Phil Jones couldn’t even stomach watching football as he struggled to come to terms with the end of his playing career.
The former Manchester United defender, who clocked up 229 appearances for the club, was out of the game for nearly two years because of injury issues before attempting a comeback in 2022. Despite his eagerness to make an impression on new boss Erik ten Hag, Jones’ dreams crumbled when he realised the agony of what turned out to be his last training session with the team.
The experience left him with a negative attitude towards the game following his retirement. He even found it difficult to watch games on TV. He told the High Performance Podcast: “Came back first day, really excited, Erik ten Hag’s come in, fresh start.
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“We were just doing a little warm-up and I kid you not, I couldn’t pass the ball with my right foot. I just wanted the world to swallow me up, because I’m thinking, ‘This manager’s come in and I can’t go in from training 20 minutes into the session’.
He added: “After I finished, it took me a while to watch football, because I’d be bitter about it. I’d look at games – and I’m not just talking about United – I’d look at games around the world and think, ‘I’m better than that’. Like, ‘People are raving about him? I know I was better than that’.
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(Image: High Performance Podcast)
“But I couldn’t show it. I just couldn’t show enough of it. And I couldn’t watch football. For three or four months, I didn’t watch football. Mates would come around to the house and I’d be like, ‘Don’t switch the football on. I’m not interested’.”
After not being named in the squad for Ten Hag’s first full season, Jones was eventually released in 2023. It wasn’t until a year later that he officially confirmed his retirement, which came as something of a relief.
Jones said: “I always feel like when you say you’ve retired, it’s like, ‘Oh right, that’s it. Finished, done. See you later, thanks for coming’.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
“[But] it’s not like that for me, I’ve still got so much to give. But it was a relief. Honestly, it was a relief. I got in the car and I remember being in tears on the way [home]. And I walked in the door and my wife… she just knew.”
Since retiring, the former Premier League and FA Cup winner has gone into coaching and is working towards his pro badges. And in United tradition, he has already won a trophy, coaching United’s Under-18 side to the Premier League National title earlier this year.