Man Utd chief Ed Woodward clarifies on-screen Phil Jones argument speculation
Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has clarified his apparent on-screen spat with Phil Jones during their 2-0 defeat to West Ham in September.
The loss at the London Stadium was the first in what is now a six-game winless run (excluding penalty shootouts) for the Red Devils, who are currently languishing in 14th place in the Premier League with just 10 points so far.
What happened between Woodward and Jones? Five things to know…
- Man Utd lost 2-0 at West Ham in September.
- Jones was sat behind Woodward and appeared to criticise his manager and teammates.
- It then looked as if Woodward turned round to silence him.
- But Woodward insists he wasn’t even talking to Jones and that the defender was questioning a refereeing decision.
- United haven’t won a game in 90 minutes since September 19.
Jones was sat behind Woodward in the stands as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men put in yet another laboured performance and initially appeared to be critical of his team-mates out on the pitch, with many on social media taking their guess at what the England defender might have said.
Phil Jones being told to shut up by Ed Woodward is exactly what I needed today. #MUFC #WHUMUN pic.twitter.com/4S3dUzk9Ag
— Mike (@Hello_ItsMike) September 22, 2019
It then looked as if Woodward turned round to silence Jones but the 47-year-old insists he wasn’t even talking to the defender and that, in any case, Jones was criticising a refereeing decision.
“Phil was talking about whether decisions were offside or not,” Woodward revealed.
“There was a foul and I turned around to Rebecca Britain, our club secretary [and said]: ‘Was that a yellow card on him? [Issa] Diop?’”
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Jones himself has been out injured since United’s League Cup clash with Rochdale at the end of September and only made the substitutes’ bench for the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday thanks to Axel Tuanzebe picking up an injury in the warm-up.
United travel to Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday before an away tie at Norwich City on Sunday.
