FORMER Manchester United star Phil Jones has lifted the lid on the time he let rip at Ralf Rangnick with an X-rated blast.
The Old Trafford favourite lined up for United in their 4-0 drubbing by Liverpool in 2022.
The Red Devils had failed to click under interim boss Rangnick following Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s sacking.
And despite putting in an admirable performance at Anfield, Jones was hauled off by Rangnick at half-time with Liverpool 2-0 up.
The former England centre-back admits the decision left him feeling “humiliated”.
And Jones gave Rangnick an X-rated blast for his cruel substitution.
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The 32-year-old told the High Performance podcast: “I’ve never lost my head in a dressing room and I’ve never been emotional enough to lose myself in the dressing room.
“And I think that’s the only time in my career that I completely lost it. I was absolutely raging. Raging. That he humiliated me.
“Humiliated me in front of an Anfield crowd first and foremost, fearsome rivals, and the fans and my family and the players.
“We were 2-0 down at half-time, weren’t great, I don’t think we had a shot on target first half. Nothing was coming off. And I’d actually done alright in the game.
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“Considering where I’d been, what I’d been going through, knee and injury-wise.
“I’ll look back at the game and I’ll highlight anything, I didn’t give the ball away, I was calm under pressure.
“I’m not saying I was exceptional, but I definitely didn’t deserve to come off at half-time.
“There were far worse players on the pitch that day, I was the easy one to come off. You’re an easy scapegoat.”
Jones’ admission came after he was hailed by fans for an impressive appearance on Sky Sports.
The ace, who retired in August and is now a youth coach at United, also recently opened up over his mental health battle.
And he is now looking to make his own way as a manager in the beautiful game.
Nine managers Man Utd considered before keeping Erik ten Hag
ERIK TEN HAG appears to be safe as Man Utd manager, but the Dutchman edged dangerously close to the sack.
Here are nine managers Red Devils chiefs are reported to have considered for the job and what allegedly happened with each.
Gareth Southgate
Enjoys plenty of support among Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos chiefs but made clear he wouldn’t talk to any clubs until after Euro 2024. There is yet to be any suggestion that contact was made with the England boss.
Kieran McKenna
Talks were opened with McKenna’s representatives before the FA Cup final, but the former Man Utd coach opted to sign a new deal with Ipswich after Ten Hag’s Wembley win.
Roberto De Zerbi
Allegedly sounded out before the FA Cup final with salary expectations discussed. But Ineos chiefs concluded ex-Brighton boss was not the right fit for the project.
Thomas Frank
Brentford boss met Man Utd representatives the day before the FA Cup final. The Dane also dined with Ratcliffe, Roy Hodgson and Frank Lampard at the launch of a new Ineos car in February.
Marco Silva
Fulham boss reportedly met Man Utd representatives face-to-face two days before the FA Cup final, around the same time as Ten Hag was conducting his press conference.
Mauricio Pochettino
Fell out of Man Utd’s thinking in the first week of June, despite being a favourite of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Thomas Tuchel
Made a very strong impression and came across well during a Monaco meeting. Personal terms were discussed before the ex-Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss decided to step back from the process.
Ruben Amorim
Sporting boss was discussed by the Man Utd hierarchy but did not make the final reckoning.
Roberto Martinez
Portugal manager was considered in the early stages.
But he still can’t get over Rangnick’s decision to haul him off two-and-a-half years ago,
Jones continued: “At half-time I remember Ralf came in and said, ‘I’m going to make a change, Phil’s going to come off.’
“I remember the whole dressing room went like [eyes open] as if to say, ‘Is he bringing Phil off here?’
“I took my boots off and I slammed them on the floor and I said, ‘You’re taking the p*** out of me’.
“Everyone said, ‘Calm down, calm down.’ I get irate now (thinking about it), it really got to me. I just couldn’t get my head around it.
“I apologised afterwards, I said, ‘It was out of character for me, I shouldn’t have done that, at that moment that was not what was needed in the dressing room,’ but you can understand I was pretty peeved off.”
Jones spent 12 years playing for United, winning a title, FA Cup and Europa League in the process.
A £16.5million signing from Blackburn in 2011, he was once hailed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a future United captain.
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But Jones’ career was blighted by injury and he only ever made a relatively few 229 appearances before being released in 2023.
The defender failed to find a new club between then and the summer, forcing his decision to retire and take up a full-time coaching role.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
