• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
On This Day In 2015, Phil Jones Blessed The Premier League With A Truly Heroic Piece Of Defending

Home> Football

Published 10:27 17 May 2022 GMT+1

On This Day In 2015, Phil Jones Blessed The Premier League With A Truly Heroic Piece Of Defending

The Manchester United defender pulled off one of the best recovery tackles in football history.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

On this day in 2015, Manchester United defender Phil Jones gave us one of the most iconic defensive moments in Premier League history during a clash against Arsenal.

It was a far-from-memorable afternoon at Old Trafford in terms of quality on the pitch.

With both sides already guaranteed Champions League football, Ander Herrera's first-half strike gave Louis van Gaal's side a deserved lead but a deflected Theo Walcott cross meant the spoils were shared.

Image credit: Alamy
Image credit: Alamy

Advert

The game was, however, resurrected by a flying 'head-tackle' from Phil Jones in the 21st minute.

After initially slipping in a one-on-one battle with Olivier Giroud, the former Blackburn man made up for his error by heroically throwing himself to the ground before getting a touch to the ball with his head.

For me, this might be one of the most underrated pieces of defending in recent memory.

Away from that heroic moment and Jones made several headlines during Louis van Gaal's entertaining, albeit bizarre time at Old Trafford, including the fact he was once United's designated corner taker.

Advert

In a 2015 Premier League game at QPR, fans were stunned to see the centre-back whipping one into the box.

Back in 2017, centre-back Jones said Van Gaal didn't believe in him during his spell at Old Trafford.

“The only three (managers to believe in me) were Sam Allardyce, Sir Alex Ferguson and now Jose Mourinho,” he told the Manchester Evening News.

Advert

“Jose, this season has just given me so much confidence in training. You make a mistake and it is just a case of ‘so what, get on with it’.

“For whatever reason he (Van Gaal) thought I needed to be fitter. I had no problem with that, I just played the games. I did what I could do to get back in the team and unfortunately it didn’t really work out under him.

“No question there were thoughts about my future. It was in the back of my mind. If you are not playing games that speaks volumes.”

Image credit: Alamy
Image credit: Alamy
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Phil Jones, Manchester United, Premier League, Arsenal

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack is a Senior Journalist who enjoys a long read. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day, and has interviewed a handful of FM's finest, including Freddy Adu, Supat Rungratsamee and Mika Aaritalo.

X

@jackkenmare_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Newcastle stance on Alexander Isak transfer to Liverpool emerges after huge bid submitted for Hugo Ekitike

    Newcastle are in the market for one of Europe's most sought-after strikers.

    Football
  • 2 hours ago

    Cole Palmer drops the coldest three-word message on Instagram after Donald Trump controversy at Club World Cup final

    Palmer and his Chelsea team-mates celebrated their Club World Cup success with an unexpected visitor.

    Football
  • 3 hours ago

    Rodrygo sends Chelsea fans into meltdown with Instagram comment after Club World Cup final win

    The Real Madrid star's comment has some Chelsea fans seriously excited.

    Football
  • 3 hours ago

    Benjamin Sesko drops massive hint on his next club after Arsenal rejection and it's caught everyone off guard

    The RB Leipzig star has been strongly linked with several big clubs this summer.

    Football
  • Phil Jones names the former Man Utd teammate he believes the club got rid of way too soon
  • Rio Ferdinand makes public apology to Phil Jones during podcast with former Man Utd teammate after 'really poor' comments
  • Phil Jones earned millions from his image rights during his time at Man Utd
  • Phil Jones opens up on 'mental trauma' he suffered at Man Utd in incredibly honest interview