Michael Owen has slammed Manchester United defender Phil Jones for an “average” defensive header that practically assisted Valencia’s opening goal against them at the Mesatlla on Wednesday night.
With United under pressure in the first-half, Jones headed a clearance straight to Valencia’s Carlos Soler, who put the La Liga side ahead in the final Champions League group stage clash.
Former Man United and Liverpool striker Owen was not happy with Jones’ defensive work and although he admits it was a tough ball to deal with, he believes that the centre-back should be doing better.
“It is an average header from Phil Jones,” said Owen during BT Sport 3’s half-time analysis on Wednesday night.
“It’s not easy because the ball’s coming so fast to maybe get height, but to direct it straight into the path of an opponent, it was a poor header.”
OPINION
When is the last time that Man United fans saw their side have a solid defence? Jones has only played six times across all competitions this season and it is easy to see why when he is setting up goals for opposition players. It would not have been that difficult for a top centre-back to clear the ball out of harms’ way, but Jones managed to just give the ball straight to Soler, who went on to smash the ball past David De Gea. Jose Mourinho really needs to sort out the mess that is the Man United defence, but should the club’s board really trust him to do it? Jones wasn’t his signing and it is amazing that he has lasted at Old Trafford this long, but Mourinho’s signings at the club have hardly shown any signs of progression. Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez are widely seen to have flopped. It’s harder to sign a top-class centre-back, so let’s see what happens in January.