The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

Bailly was on Wednesday included in the Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon,
which starts on 14 January.
Mourinho recently hailed the form of Jones, who has now played 10 consecutive games for United
without getting injured, his second-longest stretch since joining the club in 2011.
“Sometimes defenders now think the most important ability is to build from the back,” the Portuguese
manager said. “It’s not. The most important thing is to defend and that’s what I like about Phil Jones.
He likes to defend, he wants to play as a defender.”
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Mourinho went on to say Jones could be ready to make a return to the England set-up in the near
future. “I prefer to say that Jones is doing much better this season than in the previous two seasons
and he’s giving hope to everyone that he can be back to normality and, who knows, be back to the
national team, be a firm choice at Manchester United, because he’s doing very well.”
Mourinho added the media should give his two current centre-backs more credit for what they have
done in the past few weeks. He said: “I think, you are the ones who admit they [Jones and Rojo]
deserve more attention and more headlines. [But] they are not worried, they are playing more than
ever, better than ever.
“Rojo was also having lots of injuries. He is also [injury] free. In a period without Bailly and
Smalling, where people could be scared, they stepped up. Really solid. I am happy for them.”
United, who are sixth in the Premier League, play Middlesbrough at home on New Year’s Eve and
then travel to West Ham United on Monday.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/dec/28/manchester-unitedbenfica-victor-lindelof-defence-improves
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