Two players that were influential for the US at WC 2014 are reaching, or past, their expiration date. This has been the subject of countless conversations in hundreds of threads and seems to be a source of angst for many US fans. Who will be the dominating, terrorizing presence in midfield that is JJ? Do we need a one for one replacement or should we transition to a different type of CM? Likewise, Who is going to finally step in and claim the DM role? Do we need a calming presence who can provide leadership á la Dreds, taking pressure off the back four while providing a outlet from the back (though mostly maintaining possession via back and square passes? Will Cameron stake a claim to the DM spot? Is a Nagbe or a Hyndman going to breakthrough in midfield? Will Bradley be re-purposed for the umpteenth time? What is one to do?
I don't see one in the pipeline right now. Please no one say Dax McCarty. Jermaine Jones is a beast. He is a physical freak who has phenomenal technique and a heart the size of the Mt. Rushmore, and for some reason his is as patriotic as Hejduk. Had he not been injured in his prime, he would have still been tearing up the BL for a number of years. They broke the mold when they made him, and we shan't see someone like him for a while. That;s not to say that McCarty can't play the 6 role well, I think he could be adequate, but he ain't Jermaine. There is a reason JK is going to ride the Jones horse until he has to trot him out behind the shed. He is that important for our midfield. The ain't no one that can replace him right now, nor is there anyone in the U-23, U-20, or U-17 pipeline that comes close.
Unfortunately, I agree. So should we modify our system? Maybe look for Pirlo or Iniesta types instead of Jones types? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I believe EPB has Mascherano potential. He has played nothing but CB for Porto B, but I think he could fit the role of a DM well. Since Brooks/CCV will likely be our CB pairing into the foreseeable future, we could either go with EPB at DM or a 3 - 5 - 2 and make it work.
Beckerman was a niche player for us, nothing more. His brilliance lay in his adroitly filling the role. There a decent number of players in the pipeline, including Stanko, Kitchen, Canouse, and Roldan. Or the team can play with a flat midfield or with two deep mids in 4231. It's not a big deal either way. My starting field players for 2018 would be: -----------altidore---- ------pulisic---agudelo---nagbe-- ------------lletget---bradley-- --johnson------------------------yedlin--- ----------brooks-----cameron---
JK's sentiments courtesy of SBI: “Jermaine Jones is a player that, when he’s on the field, other teams simply fear him,” Klinsmann said on Sunday shortly after revealing the USMNT roster. “Other teams simply respect him a lot. There’s the body language, there’s his energy, there’s the dynamic approach to everything he’s doing. He’s just elevating the games with his presence and that’s why, to have him just in our roster — and I’m not saying that he’s playing from the beginning against Mexico — but just having him with us is huge for us." I agree. If he's fit(ish), he's playing.
Yeah, I saw that and also agree with JK (blech). Part of the reason I had for creating this thread, actually.
We're in the very tail end of 2016. I bet we can squeeze one last World Cup out of Jermaine. Maybe we don't play him in every game. Maybe he doesn't do the three-a-day workouts leading up to the tournament. Maybe he spends a few extra minutes in deep freeze recooperation containers after each practice, but if he still has use of all his faculties, I'd rather he be on the field. He came to us late in life, let's ride that horse until it can't walk. Look at Rafa. The guy is 83 years old and is still in contention amongst a group of players many would argue are more talented than those we have at our disposal.
Jones will probably be good enough to make the next WC team. My bench of field players would be: green, wood, morris, manneh, jones, roldan, chandler, miazga, besler, fullback
Weston McKennie seems to be in the same mold. CM who is physical and can pick out a pass. IDK about his defensive chops though. Plus, he plays at JJ's old club, Schalke!
He doesn't play soccer. He plays Football. Jones in the EPL back in his prime trolling the midfield would have been a sight. Too bad he only got that loan spell with rovers.
Huh? JJ plays soccer, where would he play football? I guess there are enough US military bases that he could've played with some American servicemen.
He was saying he plays a classic EPL style. But the high schools on US military bases in Europe (and Asia) do have American football teams that compete against one another, and it's starting to get a niche following in Germany itself.
Not just Germany, though who wouldn't root for the Spandau Bulldogs, the Ravensburg Razorbacks, or the Stuttgart Scorpions? http://americanfootballeurope.com/
It's going to be Weston McKennie. Schalke fans rave about his physical qualities, even going so far to say that he's a "beast" in the air. He has incredible passing range and is pretty good defensively. I expect him to be a centerpiece of our midfield for years to come. Additionally, he already captains Schalke's u-19 side, showing that he has strong leadership skills. I expect him and Haji to get first team debuts within the next year.
Jones can play until his legs fall off in my opinion. I still can't get out of my mind the way he played against Costa Rica at Soldier Field in the Copa America Centenario. He was World Class and was the best player on the field from where I was sitting in the stadium.
As somebody who's seen a lot of McKennie with FCD youth teams, I think of him more as a box-to-box midfielder than as a defensive midfielder a la Beckerman. His defensive game isn't as developed as Kellyn Acosta's, while his passing ability is superior to the young Acosta's. Heck..................McKennie could compete with a 3rd FCD academy central midfielder, Emerson Hyndman, for that #8 role. 4 FCD academy central midfielders of pretty high quality if we include Victor Ulloa. I think Victor is just outside of USMNT quality, but then again we're calling up players like Caleb Stanko. Victor is a purely defensive midfielder. His nickname is "the crab" because he just moves from side to side biting people......................
True, and I should have acknowledged that I wasn't necessarily talking about him filling a DM role. I was meaning to talk about "the next Jermaine Jones", as Jermaine oftens plays in that box to box role for the US. That's why I think McKennie reminds me of Jones (with all the heart and the grit to boot). Edit: Additionally, the previously mentioned Durkin is who I look at to replace the Michael Bradley role in the 6. Durkin's essentially a more technical Bradley, with dare I say it a better passing range. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move abroad eventually (he's had trials with Inter recently, I would be thrilled to see that move)