It seems like it was years ago but Phil Jones left Manchester United after more than a decade just in May of last year, May 15, 2023, to be exact.
Since then, he has delved into coaching with the academy sides as he seeks to transfer his perspective and learnings to the next generation of youngsters.
He was still at the club for Erik ten Hag’s debut season and while his contribution on the pitch was always likely to be minimal, he was a regular training presence.
Phil Jones has now revealed a nugget of knowledge from the United training sessions about a player he hated facing and it reflects extremely badly on Ten Hag.
Phil Jones on ‘terrific’ Man Utd star
Phil Jones joined Manchester United for Sir Alex Ferguson’s last two seasons so unlike many in the current Man Utd squad, he has played with the members of a championship-winning side.
Therefore, if he picks a player as “terrific” and admits he “hated” playing against him from Ten Hag’s squad, it is worth sitting up and taking notice.
Jones recently took part in Pro-Am Padel Tour in Manchester and gave his thoughts on training at Carrington, praising one player in particular.
He said (quoted by the Mirror): “Amad is a terrific player. I love watching him, but I hated playing against him in training because he’s so quick with the ball. I think the game that stood out for me with Amad was the one where we played Liverpool in the FA Cup and he scored the late winner.
“I was there with my little girl and I remember saying then that this guy would play a huge part next season, and I think I’m being proved right.”
Jones has indeed been proven right as Amad has become undroppable after a sterling run of form under Ruud van Nistelrooy but it doesn’t reflect well on Ten Hag.
Phil Jones’ Amad comments don’t reflect well on Erik ten Hag
It was just about two months ago that Ten Hag’s United played against Fenerbahce and Antony came on ahead of Amad, with the manager reasoning that the Brazilian was impressive in training.
Amad’s name has always come up near the top when it comes to being a top training performer so that claim was a little hard to take at face value.
Combine that with Ten Hag’s blind spot for any winger not named Amad, especially after giving him a run of starts in the season’s beginning, it becomes clear that he needed to go for Amad to start making a mark.
“Making a mark” is exactly what he’s done, and more so in just four games under Van Nistelrooy as soon as the stumbling block named Ten Hag was out of the way.
Ten Hag deserves a lot of credit for the way he has handled the transition of players like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo to the first team but Amad will always stand as a strong case against him in that regard.
Phil Jones’ comments just lend further credence to those claims.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
