Valencia 2-1 Manchester United - 3 reasons why United lost the match

#1 Phil Jones' woeful display

Phil Jones was poor on the night

Once earmarked as a future England and United captain by none other than SAF himself. At the moment, he is not even part of the first-team picture at Old Trafford, as he was making only his sixth start of the season, and it could hardly have gone any worse for the 26-year-old, as he was at fault for both Valencia goals.

For the first, he was guilty of a weak clearing nodder out straight to Carlos Soler, and the forward thanked him by controlling well before striking perfectly past Romero into the bottom corner.

Eric Bailly was Jones defensive partner on the night, and the Ivorian was pulled disappointingly out of position, with Carlos Soler threading a through ball past the United back line.

Non-communication between Romero and Jones ensured that there was a laughable farce in the next sequence of play, as the Argentine came out to intercept, with Jones sliding in to put the ball past his keeper into an empty net in what would have been a beautiful goal (had it gone in the right end) to mark the 7th time United had fallen 2-0 behind this season.

Jones has been on the fringes of the United squad this season, and with him playing out the last year of his contract, his performance on the night did nothing to suggest he merits an extension.