’t the only former United player to have been critical of Moyes’ approach at Old Trafford after Ferguson stepped down at the club.
United had ended the 2012-13 season under Ferguson as Premier League champions – the club’s last league title – before Moyes arrived at Old Trafford.
However, the Red Devils would end the 2013-14 campaign with United legend Ryan Giggs as interim player-manager and the club finished seventh in the league table.
United legend Patrice Evra insisted that former Red Devils boss Moyes made an early mistake during his spell at Old Trafford after succeeding Ferguson.
“His biggest mistake was in his first speech to the squad,” he said on The Overlap’s Stick to Football show in August.
“He mentioned how we knew how to win already so he wanted our help to help him win trophies, which raised eyebrows amongst the squad.
“He made quite a few mistakes [that] made the players upset, so there were a few occasions when I went to Sir Alex Ferguson’s house, asking him to speak with Moyes as he was upsetting quite a few of the players.”
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