Reserve Skipper Jones Targets First Team Honours
Reserve Team Captain David Jones
Manchester United´s Reserves are heading for an incredible quadruple on Thursday night as the Reds take on Charlton for the north-south play-off.
United topped the FA Premier Reserve League ( North), while Charlton were winners of the southern section. The Reds also clinched the Pontin´s Holidays League and Cup double.
David Jones, a graduate of the 2003 FA Youth Cup winning side, has gone on to captain the Reserves in an astoundingly successful season.
The 20-year-old midfielder also made his first team debut as a substitute against Arsenal in the League Cup earlier this season, and his first start for the club came against Exeter in the FA Cup. Jones was one of the few players to emerge with credit from the disappointing 0-0 draw.
Despite the Reserve team losing out to Manchester City in the Senior Cup final, Jones can prepare for one last push against Charlton tonight to cap what has been an impressive season for United...
What an amazing season you’ve had…
" It’s been a fantastic season. We couldn’t have hoped it would go any better. Because it’s Manchester United, you’re expected to win everything. I think every United team at every level is faced with that expectancy. To be captain as well just capped it off for me. I was captain when we won the FA Youth Cup a couple of years ago and ever since I’ve wanted to lift another trophy with United. Fortunately, that’s happened a few times this season."
What was it like lifting the league trophy at Old Trafford?
" It was amazing. It brought back memories of the FA Youth Cup. The team spirit and our performances had been great all season. We’ve got a lot of confident players in our side, and as a team we didn’t fear anyone."
You’ve lifted the FA Youth Cup and now you’ve lifted trophies with the Reserves, do you have ambitions to one day to lift a trophy with the first team?
" Definitely. That’s my main aim. That’s what I have been working hard to do all my life; to play for Manchester United’s first team and lift trophies with them."
What do you think of your own performances this season?
" I think I’ve improved quite a lot as a player. If the team is winning then confidence grows, not just for each player but for the team as a whole. If you’re confident then you can start to express yourself. I’ve added to my game. I’ve done work with the skills coach Rene Meulensteen, and worked on my power and strength with Mike Clegg in the gym. Ricky and Choccy have given me good advice all throughout the season as well."
When did you start to think ‘we can start winning trophies’?
" After Christmas we put a run together and that just kept going. The longer that went on, the more we started to think it was a real possibility that we could win something. The 4-4 draw with Aston Villa was the most noticeable turning point in the Premier Reserve league. Ricky wasn’t best pleased with our defending and rightly so because we conceded four, which was stupid. After that our defending was great, we didn’t concede another goal for five games. Our defence remained tight for the rest of the season and we worked hard in training to rectify where we´d gone wrong. The whole team worked hard to defend after that."
" Gary Neville and Roy Keane have both really helped me. Roy, especially. He´s always giving me his view on the Reserve games he has seen."
David Jones
Which of your team-mates has impressed you this season?
" Rossi has done very well considering this is his first season. He’s impressed a lot of people and he deserves all the accolades he has got. Sylvan Blake was a crucial player for us and he was really unfortunate to break his leg. Lee Martin came in and did really well in the last ten games and Jonathan Spector organised our defence brilliantly. He’s been a real key player for us."
Do you get advice from the senior players?
" Gary Neville and Roy Keane have both really helped me. Roy Keane, especially. He’s always giving me his view on the Reserve games he has seen. It’s Roy Keane, you want to learn from him so you take in everything that he says because he’s the best in his position."
What sort of advice has Roy given you?
" He has told me to take control of games. You have periods in the game where the tempo drops or the team isn’t performing as well. They are crucial moments in matches, and Roy has said, in those situations, you need to take responsibility. What I’ve learnt from him is that you can’t let the game change around you, you have to take the game by the scruff of the neck and change it yourself."
Has this season enhanced your chances at first team level?
" Just to be involved in the first team squad is brilliant. It’s another step up from the reserves. Your concentration levels have to be so high. The pace is far quicker and as soon as you experience first-team football, it’s something you want more of. Playing in the FA Cup against Exeter was a great moment for me in my career. The manager said that I did well and that’s the main guy to impress."
How difficult is it to break into the centre of midfield with the first team?
" It’s not easy because it’s a competitive position. But my aim isn’t to be a fringe player at the club. I can’t think about who is in front of me, I just have to concentrate on becoming the best player I can possibly be."
The interview first appeared in United Review, the club´s official matchday programme.
Interview by Ben Hibbs from manutd official website
David Jones qui apparemment a fait encore une premiére mi-temps de folie...Peut-être le sucsesseur de Keano qui arrive plus vite que prévu, l´an dernier il jouait avec les équipes de jeunes, cette année en réserve et il a débuté en équipe premiére. Il impressionne plus que Miller, à suivre.
