VOTE: UNITED'S AUGUST PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FOOTBALL NEWS
30/08/2017 09:00, Report by Mark Froggatt
VOTE: UNITED'S AUGUST PLAYER OF THE MONTH
A number of Manchester United players could have been nominated for the club’s Player of the Month award after a great start to the season. But there can only be three and, after much thought, Phil Jones, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba have emerged as our August candidates.
Now, your votes in our live Twitter poll will decide which of the triumvirate wins the trophy. Before you state your opinion via @ManUtd, we encourage you to assess each of the worthy contenders…
PHIL JONES
Summary of his month: The England international was suspended for the UEFA Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid, but started all three of the Premier League wins over West Ham United, Swansea City and Leicester City alongside Eric Bailly, keeping cleans sheets each time. He looks set to enjoy a superb campaign at centre-back now that his recent injury problems are seemingly behind him.
The standout moment: Let’s be honest, we were all a little worried about Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez scoring on his Old Trafford return, but all fears were extinguished by a commanding performance from Jones as he handled the Mexican ex-Red with impressive ease. Well played!
Key statistic: Jones finished the month of August with the highest passing accuracy rate of any United player who started in the Premier League, with a whopping 94 per cent (150 from 161).
Mourinho is happy: "He's potentially a very good player,” the boss said. “He's still young. He's still in a learning age but for years and years and years he was injury-prone. If we manage to have him safe and protected from injuries, I think potentially he's everything I like in a central defender.”
NEMANJA MATIC
Summary of his month: Our summer signing from Chelsea made an eye-catching debut against Real Madrid in Macedonia, hitting the shot that led to Romelu Lukaku’s goal. He was voted Man of the Match following his Old Trafford bow against the Hammers and two more solid displays followed, against the Swans and Foxes, adding further evidence to the belief that he is a certified hit.
The standout moment: Nemanja’s job in central midfield is fairly simple: win the ball back and release our attacking players at pace. He did just that against West Ham on the opening day of the league season, robbing Angelo Ogbonna of possession and moving the ball to Marcus Rashford, who then provided the pass from which Lukaku opened the scoring. It was all done in eight seconds, too.
Key statistic: Matic completed the most successful tackles of any Red in August, with 11 to his name.
The other Nemanja is impressed: “Matic a very good signing for us,” Vidic told us at the weekend. “He's a top player for the position and I'm surprised that Antonio Conte let him go. He played most of their games last season and did really well, so I didn't expect him to be sold to one of their biggest rivals. The way he's played in his first few games suggests he is a proper United player.”
PAUL POGBA
Summary of his month: The arrival of the defensively-minded Matic appears to have unleashed our confident France international, who scored his first goal of the season against West Ham and bagged another excellent finish at Swansea, where he also claimed an assist for compatriot Anthony Martial. In his second season after the return from Juventus, the stage is set for Paul to dominate 2017/18.
The standout moment: Pogba has previously described last season’s goal at Swansea as his best in a United shirt, but this month’s chipped effort at the Liberty Stadium was arguably just as good. It capped the end of a fearsome attack up the right wing, with a fine assist from Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Key statistic: Pogba was involved in six of United's 11 goals, tallying four assists and two goals.
Matic has vowed to fight for him: “I think we play together very well,” our Serbian summer signing told us. “We help each other. He always plays next to me. We are there on the pitch to fight for each other. We will continue like this and I’m happy to have him in the team.”
