Phil Jones: Former Man United defender reveals next career steps

Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones has opened up on his future career plans.

United pain

The England defender spent 12 seasons at United but could only manage 229 appearances for the Red Devils.

This was owing to the fact he suffered numerous injuries and only played more than 30 times in one season twice.

Jones finally left the club in 2023 as 2019 was the last year he played any sort of meaningful minutes.

During the 2023-2024 season he began working as a youth coach at Carrington.

Academy work

Speaking to MUTV, Jones claimed that he only retired due to injury and that he is still in love with football.

He claimed, “I love football, I love being in and around it, I love everything about the game.”

Jones has certainly kept busy though, completing his UEFA A Licence coaching badge, and is currently in the process of finishing his UEFA Pro Licence, the highest level available. He also gained experience with United’s under-18s last season.

Commenting on his time with the under-18s he reflected, “brilliant. I worked alongside Adam Lawrence, the [then] manager, who was terrific, and Colin Little, who’s still there. I was able to learn off Adam, learn off Col, in terms of how they set sessions up, what they’re going after in sessions and learn about the development programme with these kids so they transition from Academy to first team, and what that looks like when they get there, and having a succession plan for them.”

Jones hinted that his overall plan is to go into a similar role in he future and he asserted, “it’s what I want to go into, it’s what I feel passionate about. So, like I said, let’s see what the future holds.”

Impressed at United’s current crop

The former defender was clearly impressed by the players he was working with and praised their attitude as well as their technical skill.

He stated, “there’s some technically very, very good players in there. I watch some of them, and I can only look back from when I was in the Blackburn Academy coming through, and I’d have loved to have the ability that some of those lads have.”

Jones also backed his old teammate Darren Fletcher who is currently head coach of the under-18s and claimed he has got them “firing on all cylinders.”

Next steps

Commenting on potential future roles he claimed, “I’m ready for a challenge and I’m eager, just like I was as a player. I’m ambitious, and I want to be ambitious as a coach. I feel like I’m ready for that challenge.”

Whilst he loved his time in the academy, he also asserted that he would definitely consider a first team role if one was offered to him down the line.

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