Facing off with a tricky Trinidad & Tobago team, Jermaine Jones provided a bit of stability to a U.S. Men’s National Team that had very little on Tuesday night.
Jones patrolled and controlled the midfield throughout Tuesday’s scoreless draw, helping the USMNT pick up its fourth point in two World Cup qualifying games. Jones’ performance led the way in snagging that hard-earned point, earning the midfielder recognition as SBI USMNT Man of the Match.
Played alongside Michael Bradley in the midfield, Jones was taken a bit out of his comfort zone, but put forth a composed and mature performance. Sucked into some early fouls, Jones controlled play throughout while limiting T&T from generating much of anything in the center of the field. On the attacking end, his thunderous second half strike proved to be one of the USMNT’s only good looks, but Jones was unfortunate to see his shot carom off the crossbar.
In a game where few showed well, Jones put forth an impactful workmanlike performance, earning SBI USMNT Man of the Match honors ahead of Jozy Altidore and Geoff Cameron.
What did you think of Jones’ performance? Which player stood out to you in Tuesday’s draw?
Share your thoughts below.
I guess I am the only one happy with 4 points. Zardes should have finished his chance. Would have been 3 points and everyone would still be whining.
It was hot and humid. US controlled long stretches of the game with good possession which is what you need to do in that environment. They got the point on the road.
Were there some weak performances? Yes. Will the teams makeup change in the next 12 months if players don’t step up? I think it will.
WCQ is about points. We got a point on the road. The US will probably finish this round of qualifying gaining the maximum number of points. We should win all our games at home and steal points in Guatemala and St. Vincent and Grenadines.
Then, onto the Hex.
It’s going to be alright in the long run.
Guatemala away will be really tough. BUt yeah at home we should win our games.
Jones and Bradley still leave too big of a hole in the center of the field when playing together. If JK, wants MB to play a more attacking role, then Jones needs to learn to sit a little more instead of continuing to drift out to the sides and/or ahead of MB. For me, Altidore and Cameron were better because I, while he played OK, Jones was out of position too much fore me.
Jones stayed back, in position, for the majority of the game. heatmap and Opta confirm this.
Jones was outstanding. He rarely lost the ball and hassled T&T constantly. He played a great game. Michael was not very good. A shell of the player he was 2-3 years ago.
Matt, stop with your anti-MLS agenda! Or at least discuss it when that is the topic of the article. 2 out of 3 best players for US last night are MLS players. Zardes is an MLS player and he was poor, Yedlin is an EPL player and he was poor as well. There is no empirical evidence that playing in MLS hurts your game especially when you are 28+ and especially when weighed against not playing all the time in a stronger league.
Im not anti MLS. I love it. Cant wait for my team in 2017. I do not want to see my USMNT players playing in MLS. I want them in Europe playing at the highest level. Jermaine Jones was really good but his quality and ability led him to the semifinals of the Champions League with Schalke. He is half the player he was 2 years ago but he still outplays Bradley at the 8. (bradley generally plays box to box no matter when he is playing) Bradley didnt take the ball off any T&T players. Zardes missed a sitter. Besler looked like he was struggling to keep up and kept being physically outmatched and falling and a little slow in his positioning. Cameron was amazing. Howard had barely anything to do.
Historically the US struggles away in 2nd round qualifying. 3-2-1 in 2000. 3-3-0 in 2004 5-0-1 in 2008 and 4-1-1 in 2012. We are 1-1-0 so we should wait and see.
No coach is going to make our player pool better. National coaches are not here to make the pool better.
As technical director since 2013 it is far too early to see results from the changes in our program.
Wont see those really till 2022-2026. The kids who are 9-11 these past two years will be the ones to measure if the new way is working.
From 2002-2012 though we developed nothing. Just a lot more of the same type of player.
But MLS right now is in overdrive mode to convince the US soccer fan that MLS is how we will win the world cup and MLS is near an elite league….smh. Not even close. It has come SO FAR in the last 10 years but it has an enormous ways to go to even be a top 5 league in the world.
