Jermaine JonesVerified account @Jermainejunior After 18 years I say good bye. I have a clear vision, after I had a couple of months to concentrate on what comes next!!! THANKS to all my teammates, coaches… https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnbi1n2ncJe-gTWoi7Uo59FYcwf6bNcX6uHC-80/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=84j8zendsopp … Thanks for being our best field player at WC 2014.
Crucial player for us while we had him. His combination of athleticism, skill, and attitude were essential in the 2013 Hex, in Brazil, and in the Copa America. He lost his head at times (again, the Copa America), but he had a fire that we lacked once his body gave out on him. If only he had been healthy for South Africa, we might think of him as among our very best ever.
A fine career he had. Too bad his body can no longer do what his heart desires. Now, where's the Bradley retirement announcement?
Will never forget his bone jarring tackles and grit he showed while on the pitch. His performance in the Snow Bowl game was incredible.
Unafraid. Unapologetic.Thanks for the memories @Jermainejunior. All the best in your next chapter! pic.twitter.com/t48RIHb0qh— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) September 7, 2018
Closest thing since Hejduk in terms of just overall commitment, energy and fight for the crest. Loved JJ...he will be missed.
I remember the first time I saw him live. It was immediately apparent why this guy was a Champions League caliber defensive midfielder. He was so intimidating, so imposing, and now and again he'd play an amazing ball. He was our best player overall in 2014, one of the keys to our run in the 2016 Copa, which turned out to effectively be his last hurrah, and one can think if only he'd been healthy enough to play for us in 2009 and 2010...
Sad to hear. Thank you for your skill, heart and commitment JJ. You always put everything into the game.
Wikipedia says he's tied for the 33rd most USMNT caps. Of the players with a cap in 2017 or 2018, the only ones with more caps are Dempsey, Bradley, Beasley, Howard, and Altidore.
Sorely missed. We have no bite, no aggression, no "nastiness" in the team without him. He brought a level of fight and hardness that we've never had before. That aggression and the ability to make the other team fear coming near you is something the all-too-polite players we trot out over and over can never ever provide.
And maybe even the final if Charlie Davies does not get into that car and Onyewu does not play in that meaningless game against Costa Rica, when the US had qualified already. 2010 was also the easiest path to the final the US may ever have.
[moved from another thread] Bruce, Even if I disagree with them, I think your comments are opinion and not haterade but the below are clear (and mostly unwarranted) critiques of JJ. FWIW, I would pick all the players you noted in my top 10 as well with JOB.
What JJ really contributed to the USMNT was energy, speed and determination. I personally think his skill, while excellent, was diminished by his lack of discipline. That was probably the main factor preventing him from becoming a regular for Germany. I'm hoping that WM will put together a balanced combination of JJ's characteristics and emerges as a more complete team player who improves everyone else around him. JJ's style prevented him from doing that.
JJ's skill was far above the USMNT standard. I also think his red cards that I recall (two for touching an opponent's face) were poor officiating as there was no malice in them. You may recall better but I don't remember any from the run of play. If we're using the Germany team as the standard for the USMNT's midfield skill, we've never had a player closer to that level than JJ.