One common phrase that’s often used in football is that ‘defenders make good captains’ and it’s a saying that is at times very hard to disagree with. After all the best defenders usually have lots of experience and are able to read and set the tone and intensity of a game at the back.

Steve Bruce in many aspects was a great Manchester United captain because of those qualities and so is Nemanja Vidic today who ironically has always been likened to the current Sunderland manager in terms of his rugged style of play which has won many plaudits during the Serb’s time at the club.

A United defender who seems destined to win plaudits and possibly a full England cap this season is none other than our no.4 Phil Jones, who already has shown his outstanding quality and potential to be arguably one of the best defenders of his generation.

Yes it was only against Spurs on Monday night, but Jones showed that he is not scared of the big occasion and looked more like a defender in their late 30’s who has ‘been there and done that’ rather than a 19 year old making his home league debut for his new club.

He looked strong in the tackle and read the game well making several blocks, two from Gareth Bale in particular that showed his defensive qualities to a tee. Bale as we’ve seen over the last couple of seasons has ran most of the top defences in Europe ragged with his dashing runs, but Jones made sure that the Welshman never was more than half a foot ahead of him, which is no easy task.

That goes to show just how talented Jones is and in all honesty how good he is right now. Yes it’s fairly easy to get carried away with players as fans, but let’s not hide behind the ability of just how good Jones can be.

Even in today’s crazy-market Sir Alex would not have spent a reported £17million on Jones if he didn’t think that it was a good deal, regardless of the fact there was reported interest from other clubs most notably Liverpool.

Of course over the coming weeks we are no doubt going to be hearing that Phil is a future United and England captain. He will develop a lot more this year even if he is not starting games because of the quality around him, than had he still been at Blackburn this year – and that’s not a dig at Rovers who have produced some good young players.

The facts are that if Jones continues to work hard in training, do well when selected and keep his head firmly on the ground, like many young players have done in our history then he can achieve probably all that he wants to in the game.

By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87