You're probably thinking of Jones deliberately kicking Villalba in the back and getting himself sent off versus ATL. How he got the captain's armband after that little bit of petulance I'll never know, but here we are. But other than that, he's really only missed time due to injury. He's been comparatively docile for LA, if you can say that about a guy who Muay Thai'd another player in the back. IMO Jones is not reckless; in fact I think he's a very smart player, but definitely a hard man who dabbles in the dark arts from time-to-time. Whether its earning a phantom PK like he did earlier this season or putting in a good revenge tackle to set the tone, I have no compunctions about having a guy like that around, usually, and said the same about de Jong (who is, in fact, a much less "physical" player than reputed). Having said that, I think Jones has always walked a very dangerous line and sometimes he's paid for it. He kicked Sulley Muntari in the face in the World Cup and got away with it. We all know about his stamp on Marco Reus' foot and of course his suspension for chest-bumping Mark Geiger (which was probably pretty reckless). As he gets older, it seems he's on the wrong side of that line more often than not. Remember when he tried to scissor-trib Dax McCarty? Jones particular style of play was always a little risky, but even more so as he ages. These are reasons I was reserved about him coming to LA and pretty firmly against carrying him next year.
Who knows? Sorry, I don't have time to research to backup my rash assertions. Was he suspended for national team? Maybe that's what I was thinking. For now, he's our captain. Next year? I'll be really curious to see what Sigi decides.
Thanks! Good info and I'm the opposite of you - I was firmly against him coming here, and now I'm reserved about next year. It depends on how he is in the locker room, which it's hard for us to be in a position to know.
Colorado played him as a 10, which mitigated a lot of those liabilities. In fact, I thought it's what we'd do. One of the reasons I was against signing Jones to start with is that he sorta demands you build the team around him and that's something I wasn't sure the Galaxy should commit to. He's a strong personality in the locker room and on the field and, at the very least, every player has to adjust to what he's doing. This isn't the most terrible thing when you have squad of schmucks (or good players playing like schmucks, like we do) because Jones has a lot of talent and leadership and can play well in a few positions. But...I think we have enough things to figure out aside from finding 35 y/o Jones best role. I think he's got a lot of liabilities as a pure DM and we will have to adjust accordingly for him to play there. I guess I've made my peace with it, either way.
Well, there is this difference. Sigi is a strong personality too. I don't see him letting Jones call the shots. This is not some custard pie coach like Pablo or Curt.
Ok - I should have said yellow-card "worthy" fouls. And yes a player can commit a yellow card worthy foul in MLS and there be no call at all. With certain refs it happens every game. And how is my post 1-sided? I talked about both - praising Jones strengths and pointing out some consistent weaknesses. I specifically stated that he is a mixed bag. You are the one who seems to have a hard on for the guy. Look Jones is having a good run the last few games and is playing much better under Sigi. Can't be denied. But just like Gio's 2016 season of gaudy stats didn't blind me to the obvious serious flaws in his game I'm also not falling into the trap of thinking that a 37 yo temperamental Jones is who we should rely on to be our main starting defensive mid next season. Now if we can afford to keep him for depth or for platooning then I'm all for it. Most importantly we need to add a younger, more consistent dm to the mix. And, if possible, get rid of Pedro.
I wish we could end the season on with this game. It felt good watching the team play well, scoring goals and getting a win. The bonus was players coming by to sign autographs and take pictures. Here's a picture of me and my brother with Jermaine. Call it early Halloween for us. Well, one more game for the season and it'll be over.
I must have missed something. No Zardes this match. Injury or coach's decision? It should have registered with me when I saw Diallo in the lineup.
Aw man, I didn't know you sat there. I kind of forgot what you look like though since the last time we met was at a Big West Conference tournament years ago. I would've greeted you.
Mixed bag is fair, IMO. For every other 2 or 3 of those impressive Superman tackles Jones makes, he also has a habit of badly over-committing and taking himself out of the play completely, leaving our backline totally exposed and scrambling back toward our goal. He still does this at least once or twice a match, for a while it was costing us a goal a game; the "improvement" people are seeing is that our most recent opponents, RSL and Minnesota, have not punished us for those (one of MU's best chances came that way, resulting in a shot from the penalty box directly at Diop).
Bottom line is we have JDS, JJ, JP, Lletget and Husidic that are all really #8s. Garcia is the only true #6. Husidic is pretty versatile but is depth. Lletget can play on the wing. Lletget, JDS and JJ can all fill the #10 role, but not their strength. But none of these are good choices long term. My feeling is that Lletget and JDS are here and are the best CM pair for the future. Given time they could be as effective as Juni/Sarvas were (also both #8s) and possibly even better. JJ and JP are simply surplus to requirements and we need to invest resources elsewhere.
While you are probably right, I would prefer to see Lletget play a few games in a row before making a decision on who is surplus. Lisfranc injuries can cause nerve damage and arthritis. Hopefully, he has recovered fully.