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Jones scores winner as Schalke tops Augsburg

Jerminae Jones Schalke 2 (Getty Images)

Jermaine Jones has made quite a habit out of receiving yellow cards but on Saturday he picked up something entirely different: Three points for Schalke 04.

Jones scored the winner in Schalke's 3-1 triumph over FC Augsburg, making a long, dribbling run from the right flank before firing home a low shot to the far corner to give the club a 2-0 lead. The goal was Jones' first of the new campaign and came in a match in which he did not earn a booking.

The win improved Schalke to 1-0-1 on the year, good enough for second place in the early goings of the Bundesliga season.

Here's the goal:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwPFXCp66Dg?feature=player_embedded] 

What do you think of Jones' goal? Impressed? Think he is going to have a big season with Schalke?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. There are basically three flavors of yellow cards, tactical fouls, hard fouls and dissent. I have not watched Schalke enough to know which of the 3 flavors he is most apt to get. For the USMNT, he seems to be more in danger of getting the hard foul kind rather than the smart tactical foul. On that basis, his presence in the USMNT for me is always going to be seen as a bit of a risk. Still, he is better than Beckerman at that spot by a pretty good margin, maybe Holden can match him eventually (it was the role he seemed to play for Bolton a lot of the time), Bradley is probably better skill wise, but perhaps not as effective as a pure destroyer. And of all the prospects, right now Jones is probably the best pure athlete. Still, there is always that niggling worry, much like Mastroeni, you never know if he will finish the game.

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  2. Brett,

    JJ brings the kind of savvy, clear eyed, hard-nosed “professional attitude “that is often indispensable at important tournaments.
    When the US Under 23’s gave up that last second goal to El Salvador and crashed out of Olympic qualifying my question was where the foul was?

    It was the question I kept asking myself as that ball kept moving down the field closer to the US goal with only seconds to go. If the US defenders were not capable of eliminating the danger cleanly then it was time to foul someone.

    Dangerous free kick near the goal?

    Sure but that is preferable as it would have meant a clearly disorganized defense at least has time to get set. And given the situation it is possible El Salvador does not get the kick off in time.

    Instead what you had was El Salvador getting a literally last second, more or less clear shot on goal.

    If the Under 23’s had had JJ or someone as good as him, that probably does not happen.

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  3. Beckerman follows orders and is disciplined. He sticks to the plan in part because he is not that creatively talented.

    There is a value to that and it’s one reason why he plays. The other reason is he gives you everything he has and he doesn’t quit.
    Coaches like that.

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  4. Magath has problems with a lot of people.

    The proof is in the pudding. He would not be starting for either Schalke or the US if his fouls were out of control. From what I have seen his fouling is is less chippy than it used to be and he seems to be sticking with the more bread and butter tactical fouls as well as the occasional “message” fouls. As far as I’m concerned the US needed as a hard man like him.

    By European standards he is pretty vanilla. JK used to play with much crazier psychotics.

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  5. “I wouldn’t want to be his boss, coach, brother, or teammate”

    I don’t think you have to worry. No chance any of that will happen.

    And if he was as uncoachable as you say he would not be playing for Schalke or the US.

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  6. At Azteca he was in pre-season shape. Going into the Jamaica games he is obviously a lot sharper. He will probably be asked to replace MB90.

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  7. I love our Rodman! Please leave JJ alooone.

    But in all seriousness, the man can “D” up and scare a few bone heads who decide they want to be funny and run around in the middle freely. His job is to make sure you think twice before you pull a Messi on Schalke. And by the yellows, he sure does his job right. As long as the red cards stay in the refs pocket, it’s all gooood.

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  8. I am glad that Jermaine Jones is on the US Men’s National Team. He’s not Claudio Reyna (but who is?) … think of him as Mastroeni but with much greater skill and acumen. He’s like the 3rd or 4th best defensive midfielder in Germany … and last time I looked, Germany’s midfield is pretty good.

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  9. This has been discussed so many times, but people still seem to have a misrepresentation about Jones. He had one or two “thuggish” incidents, but for the most part he earns those yellow cards with fouls that break up counter attacks. That’s his job. When the counter is on and there’s a 3 on 2 or a 4 on 2 running back toward his own goal, he is the guy who has to step in and take out the player and the ball at all costs. Obviously you’d love to have a player who can do that and avoid getting booked, but how common is that?

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  10. The only card that matters is the red.

    If JJ’s managers had a problem with the amount of yellows he accumulates he would not play as much as he does.

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  11. I understand his job. He is a “destroyer” But, there is plenty of players who can perform in that role without fouling as much as he does(once again no one in the 5 major leagues in Europe committed more fouls per game). Heck these last two matches Geoff Cameron made 15 tackles without being called for a foul once.

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  12. Hahaha, you don’t know the first thing about Schalke. Huntelaar is obviously world class but Papadopoulos, Farfan, and Draxler!

    Schalke scored 120 goals last year. They attack non-stop and while guys like Holtby and Farfan have more attacking skill than JJ, the only reason they can win games with that style of play is because they have a beast like JJ, a dude with athleticism and will to bust up a counter attack any way possible.

    So he gets a yellow, big deal, on that team that is his job.

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  13. He is definitely not one of the two best players at Schalke. Huntelaar, Holtby, Farfan, Papadopoulos, Fuchs, Draxler, Hoewdes and Uchida are superior players. And Jermaine Jones had the worst discipline record in the 5 major leagues in Europe. So his persistent fouling could be a problem. I still would play Jones over Beckerman but, their is issues with a player like him.

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  14. One of the two best players on one of the three best teams in the Bundesliga. And half of you clowns (including some of the writers on this site) would rather see us starting Kyle Beckerman. Just because he knows how to pick up a professional yellow.

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  15. You talking about the site personnel, or the community at-large.

    If the former, I’d say we get plenty of JJ vignettes when he does something notable.

    If the latter, I’d say you don’t have to go far without finding a JJ fan, including myself. Honestly, I think the pic of JJ90YC taking out Neymar should be in Time’s Best of 2012 when it’s published.

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  16. Based on past evidence, Jones DOES have it in him.

    He was an absolute beast against Jamaica in the GC last year. Also, back in January, when he was entrusted with the captaincy for Camp Cupcake, he was outstanding against Venezuela and Honduras.

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  17. Certain players SBI likes and certain ones not so much. Likes: Michael Bradley, Sasha Klejstan, Tim Ream and Demarcus Beasely. Dislikes: Jermaine Jones, Jose Torres, Edgar Castillo and Michael Orozco.

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  18. S[tuff] like this is why playing Jones as something other than a #6 isn’t a completely bad idea. He’s a freakish athlete and a super-talented player. Plus recall that he took the game over the last time we played Jamaica.

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  19. Since Klinsmann likes to play defensive midfielders on the wing, why not give Jones a try there? Clearly he’s more adept than Williams at that position.

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  20. Hopefully, Jones realizes that he has to be the guy that holds the midfield together in Jamaica. I did not think he played particularly well at Azteca; he needs to be much sharper with his passing and keep his composure in all situations.

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  21. The goal is less surprising that the lack of a booking.

    Looking forward to Schalke/Arsenal in the UCL, but moreso to Wenger whining about JJ being too physical.

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