Manchester United’s Defensive Pursuits Suggest One Of Phil Jones Or Chris Smalling Will Soon Be Obsolete

As Louis Van Gaal begins the process of turning his fourth-placed Manchester United side into genuine title contenders he finds himself at the same crossroads as his two predecessors.

Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have been threatening to turn into world class defenders for several years now. And while under Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes they made baby-steps in this direction, injuries, form, tinkering and general incompetence has repeatedly prevented them from actually doing so.

Last summer, after the departure of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand – arguably the greatest defensive partnership in world football over the last decade - Red Devils fans expected Louis Van Gaal to fill in these gaps with the purchase of recognised defensive quality.

Instead, the only centre-half he brought in was Marcos Rojo, while he also promoted Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair from United’s youth. This left Van Gaal to pick from Rojo, Blackett, McNair, Smalling, Jones and Jonny Evans.

Unfortunately for Evans the last 12 months proved to be the final nail in his coffin as a United player, as fans finally, universally admitted that he’s just not up to the task. A transfer to the Premier League’s nether region would suit him best, where he’ll more than likely excel. Meanwhile, Blackett and McNair have shown promise, but need to get more games under their belts to progress their game. A loan move would be perfect.

Then there’s Rojo. The Argentinian was clearly brought in to accommodate the three at the back system that Van Gaal originally envisioned for United. Now, last season that soon fell by the wayside. But with Europe on the horizon, and longer runs in the FA Cup and League Cup, as well as a genuine title push, expected, Rojo will be a key member of the squad. Especially with his solid left-foot, which means that he can provide competition for Luke Shaw at left-back. In the centre-back position though, while he could mix-it against mid-table teams, he’s too ill-disciplined and will get caught out when United clash with City, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

This brings us to Smalling and Jones. Aged 25 and 23 respectively it probably would have been easier for United fans if, as the entire defence did for most of last season, the pair had ended the season leaving David De Gea to cover for their mistakes. But in March, April, and May, the pair finally had a stretch of games together that showed they could actually build a genuine partnership together.

Yes there were mistakes in there too, but you couldn’t help but be encouraged that two young English defenders were beginning to gel. If they’d continued to frustrate and annoy, United fans would have been more than happy to see Van Gaal splash dozens of millions of pounds on defenders from Borussia Dormund, Valencia, and Real Madrid.

But if one, two, or all three of Mats Hummels, Nicholas Otamendi, and Segio Ramos end up at Old Trafford then that will immediately bring the possibility of Jones and Smalling being United’s first choice centre-backs to a screeching halt. However, in order for Manchester United to prosper immediately they can’t spend the next twelve months waiting to see if the pair can finally eradicate their silly mistakes and become the players they’ve always threatened.

Bringing in one or two of the above names would help to elevate one of Smalling and Jones at the cost of the other. It would also make United infinitely sturdier. And as Van Gaal has proven throughout his career he is willing to forgo sentimentality in order to get the best out of his team. That still means that he has a defensive dilemma on his hands. But he will be overjoyed to be finally addressing it. And that’s before we even get to the right-back spot.