Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones has hit out at his former manager Ralf Rangnick for making him a scapegoat during Man Utd’s 4-0 defeat at Liverpool a few years ago.
Rangnick was interim manager for the Red Devils in the second half of the 2021/22 season, and it’s fair to say he’s not that fondly remembered by the club’s fans, as he didn’t do a great job in his relatively brief stint at Old Trafford.
Jones was clearly not a big fan of Rangnick, and hit out at the German tactician after unfairly subbing him off during the team’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Jones made it clear that he felt he’d had a decent game that day, even if the team as a whole were struggling.
Rangnick perhaps made the easy choice to take Jones off at half time in a bid to change things, but the former England international feels he was showing him a lack of respect and making him a scapegoat, leading to him lashing out in the dressing room for the only time in his career.
Jones reveals bust-up with Rangnick at Man Utd
“I’ve never lost my head in a dressing room and I’ve never been emotional enough to lose myself in the dressing room, and I think that’s the only time in my career that I completely lost it,” Jones said.
“I was absolutely raging. Raging. That he humiliated me. Humiliated me in front of an Anfield crowd first and foremost, fearsome rivals, and the fans and my family and the players.
“We were 2-0 down at half-time, weren’t great, I don’t think we had a shot on target first half. Nothing was coming off. And I’d actually done alright in the game.”
He added: “I’m not saying I was exceptional but I definitely didn’t deserve to come off at half-time. There were far worse players on the pitch that day, I was the easy one to come off. You’re an easy scapegoat.
“At half-time I remember Ralf came in and said, ‘I’m going to make a change, Phil’s going to come off’.
“I remember the whole dressing room went like [eyes open] as if to say, ‘is he bringing Phil off here?’ I took my boots off and I slammed them on the floor and I said, ‘you’re taking the p*** out of me’.”
Jones started out as a promising youngster at United, but it’s fair to say his career didn’t quite pan out as many would have expected, though injuries undoubtedly played their part in that, and it’s sad to hear about the 32-year-old enduring a difficult time towards the end of his MUFC career.