Transfer Window Podcast guest Ian McGarry did not sugarcoat his criticism of Manchester United defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
The two Englishman have once more been under the microscope following the club’s performance vs Tottenham Hotspurs at Wembley in the Premier League.
United were essentially played off the park and were lucky that the scoreline remained just at 2-0 in favour of the London side.
Jones and Smalling were the two paired at the centre of defence and failed to put in a convincing performance of any kind, conceding within 15 seconds of the match.
Although most fans quickly put the display behind them, McGarry was relentless in his assessment of both players’ qualities.
According to the Daily Star, Ian said: “At some point Jose Mourinho has to look at his defence (against Tottenham) and say can I go to a team with their creative and goalscoring capabilities with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as my two central defenders?
“Because those two players, for me, have been absolute charlatans, earning a wage at Manchester United for such a long time when they are clearly not Manchester United class, clearly not.”
One thing is certain for Phil and Chris and that is that their position at the club is under threat given the competition for places.
Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo are the club’s remaining centre-backs, not to mention Axel Tuanzebe who’s currently out on loan.
The young centre-back is highly rated by the backroom staff and is expected to be more heavily involved in the first team next season when he returns.
Lindelof and Bailly are both players who were specifically targeted and bought by Jose Mourinho himself which only leaves fans to assume that they’re naturally favoured by him.
If one throws Daley Blind in the mix of players capable of playing in the centre-back position that leaves seven players competing for two spots in the starting XI.