“I wouldn’t even really communicate with my friends” - Ex-Manchester United star Phil Jones opens up on mental anguish caused by online trolls

Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones recently shared how he coped with online trolls during his playing days. Jones revealed he found it hard to even talk about it with close friends.

During an interview with Daily Mirror, Jones talked about how every footballer in the modern age has had to deal with social media trolling. Explaining how he managed things, Jones said:

“Anybody who tells you that it doesn’t is lying. And as footballers you have to put this mask on. You get paid a lot of money so you are not allowed to have feelings or emotions. The physical injuries made me mentally weak at times.

“Obviously people will ask, ‘He is always injured?’ as though they think that I wake up one day and think, ‘Oh, yeah, I fancy being injured today’. But my coping mechanism was to be silent, put my guard up, my shield up around with my really close family. I wouldn’t even really communicate with my friends that well.”

Phil Jones announced his retirement from football this summer. He had left Manchester United upon the expiry of his contract in 2023. He was without a club for a year and helped out the Red Devils with youth team training sessions.

Former Manchester United star opens up on facing heat from fans

Phil Jones revealed how fans would question him even when he was out with his family in the city. The former Manchester United defender added that he would avoid the crowd so fans don't spot him.

He said:

“You’d go past people in the street and they’d say something and it would really aggravate you and get to you. You just hear people whispering, ‘Oh there he is, f***ing injury-prone’. People say, ‘You shouldn’t take that money then’. If they only knew what I was doing behind the scenes to get right.

“Flip that on its head and say, ‘I’ll tell you what then, what I’ll do is I’ll take the money away from you and see if you go back into work’. Everybody’s got to earn money. I found it really hard to go to restaurants for years. You put your head down when you’re walking through crowds and stuff. I didn’t want people to spot me.”

Phil Jones now plans to become a coach and is working on his badges while helping out Manchester United's youth teams.