CARSON, Calif. – Jermaine Jones is coming to terms with his new national team duties, ready to do all he can to become the best center back he can be.
And that transition, Jurgen Klinsmann says, might just pave the next stage in the United States' evolution into a real international power.
The German-born veteran, primarily a holding midfielder during his career in the Bundesliga, England, Turkey and now with the New England Revolution, has been focusing on backline play with the US since their October friendly in Florida against Honduras. He's getting his most intense work as a defender during the USMNT’s January camp at StubHub Center as the Americans begin preparation in earnest for the cycle leading to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“It's not a position I prefer. I prefer playing midfield,” Jones told MLSsoccer.com. “You have more, like, touch the ball, but the other point is [Klinsmann] has some ideas why he does it. I will take it and try to switch between midfield in New England and center back in the national team.”
Jones is 33, and it's not rare to see aging defensive midfielders drop to the backline. Klinsmann says Jones might pop up in midfield on occasion, but he sees him as a center back moving forward.
“I think that every coach would always say, 'I keep my options open,' but I want to see, if I have all the options in midfield, then I'm probably going to see him more as a center back,” Klinsmann said. “Because he reads the game so far ahead of time; he anticipates things. And one of our goals in this next cycle is we want to kind of get the game more moved into the opponent's half, so this is a step-by-step process.
“We're working on it already, and sometimes it's better, sometimes it doesn't work so well. But with his class and his experience, he might be the guy that gets us higher up the field. He might be the guy that gives confidence to his other defenders: 'Hey, guys, stay calm, it's all right, we've got it all covered.' So we'll definitely give it a try the first part of 2015.”
Jones has some experience in the back, filling in for injured or suspended teammates while with Schalke 04. He partnered with Matt Besler in the 1-1 draw against Honduras, and with John Brooks in a friendly against Colombia a month later in London, a 2-1 loss. He's still getting used to the job.
“Sometimes it's like when you play, and I see it doesn't work, and I want to come touch [the ball] and I don't touch the ball so much, and sometimes I'm a little bit confused and upset with the whole situation,” Jones said. “I want to play in midfield, but this is normal. It's a process. ... And maybe the position is, like, you don't have to run so much, like in midfield, so maybe I can make it, I hope, to the World Cup [as a defender].”
Klinsmann thinks so.
“The way he played it throughout his career, as a No. 6 or a No. 8, those players always have the capability to late on turn into center backs. It's nothing unusual,” Klinsmann said. “And he can play it in a back-four line, as one of the two center backs, or he can play it in a back-three line, as the centerpiece.”
And despite the challenges, Jones still believes he can help the US from the back.
“We have good center backs. We have a good back four,” he said. “But maybe he put me in the back to lead these guys, and that they can make maybe the next step and be, like, more personality. Show that personality on the pitch, too. And I think this is one point why he put me in the back, and we'll see what happens.”
And the Revolution offer him a chance to be, well, at home.
“It's tricky,” Jones said, “but I always say the lucky thing is that I have New England, where I play midfield and I can, yes, score goals.”
