In the first game against Wolves, Lonnick made a helpless but brave decision: let Phil Jones start. This is Phil Jones' first appearance in the Premier League in 712 days and his first appearance for United's first team in 708 days.
Explaining his decision, Lonnick said, "I can only judge Jones' form based on the last four weeks of training, he has always been very professional. With the other three centre-backs unable to play, it would be logical to have him start. ”
Indeed, getting Phil Jones to start was Lonnick's no choice. Maguire suffered a rib injury, Lindelof contracted the new crown, and Bailey withdrew due to injury against Burnley, leaving him with only Jones and Varane, two centre-backs.
The three centre-backs had their own problems, giving Phil Jones his first start for United in two years. The last time he played in the Premier League was on 22 January 2020, when United lost 2-0 at home to Burnley.
Four days later, on 26 January 2020, Phil Jones scored a goal in the FA Cup 6-11 win over Tranmere, making his last appearance for United's first team.
Phil Jones is only 29 years old, but he has been plagued by a knee injury for the past two years. Away to Norwich and Newcastle, Jones came on the bench but did not get a chance to play.
Andy Miten analyzed, "I'm happy for Jones. He played for Manchester United for more than a decade and has been plagued by injuries, about 14 different injuries. He doesn't want to get hurt, he wants to play every day. He's a fantastic defender, he's played some nice games and like anyone else he wants to prove himself. ”
Redknapp commented, "United conceded a lot of goals in various ways and no one could lock in the main position. Even though Maguire and Varane have performed well in some games, they have sometimes played badly. ”
What a great opportunity for Jones. He's only 29 years old and I'm not saying he became United's main centre-back three years later, but at least he was given the chance to prove himself and prove why United signed him from Blackburn at the time. ”
After Jones touched the ball for the first time and successfully cleared the box, Manchester United fans erupted into huge cheers, expressing their support for Jones in this way.
In the 10th minute, Jones again made a key break, and the fans once again gave applause.
Just before the end of the first half, Jones made a key break and shoved the ball out of the bottom line before Jimenez. In the first half, Jones ranked first in the team with three blocks and two interceptions.
In the SOFA website's instant rating, Jones scored 7.5 points in the first half, the top of all players, compared with Varane's 6.9 points, De Gea's 7.3 points and C Ronaldo's 6.7 points.
Wolves had 15 shots on goal in the first half, a new record for the number of shots United had been shot by their opponents in the first half of the Premier League home since the technical statistics of the 2003-04 season on the OPTA website.
Unfortunately, Jones' header in the second half was not far from cleared and was scored by Moutinho. However, Jones did not make a mistake in his clearance, but his teammates missed Moutinho.
In the final moments, Jones also rushed to the opponent's penalty area to compete for a header, only to be kicked in the face by the opponent and create a free kick for the team, but Fernandez's shot was blocked. In the post-match ratings, Jones still scored a team-high 7.6 points.
In his first Premier League in 2 years, Jones scored the highest points in his team, which made a good start for him to save his career. Former England international Green noted that "this is the first step in the next phase of his career because in the last few years, things have been really weird. ”