Khedira has held down a starting role at Real Madrid when he has been fit, and Mourinho is on the record for liking his play. He is no Xavi or Iniesta, but he is pretty damn good. Anyways, the one I would worry about from a US- NT perspective is Williams. From what I have seen of Hoffenheim he has been desperately poor this season (Hoffenheim even occassionally tried to bench him, but then had to play him anyways because of injuries), and I'm not sure how much room his game has for improvements tbh. And I agree with the poster above, should Hoffenheim be relegated, I'm not sure that Williams would find it easy to find another top level club (unlike Fabian Johnson).
Chortle? Jones came in as a Jan loan signing, helped stabilize their squad and helped them remain in the EPL. He did so well that BR made a reported offer of >E8mm to purchase him outright from Schalke but was rejected. They were relegated the following year in 2012. IIRC he was awarded BR's MOTM at least 3 times including in his first appearance. Here is a report of one of his gems v some team named United The 3rd instalment of the BRFCS man of the match award, however, sees the first player to win it for a second time. The ever impressive Jermaine Jones again proved what a key signing he has been so far for Rovers, gaining 41.40% of the 187 votes cast in another all-action display of gut-busting runs, tracking back, tackling and battling spirit. He is quickly establishing himself as a big fans’ favourite, so much so that a poll that will run till the end of the season on BRFCS currently has 98% of fans wanting us to sign him up on a permanent deal (see poll here). http://www.brfcs.com/2011/05/21/201011-man-of-the-match-rovers-v-united/ Now please don't choke while you chortle on that!
This is all well and good, but I'm not sure how any of this is particularly responsive to yankee's statement that Blackburn were "pitiful" while Jermaine was with the squad. While some might quibble with his use of the term pitiful, the numbers (and we all know you're a slave to the numbers) tell us that Blackburn performed better without Jermaine in the team (1.2 points per match in 28 pre Jermaine matches versus 1.0 ppm after his arrival).
Snicker. Jones started a lot, scored zero goals and Blackburn were higher in the PL table when he arrived then when he left.
Maybe not average, I dont watch La Liga enough other than Real Madrid games, but if he were in EPL he would probably be considered just slightly above average CM there imo. He's not a great DMid and he doesn't add much to the attack. I was saying the fact that he plays for Real Madrid doesnt make him a great player He is no where near worth that, no club in the world would pay 35 mil for Khedira
Jones is not a scorer, but that does not mean he's not a valuable player. To use not scoring as a data point to support your argument demonstrates how little you understand the game.
Yawn. Every midfielder should be able to find the net occasionally. When a midfielder is incapable of scoring for club and country, he'd better be an assist leader and/or a great defender. Sadly Jones can't shoot or head the ball accurately (has he ever even gotten his head on a ball in the opponents box for the USMNT?) and seems unable to find a killer pass around the opponents goal. Apparently, we should be grateful for his defense and occasionally smashing opponents. But.....honestly is this good defense? I'm not impressed.
Just as it's easy to create highlight reels for mediocre players, it's also easy to pick out a player's mistakes. And the things you talk about - failing to score and make the killer pass - are issues throughout our player pool, not just limited to Jones. If you want to argue you don't think Jones should have a place in our best XI because we should have a more creative attacking player, ok, feel free. But saying he wasn't good at Blackburn because he didn't score in 15 games is simplistic and wrong.
You've "simply" edited my posts to make it more "simplistic". I also point out that Blackburn fell down the table after Jones was introduced, and another poster has stated that Blackburn averaged fewer points with him in the lineup, than without him. I reckon that a goal or two from their new central midfielder would have helped Blackburn's cause, as it would help the USMNT.
The game winning goal in the Gold Cup against Jamaica in 2011. Those are his 2 goals for the US in 26 caps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_men's_national_soccer_team#Current_squad But look at the scoring rate for other US central midfielders, it's comprable. Beckerman 1 goal in 23 caps, Kljestan 4 in 38, Williams 0 in 11, Torres 0 in 20, Edu 1 in 42. Bradley's 11 in 72 is the highest we have.
