Manchester United legend Gary Neville has slammed the performance of defender Phil Jones during the club’s 3-3 Premier League draw against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Jones lined up in a three-man central defence alongside Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire and he produced a disappointing first half display where he made rash challenges and was responsible for the mistake leading to Sheffield’s opening goal.
As a result, the England international was substituted at the half-way mark of the encounter but he has still received plenty of criticism from the supporters with some of them urging the club to sanction his sale in the near future.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville was likewise critical over the performance from the former Blackburn Rovers graduate and stated that the 27-year-old defender should have dealt with the opposition pass with relative ease.
“It’s channel ball, the easiest ball to deal with for a centre-back and he (Jones) doesn’t deal with it,” Neville continued. He has a look over his shoulder and in that moment he loses it,” he was quoted as saying by M.E.N.
Jones was handed with his first Premier League start of the season for United but that was certainly one to forget as his poor defensive awareness allowed the Blades to take an early advantage in the game.
As such, it was not surprising that he was substituted at the midway point for Jesse Lingard but the mistake ultimately cost United with the chance to register a victory over Chris Wilder’s men.
United trailed 2-0 after 52 minutes on the clock but they managed a terrific comeback to make it 3-2 in the 79th minute. However, they failed to grab the win as Oliver McBurnie scored a late equaliser after Harry Maguire failed to close him down.
The Red Devils are scheduled to face Kazakhstan champions Astana in the midweek Europa League clash on the road before they host Aston Villa in the Premier League at the beginning of December.
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