Jermaine Jones may have only spent about a year-and-a-half with the New England Revolution, but he made an impact and his contributions will be missed.
The Revolution found a resolution late last week for the offseason-long dilemma of what do with Jones, surprisingly sending him to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for general allocation money and a first round draft pick in next year’s MLS Draft. Jones, 34, had seen his contract expire following the conclusion of the 2015 campaign, and never was able to come close to terms with the Revolution on a new deal despite both parties expressing interest in working something out.
Ultimately, their differences at the negotiating table caused for an awkward ending to Jones’ time in New England, with the former Designated Player publicly lashing out at their contract offers. Still, the Revolution hold no ill will towards him and are looking back fondly at what he helped them achieve.
“I loved coaching him,” Revolution head coach Jay Heaps told SBI. “He wore his heart on his sleeve. There wasn’t a moment in a training session or a game where he didn’t leave it all on the field. For me, the biggest part of his game was what kind of footballer he was, not just competing and fighting and winning balls but also his ability to change the game.
“I think that stood out a lot in 2014, and 2015 was riddled with injuries, but when he did step on the field it was impactful and that’s as good a compliment as you can give.”
In his 17 months with the club, the U.S. Men’s National Team regular made 24 starts in 28 regular-season appearances and scored two goals while adding four assists. Jones was one of the main reasons why the club went on a run and reached the MLS Cup Final in 2014, but his sophomore season in MLS was plagued with injuries that prevented him from consistently playing to the best of his abilities.
Replacing Jones will nonetheless be difficult. He brought plenty of tenacity and leadership to the Revolution midfield, and his mere presence seemed to free up the club’s talented arsenal of attackers while also allowing him to be an offensive threat.
Moves have been made to try and fill the void that Jones has left behind, but the Revolution know that no one player will be able to pick up the slack.
“It’s a collective approach,” said Heaps on how to make up for the loss of Jones. “We had other players leave our group, and you can’t replace them with a like-for-like. It’s got to be a group effort. We added a little bit more bite, so we share the responsibility defensively and we’re a bit stronger physically with guys like Gershon Koffie and Je-Vaughn Watson, but you’re also asking guys like Jose Goncalves and Andrew Farrell to step up and be impactful and can carry a little bit more of the burden.
“Then, on the offensive side, we feel like guys that we’ve brought back are really starting to find their groove, and we expect more from guys like Diego (Fagundez), guys like Kellyn (Rowe), guys like Lee (Nguyen).”
The Revolution are likely to see Jones again later this year, as the Rapids are set for a visit to Gillette Stadium on Sept. 3 in the two teams’ lone meeting of 2016. Jones might be a competitor and not a contributor then, but not even that will change how the Revolution reflect on their time together.
“Obviously happy that it worked out and always difficult to lose a player that was important to us,” said Heaps. “He wore his heart on his sleeve and played every day for our group. But at the same time, circumstances change and there was more to it than dollars and cents. There was a lot to do with getting him to a place where he wanted to be, closer to home, and I think there’s a lot that went on.
“I’m happy for him that he was able to find a solution and that he’ll be able to start playing again in MLS.”
Why would the Revs hold a grudge against him?
Really glad they decided to forgive him for wanting to continue his career.. /sarcasm
Yea, the headline was originally “ill will” and now it’s grudge? I have no idea what Franco was trying to stir up here, but it comes off ridiculous or completely out of touch with the absurdity of the actual story and ridiculous MLS mechanic.
What a joke.
New England was irrelevant before Jermaine Jones arrived. It was only after his addition (that was mandated by the league – along with any other talented player on that roster) that New England went on a tear and formed a winning side.
If anyone should hold ill will it would be a player that earned his paycheck, excelled in his performances to help lift the team only to be held hostage when out of contract by a club that did not want to pay for his services but still wanted compensation.
The Revs are just taking Klinsmann’s advice.
“This always happens in America,” Klinsmann said in the interview, which was released on Wednesday. “Kobe Bryant, for example — why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?”
Well done, Jack.
Very ESPN.com of you to insert LeBron James into a story that has nothing to do with LeBron James.
