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SEATTLE – Colorado Rapids midfielder Jermaine Jones has been a US national team mainstay since 2010, accumulating 67 caps, four goals and playing a key role in the team’s run to the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup.
But with Monday’s announcement that US Soccer has officially cut ties with head coach and technical director Jurgen Klinsmann after five years, whether or not Jones will remain an integral part of the USMNT’s plans going forward is an open-ended question.
Jones has shown he still has the physical ability to contribute on both the club and international level. But he’s also 35-years-old and the calls from some quarters for a greater infusion of youth into US lineups doesn’t figure to dissipate in the post-Klinsmann era.
Speaking with reporters at Colorado’s team hotel ahead of the Rapids’ Western Conference Championship match-up against the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday (10 pm ET, FS1 | TSN1/3, RDS 2 in Canada), Jones said he’s still confident in his role.
“For myself, I’m 35 but I’m confident [in my status],” Jones said. “If I’m 100 percent fit, I’ve showed for a couple years in Europe, I’ve showed in MLS and I think I’ve showed obviously with the national team that when I’m fit 100 percent, there’s not a lot of people who could take my spot.”
Klinsmann’s departure came on the heels of two tough defeats for the US during their recent World Cup qualifying matches, the first a 2-1 loss to Mexico at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus on Nov. 11, followed by a 4-0 shellacking in their road matchup against Costa Rica just four days later that likely sealed his fate.
It’s the end of a tenure for a coach that he says he had a “good relationship” with, but Jones said on Monday that some self-reflection for the US players is in order as well.
“He puts the team together but we have to play,” Jones said. “I’m a guy where before I put it on the coach or I put it on my teammates, I [look at] myself.
“Of course, I would say it’s a bad day for him to have to step away from the team. But it’s [about] going forward. …Now he’s done with the American national team but for us, now the focus is concentrating on qualifying and coming out of the group and making sure America goes to Russia.”
Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni -- who has 65 USMNT caps of his own from his playing days -- also weighed in on Klinsmann’s departure on Monday.
“As a fellow coach, it’s a difficult situation,” Mastroeni said. “It tugs at your heartstrings whenever any coach is dismissed from his duties. I think there are reasons that I’m not privy to, but I think he’s done a pretty good job for that team.
“There’s always [different] perspectives but I want to wish him nothing but the best and I hope he finds another opportunity shortly.”
