Manchester United duo Chris Smalling and Phil Jones branded ‘disaster’ by Phil Neville
Smalling and Jones at times looked all over the place at St James' Park and Neville insists his former club's excellent defensive record is down to De Gea and Matic
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PHIL NEVILLE blasted Manchester United centre back duo Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, calling the pair a “disaster” after Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle.
United are a mammoth 16 points behind Manchester City who could wrap up the title when Jose Mourinho take’s his side to the Etihad in April.
Neville's former club have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League, but he insists the record is in spite of United's defensive double act at St James’ Park.
Neville, 41, who won six Premier Leagues titles and the Champions League at Old Trafford pulled apart Jones and Smalling’s display in the North East that saw United lose their fifth game of the season.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, he said:"They have got the best defensive record because they have the best goalkeeper in the world in David De Gea and (Nemanja) Matic out in front who protects them really well.
“But the last two away games (against Tottenham and Newcastle), Smalling and Jones have been a disaster.
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“Against Dele Alli and Harry Kane, they got bullied.
“Against Newcastle did they make many mistakes, no, but they created a nervousness and a tension.”
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The newly-appointed England Women's boss reckons it is the lack of decisiveness that is letting Smalling and Jones down at the moment.
He added: “They were making decisions that were strange.
“They were making decisions all day where you were thinking: "What are you doing?"
Smalling had an afternoon to forget, he was lucky not to concede a penalty after replays showed he brought down Dwight Gayle in the box.
The 28-year-old was then booked for diving which led to Newcastle's winning goal in the second half, with Matt Ritchie scoring from the resulting free-kick.
With Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof available, Mourinho could shuffle his pack in defence for the upcoming FA Cup and Champions League games.
Eric Bailly is back in training but is still a few weeks away from being available.
The Ivory Coast international picked up an ankle problem against Chelsea in November that required surgery.