It has gotten better but it should not be the home of our USMNT players. Thankfully Tim HOward and Friedel never fell for it. They will stay in europe their entire career. ANd good on them for doing so. Same with cherundelo. Good on him. The more the better. More and more and more.
Completely agree. I have always said that I like MLS and have always supported the league (and will continue to do so). I watch matches on TV. I have attended matches. However, I want my USMNT team players playing at the highest level that they can play. For the best players, that is not MLS. For the mediocre ones (Mixx), MLS is a good place to prove yourself then jump.
MLS is a good place for really young players to play, develop then jump to a place where they will get playing time at a higher level (I am still against the obsession with the EPL unless you are a goalie or defender. I still push for La Liga/Ligue 1/Bundesliga as targets). I am not talking about Denmark etc. which are leagues you should only go which the hopes of jumping to a bigger league. You cannot make up for the skill, speed of player depth, and SPEED OF THOUGHT in better leagues.
That being said, US is still not producing quality players in the final third. We aren’t. That is something that cannot be addressed in 2 or 3 years by a guy who is appointed as technical director. Giovinco was far and away the best player in MLS and is at best a a sub on the Italian national team that is barely top 5 in Euro (barely top 10 in the world). I like Nguyen and Benny, but lets me honest, neither one has ever been that spectacular on the international level.
One of those matches, where designating a Man of the Match is truly unecessary, largely because there wasn’t one. Maybe Howard, just because he didn’t let anything in.
The way the team played, especially when Nagbe stepped on the field, left me wanting more but far from disappointed. Nagbe some how got Bradley and Jones going, involved in the attack and our possession went through the roof. We also have a winger in the pipeline, like Nagbe waiting for his papers to go through (which should be soon very soon)….. Vancouver Whitecaps winger Kekuta Manneh(20-year-old speedster!!!!!). Nagbe, Lletget, Manneh, Miazga…..with a new coach?? the future looks good
Impactful? Is that even a word?
um, yes?
No.
if you’re a grammar nazi, no, it isn’t. but the word is here to stay nonetheless.
im·pact·ful
imˈpaktfəl/
adjective
adjective: impactful
having a major impact or effect.
“an eye-catching and impactful design”
Interesting both Goal.com (no author listed so I don’t know if it was Ives) and ESPNFC.com named Jozy as the best player. Perhaps SBI didn’t want to face the angry mob two games in a row.
Haha, those would have been some fun/annoying comments to go through, depending on your temper at the time.
Jozy was good but Jones was more involved, and really was fundamental in us gaining and controlling the battle in the middle. He also tread the line with his fouls beautifully, beating up and frustrating the T&T attackers. Finally, he was the most disciplined I can remember seeing him be, as far as positioning goes.
Jozy was also getting called offsides quite a bit, not to say I blame that all on him. Our attack just seemed out of sync, especially Bradley, who was pulling most of the offense’s tangled strings.
Jozy was ok. He had very little support from Zardes. And no link up from the midfield. Bradley was pretty awful. Didnt matter. Got the draw.
Its up to these young MLS kids to make it happen. I dont see it happening. Europe or bust really.
…And MLSSOCCER.COM rated Altidore and Jones under Nagbe, Besler, Cameron and Howard, so that means nothing.
Agreed. T&T were exhausted at the end. We had our chances but we just dont have the quality to finish. PLaying away in concacaf has always been challenging. We do not create the players in the US to perform in the final third. It is unfortunate. But I expect this to continue for a while now.
Which makes Klinsmann’s decision to not use the third sub even more puzzling. Maybe he was worried about Jones’ hamstring, but if that’s the case, he should have been pulled. The problem, like in Brazil, was A LACK OF PLAN B. Bradley is not a #10 and never will be at the international level. Either find a #10 in Nagbe, Nguyen, or someone else and move Bradley back to #6. Jones played well, but starting him is hindering the development of the team given his age.
