Ralf Rangnick left a Manchester United star seething after ‘humiliating’ him in front of the entire squad in the dressing room.
Rangnick had a very brief spell at Old Trafford, having been appointed interim manager in December 2021 following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He took charge of 31 games, winning 11, drawing 12 and losing eight before leaving when Erik ten Hag was appointed and taking the Austria national team job.
The 66-year-old is best remembered for his honest remarks about the state of the club in interviews and press conferences but also left the United dressing room stunned near the end of his tenure in April 2022.
United were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool at Anfield and Phil Jones was handed a surprise start for the fixture, making just his second appearance of an injury-hit campaign.
Liverpool were 2-0 up at half-time courtesy of goals from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah and Jones was hooked at the break.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Jones said it is the only time in his career that he “lost it” and was “absolutely raging” over being substituted for Jadon Sancho.
He called: “At half-time I remember Ralf came in and said ‘right I’m going to make a change. Phil is going to come off’ and I remember the whole dressing room kind of went (makes a shocked face) as if to say ‘why’s he bringing Phil off here?’ and I know what everyone was thinking.
“I took my boots off and slammed them on the floor and said ‘you’re taking the f***ing p*** out of me’
“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.”
Phil Jones was furious with Ralf Rangnick after he took him off at half-time against Liverpool. Image: Getty
Jones was ravaged by injuries in his United career but his biggest issue was the fact that he felt he had played relatively well on Merseyside and was an “easy scapegoat” to be taken off.
He continued: “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.
“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 went on to make his 229th and final appearance for the club in a 3-0 win over Brentford. He missed the entirety of the 2022/23 season and retired at the end of the campaign following his release from United.
