032513_isi_gonzalezomar_usmntjt0325131226 John Todd/isiphotos.com
One Question, Five Answers

How Will Loss of Jermaine Jones Impact the USMNT?

Jermaine Jones suffered an ankle injury in Friday's World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica and will miss Tuesday's match in Mexico. We asked how the U.S. will overcome the loss of this key player.
BY John Godfrey Posted
March 25, 2013
7:27 PM

the question:

What does Jermaine Jones mean to the U.S. side and what will the team have to do to compensate for his loss?

the answers:

JURGEN KLINSMANN: It’s a tough loss for us because Jermaine Jones is one of our leaders. The way he played that game against Costa Rica was unbelievable. He was injured about 20 minutes into the game. [The Costa Rican player] cut a hole in his ankle. He kept going until he couldn’t run anymore. He gave everything he had. It was an amazing performance.

Not having him, obviously, the coach goes to the next solution and we have players that can step in, whether it’s Kyle Beckerman, Sacha Kljestan, or Joe Corona. We have a lot of good players.

OMAR GONZALEZ: Jermaine Jones kept a lot of possession for us. He’s calm on the ball. And he wins a lot of tackles. You like that aggressive factor from him. I think we’re going to be fine. There’s another player here who’s going to take that spot over and I think he has the faith of everyone on this team and this staff. He’ll have the whole country behind him.

HERCULEZ GOMEZ: You’re talking about someone who plays in the Champions League. He plays for one of the best teams in Germany. He’s a proven player. He’s been a big part of our system. When you lose a player like that, you do lose that experience, you lose that composure in the toughest moments. So it is a loss for us. But we’ve got guys who are very capable of stepping in. We have the utmost confidence in those guys.

GRAHAM ZUSI: Jermaine is kind of the enforcer. You can always count on him going in for a tackle or even sparking an attack. We’re certainly going to miss him in the midfield even though we have great depth as well. Throw in a Maurice Edu or a Kyle Beckerman in the middle and we don’t lose a step.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: As always you try to understand the game, understand the opponent, understand the guys who are playing around you. Not having Jermaine means that the ability of myself and our team to understand who’s going to play and make sure we do the little things to get the best out of our team.

That's what the coach and a few players had to say about the loss of Jones. What's your take? Who would you like to see take his space in the Starting XI? Tell us below.

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