Jones was very good as was Fabian and Jozy. The defense was solid overall. Zardes was very poor and should have scored the open header in the second half. You have to bury that. Bradley was just lousy. Who knows what he will be like in the summer of 2018? T&T is a pretty good side and the US possessed the ball 60% to 40% on the road; so all and all, it was a decent result to get on the road.
excellent analysis. Jones was really good though. His quality shone through. He is only half the player he was 2 years ago but still heads and tails above others. If Zardes is such a dominant MLS player it appears pathetic tonight. Jozy and Bradley have regressed so far backwards.
Cameron is still outstanding. The level he plays at overseas shines through. Calm and composed on the ball. Easily the best CB tonight. Besler falls over a lot and hurts himself all the time. Just not in control of himself and often out of position cause in MLS it is easy to be out of position. In BPL if you are out of position you will be taught a very quick lesson and hit the bench. Geoff has done so well over there. One of our better players now.
Joey has regressed from the days of tripping over himself in the penalty area and never scoring in the premier league? I’m not a huge fan, but last night was one of his better performances recently. Decent hold up play and could have easily had a couple assists with better finishing from his teammates. MLS hasn’t hurt Jones…age and repeated injuries have somewhat. Our defense is far more composed with Besler in there than it was with Brooks.
Bradley had an off game, but this isn’t an MLS issue. Even Cameron, who I agree is our best CB right now…that is a Klinsmann issue. He’s the one that has left Cameron out so often until recently.
This notion that USA dominated T & T just because our defenders passed the ball back and forth to each other (thus boosting their possession stat) will never make sense to me.
fair enough but possession is possession is possession… your opponent can’t score if they don’t have the ball (sans OGs…)
We had gilt-edged chances we should have finished. Not happy with the draw at all, and I’m still not happy with the performance despite “dominating”.
Far better than MLS upstarts Zardes and prior MLS upstart Yedlin. Its awful what MLS is doing to our players. We need to get them out now. Bradley is a shell of what he was.
It sure doesn’t look like MLS is hurting the t and t players playing in MLS. I don’t know!!!
The T&T team were inferior for the vast majority of the match. If our players essentially dominated their team for most of the match what does that say about T&T? I am not impressed with MLS. And I dont expect to be. I expect to enjoy my domestic league but it will never be a top league in the world ever. They cant admit it but we can all know it.
To Matt: if we’re not superior to T&T, we might as well give up on the game at all.
Can you find any knowledgeable analyst who doesn’t think MLS has improved over the years, with significant improvement in just the last 2-3 years?
Of course it has improved. But people made an assumption that it improved and was now on its way to grow from its low low status it was at in 2002 to the place it was today and in the same amount of time move on from where it is now to being a top league in the same time frame….
sorry. wont happen and it hasnt happened. Long long way to go. Youth development should be our main focus because right now from ages 6-12 and 18-22 we are failing massively.
Yedlin never played in the midfield in MLS. That’s only been JK’s bright idea. Perhaps Bradley was just always over rated. I mean it’s not like he’s tearing up MLS either. 4 years ago we we’re much better in early qualifying and you had Bradley at Roma.
People have kind of forgot it took Alan Gordon and EJ to beat Antigua, we loss in Jamaica, only a Herc Gomez free kick beat them at home, and drew in Gautemala. At the time you had Jozy at AZ, Bradley at Roma, Dempsey Tottenham, Jones in Champions league, Cherundolo and LD still in the team …..and we weren’t much, if at all better
Is this two jacks, or what? because these two comments seem to be a little contradictory. We struggled, we didn’t struggle, this guy was at Roma then and now is in MLS. What the F are you trying to say?
Jamaica torched us with Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes
T&T hold us with Joevin Jones, Cordell Cato and Daneil Cyrus
Panama beat us with Román Torres, Aníbal Godoy and Blas Pérez
These countries are using players that never even make the top list in MLS or would never make the starting 11 for the USMNT but are SOMEHOW getting results
Coaching problem maybe?
agreed, the reason why Klinsmann wanted to keep the players in European leagues
Meh….