Phil Jones: ‘I’ll never give up. I feel like I’m still good enough’

“I feel lucky,” Phil Jones says after he has considered the bruising abuse he endured on social media and in person, his long catalogue of injuries and the fact that he now hardly plays for Manchester United despite being his team’s best player in a solitary Premier League appearance this season.

“I’m 100% lucky to have played in two World Cups, been through the Euros and had some fantastic moments at Old Trafford with some amazing players. Of course people say: ‘You should have done this, you could have done that, blah blah blah.’ But I feel so lucky.”

From the outside a question about any sense of misfortune might sound ludicrous. Jones is paid lavishly and, at 30, he hopes to resume playing regular football for a number of years. He is happily married and the father of two young daughters who, as soon as we have finished our interview, he will take to the park for a picnic. Jones has also told me about his new Web 3.0 venture on the metaverse with real exuberance as, this month, he begins a new chapter in his life.

He still loves Manchester United and talks engagingly about all the famous managers he has played under and the great footballers he has faced, from Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo. Jones has played more times for United than feted defenders such as Paul McGrath and Jaap Stam and he has won 27 caps for England. He also sounds convinced that good days lie ahead for him in football.

Yet it is hard to think of any other footballer who has been celebrated by leading managers and then so vilified in later life. Jones is now regarded by many as a meme rather than a central defender as his errors and gurning expressions play on an endless social media loop. He is sometimes told he is “shit” when on an innocuous