Bad Boy auf dem Bosporus: Jermaine Jones at Beşiktaş [R]

I wouldn't mind seeing JJ in another league, say MLS?

 

Boateng is half German/half Ghanian right but represents Ghana? But his brother represents Germany. This is something ESPN would report with great intensity had they actually cared/

 

JJ's ratings updated with Kicker for the 2nd PAOK match : http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...austellung_paok-saloniki_fc-schalke-04-2.html

Match	Type	Play	Kicker	Kicker Schalke Rank	Who Scored	Schalke Average
@Nottingen W2-0	DFB Cup	90	NA	NA	NA	NA
Hamburg T3-3	BL	90	3.0	2nd	6.5	7.06
@Wolfsburg L0-4	BL	90	4.5	3rd	7.1	6.26
PAOK T1-1	CLQ	90	3.5	2nd	NA	NA
@Hanover L1-2	BL	90	3.5	2nd	7.0	6.48
@PAOK W3-2	CLQ	64	4.0	3rd	NA	NA

The breakdown of the last match shows how poorly Schalke have been playing:
1.5: Draxler and Szalai (goal scorers)
3.0: Hildebrand (GK)
4.0: Jones, Howdes, Santana, Uchida
4.5: Fuches, Hoger, Farfan
5.0 Clemens.

Dreadful!

 

Another? As far as attacking midfielders, they have Meyer, Draxler, Boateng, Farfan, Clemens, Barnetta, and Goretzka. That should be enough for a decent coach.

 

Probably not. If Draxler left, Schalke would sign an additional replacement. Boateng's best position is center midfield; I think he was brought in to replace Hoeger/Neu and play next to Jones.

 

I believe Schalke needs an AM to replace last year's production from Bastos and Raffael. Meyer is too young and KPB and Goretzka are box-to-box CMs. Clemens and Barnetta are next to useless IMO. When Farfan is unavailable we have 0 width in the attack and everything just stalls.

I am not yet convinced about Keller as a coach for this group. Letting Stevens go was a mistake IMO.

 

Totally agree on the latter statement (re Keller and Stevens), but I think you're underselling Meyer. I expect Meyer to play a big role this season and I expect Clemens to continue to improve. In an ideal world you'd buy another creative attacker, but this is the Bundesliga and these teams can't just throw money at every problem. Sometimes you just need to go with what you have.

Besides, Schalke have stockpiled some of the best German talent in the 16-19 year old range. In a year or two, some of these desperate summer transfers will look rather unnecessary. Max Meyer is really just the tip of the iceberg of Schalke youth players in that age group.

 

Take it for whatever it's worth. These rumors rarely come to fruition, but...

 

Why would Schalke sell for 40 million pounds? This late in the window, they'd ask for more.

 

Don't kill the messenger. I'm just relaying the rumors.

40 million pounds is a lot of money though, especially for a teenager.

Schalke are going to lose him eventually. That fee can only get so much higher unless he becomes Messi/Ronaldo.

 

Meyer, Clemens, and Goretzka look like they could be good in the future just not sure they will have much of an impact this year. I am just not thrilled with the makeup of the team and signings this year. I am very excited by the KPB signing so maybe that will start to turn things around

4-2-3-1

Szalai
Clemens Draxler Farfan
Jones KPB
Aogo Howdes Matip Uchida
Hildebrand​

4-3-3

Draxler Szalai Farfan
Goretzka KPB
Jones
Aogo Howdes Matip Uchida
Hildebrand​

We shall see.

 

half brothers actually.. dad left KVP's mom for Jerome's mom who he then left when Jerome was 5... and KVP grew up quite poor while Jerome rather middle class ... so not exactly like they been very close or have that much in common

 

There are also other differences. I always get the impression that Jerome Boateng, despite playing for Germany, feels a strong connection to his African roots, while Kevin, despite representing Ghana, always dreamt of playing for Germany as a child. He said that he only decided to play for Ghana after he was suspended from playing for the German U-21 and Ghana offered him an opportunity to play at a World Cup. Tagesspiegel

 

Jones started on the bench against Bayer Leverkusen and came on in the 78th minute with Schalke leading 1-0. He had some nice moments, including a through ball to Jefferson Farfán that drew a penalty kick for S04's 2nd goal, locking up the game.

 

laser

 

Great win for Schalke. If today is any indication it looks like Keller will play KPB in the same AM slot that he played at Milan with inconsistent success. It does allow Draxler to play at AML where he seems more effective.

I think that the Jones non start was to give him a breather. Jones had been logging a lot of minutes. The KPB and Aogo signings clearly make Schalke a better attacking side. Things are looking up.

 

Exactly what I think. Kevin definitely seems to act more like a German than Ghanian IMO

 

What the...?!

 

...just...no...

 

Did I say something wrong? IMO his behavior resembles more of a German athlete than a Ghanian athelete. In fact his whole "bad boy" persona may seem even more American than German. Just my opinion. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

 

TL: DR; (getting a bit off topic)

KPB is a German of part Ghanaian descent, who qualified to represent Ghana through parentage. That's all.

I saw a Kicker video on the Boateng signing, and in the first few seconds it said something like "the original Bad Boy is back"...I mean he's a bit flamboyant and has gotten sent off a few times, but is it really justified? OK, he got kicked out of U-21 training for staying out too late partying, which broke his heart to the point that he abandoned the DFB setup altogether. I was struggling through the Tagesspiegel piece with my high school German, and it seems clear that Prince (while recognizing his misstep) felt harshly treated for essentially just being a 21-year-old professional athlete.

When you hear Jones talking about his difficulties fitting in and maintaining a positive public image in Germany, it's no big surprise to know that he and Boateng are really good friends. I'm no expert on the sociological implications...does anyone have any insight?

 

KPB and Jones do indeed have a lot in common. But there are also differences. First of all, Kevin grew up in Berlin, which is probably more multi-cultural than many American cities. Secondly, while KPB sees his own actions as the reasons for his "bad boy" image, JJ blames society. Both players cultivated a "Ghetto kid" image - if you remember e.g. JJ`s old website.