Who mentioned Lebron. Its a fair point, unless you’re JJ’s mother..
I think the Revs were already 2 wins into their streak when Jones joined the team. You can argue the team was already on the up swing. Also he is making less on his deal with Colorado than what NE offered him for the 2016 season.
Of course. You can argue anything within sports. That’s the awesome part of debates and why sports radio exists. However, some sides of the argument are obviously more foolish than others.
Let’s take a closer look at the facts and read up on the opinions of his own teammates and manager. Sounds a lot more of an impact than simply being a one element of an “upswing”. You be the judge:
Pre-Jones: New England was in 6th place (almost 7th place) and were outside the playoff race.
Post-Jones:New England would finish in 2nd place within the East and finished 9-0-2 overall after Jermaine Jones’ arrival in the starting line-up in route to an MLS Cup Final appearance.
“We really wanted to build the foundation first and then be able to add someone like Jermaine, who really brought exactly what we were looking for, rather than go get something that we weren’t exactly sure what to do with. It was the perfect piece at the perfect time.” -Jay Heaps
“We knew we were getting a hard-nosed player, one with tenacity, an emotional player who brings experience. He’s so good at the other things (off the field),” added Heaps. “His presence, I’ve never seen anything like it.” -Jay Heaps
“If anyone messes up, Jermaine is there to clean it up for us,” -Kelyn Rowe
“This is the guy I’ve always wanted to play alongside with, and I’m so glad we got him. He’s helped the team out so much — obviously you can see, but in more ways than one. He’s such a great teammate on and off the field. This locker room is so close, and when he came in he jelled right in right away. It feels like he’s been here for three years.” -Lee Nguyen
Links:
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2014/12/06/6808912/thomas-floyd-jones-leads-revolution-into-mls-cup
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/sports/revolution/revs-cashing-in-with-jones-as-middleman/article_4c459a9f-f472-5f22-a3e0-9a4912cda727.html
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Based on you referencing Jones signing with Colorado it appears you might be confused why he signed for less. MLS has a very detailed system to block players from negotiating from a standpoint of strength in an effort to keep salaries down. To say nothing of the absurdity of a team retaining the rights of a player it does not want to resign (see: Kevin Hartman, too) or no longer makes attempts to negotiate.
“One could argue” Jermaine Jones even playing for New England in the first place (a “blind draw” with Chicago) and the circumstances with his departure is everything wrong with MLS.
TL,DR
Bryan
TL,DR
My posts are intended for your demographic and age group evidently.
You certainly are ‘old school’
Colorado is a good move for JJ. Playing more than 50% of your games on turf has to be taxing on the body at his age.
It looks to me like the owners’ way of getting rid of him. $600K is an insult. So they have Heaps say nice things. And toodles. Jermaine didn’t perform magic in 2015. And they wanted magic for $3 mill. Of course, at Toronto, Josie got a whole year’s pay $13 mill for almost no work last year, seems to me. And Michael B. has gone thru years underperforming at $7 mill,, doing far less than JJ.
where did you get $13 million?
The hate is strong in this one. Jozy scored 13 goals last year, including 5 game winning goals. That’s the 2nd most of any American in the league, behind only Wondo, who scored 3 more goals in 6 more appearances. I don’t see how that’s “No work.” Granted, with that type of pay he should be in the top 3, but that’s hardly “no work.”
Also, Jozy didn’t make anywhere near $13m. Not saying he provided great value but at least get your facts right.
Also JJ is suspended for the first six games of this season and will surely miss games for USMNT callups so he’s likely to miss maybe half of Colorado’s games this season. That has to be taken into account as well.
I’m just glad he’s getting paid. He didn’t become an American to make 600k in MLS, he could’ve gotten that much as a German.
Don’t see why anyone should hold it against the other. Certainly can see why the Revs didn’t want to pay so much for a 34 year old who will miss who knows how many matches this year. After a 6 match ban, then potential international call ups plus he’s shown signs of picking up injuries.. If he gets in 15 matches this year I’d be surprised.
If he gets in 15 matches this year I’d be surprised.
Sounds like your average Designated Player.