I think we differ about Jones' time at Blackburn, and agree that our DM's don't score as much for country as they should.
What is even more telling is you differ with Blackburn's fan base and management on JJ's time at Blackburn: In answer to "Should Rovers try to buy any of the loan signings?", 283 of 288 said yes to Jones Jones - Been one of our best performers since he came in, took a couple of games to get up to speed but been one of the better players in the last couple of weeks Jones is the only one I would look to retain but we will find it very difficult to sign him. After the recent performances his value will have shot up. JJ would be amazing to keep him, yesterday when he got hacked down, most players would be crying on the floor JJ he just go back up - we went on to score. Robinson, samba, JJ they should be the spine of the team next season if we stay up. imo JJ is the best central midfielder we've had for years. Sign him up. ... JJ yes, without a doubt. JJ - Hell yeah. He's like Savage in the tackle, Reidy on the run and the Dunn of old with some of his final third passes. Would be an excellent buy, but whether we could do that is another matter. Jones - Can't ask anymore of this guy. If he isn't worth signing, then who is? http://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php/topic/24561-should-rovers-try-to-buy-any-of-the-loan-signings/ That was just from page 1! The fact that Blackburn's management wanted to take on his E3.5mm salary and pay Schalke >E8mm for the soon to be 30 year old CM tells you what they thought of his time there. Yet you are correct, he did not score a single goal in the 15 matches he played for Blackburn!
Yes, it does, but then again that "management" consisted of Venky's and Steve Kean. Venky's, the chicken farmers who fired Sam Allardyce when the club was in 13th place (following a season where he led them to a League Cup semi and 10th place in the league) and replaced him with the aforementioned Steve Kean, who then led Blackburn from the comfort of midtable to a relegation fight, and eventually relegation the subsequent season.
To comment on the dmid scoring thing. You guys are tripping dmids are not needed to/ should very rarely be that high up the pitch. Busquets the best dmid in the world has never scored more than 2 goals in a season. And outside of one season with 7 assists never had more than 2 assists. Dmid needs to initiate the offense, move the ball, and play good d. They are not required to score goals and set players up with the final pass.
Anything beyond distribution and defending flawlessly is a plus for a DM. In Barca's case there just one ball and so many attacking mids and forwards. I think Morales had scored 3 goals so far this year as a DM and my understanding is he scored a nice one just yesterday or the day before at camp. The kid has some good qualities.
I believe he is DM on a two man mid, as a matter of fact, that was also the formation he had with Mix during the Olys qualifiers. I hope they pair up again, I want to know if the game vs Mexico was an indication of how well they play together or just a fluke.
Jones did start every game he was eligible for while at Blackburn. He played very well at Blackburn. I recall many Villa fans wanting to sign him once his loan was up. Jones was willing to remain at Blackburn but Schalke didn't want to sell him because they just got a new manager who rated Jones. Jones came back to Schalke and they qualified for Champions League that season.
Claude Makelele: France: 71 GP, 0 goals Real Madrid: 94 GP, 1 goal Chelsea: 144 GP, 2 goals Gennaro Gattuso: Italy: 73 GP, 1 goal Milan: 335 GP, 9 goals Sergio Busquets: Spain: 51 GP, 0 goals Barcelona: 134 GP, 4 goals A DM that scores is not a DM. Jones, although not quite the player he was a few years back (pre-serious injuries, and pre-USMNT), is still one of the more impactful American players. He's not a exactly a "#6", and he will never "buy into" being the "#6" for the US that some wish him to be. That's OK. "Mercurial" is not an adjective that I would want used for a DM of "my" team. He is still the 2nd or 3rd best American CM.
I think there is still life in this thread (which I sorta hijacked.....sorry). Are there no DM's that score? If a DM does score is he automatically no longer a DM? If Jones is dissatisfied playing DM, and if Klinsy plays him as an atacking Mid.....shouldn't we expect him to score more often?
With a 3 man mid the dmid can't wander and positional spacing is key. In a two man mid their d responsibilities are shared leaving one to go forward more times than any dmid could in a 3 man mid