Jermaine Jones’ performance with the Colorado Rapids is quickly proving to be one of the 2016 MLS season’s great redemption stories. Some nine games into the year, the Rapids now sit tied for 17 points in the Western Conference with Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas. Compare that to their dismal 2015 finish, at the conference’s absolute bottom.
Thanks are due to midfielder Jones for his contributions to that—he’s served up two assists in three games, one of those a game-winner. And he’s enjoying applying the offensive pressure, something he emphasized in a new interview this week with the Denver Post’s Daniel Boniface.
Boniface’s article notes head coach Pablo Mastroeni’s decision to use Jones in an attacking role, rather than the defensive one he usually plays with the USMNT. And Jones reveals why.
"A lot of people don't know that back in the day I was a striker," he told Boniface. "I like to attack. I'm not really a complete defense player. Most of my career I played it, but I prefer to attack the goal too."
It’s important Jones continues to harness that energy Saturday night at home. He and the Rapids will face the tough-to-beat Real Salt Lake (9 p.m. ET, MLS Live), and the Western Conference table hangs in the balance.
Click here to read the rest of the Denver Post article.
