CHESTER, Pa. — With a rare opportunity to start on the Talen Energy Stadium field, Philadelphia Union midfielder Derrick Jones needed to make the most of his opportunity Saturday night.
Although he participated in a friendly against Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, a team taking the field for the second time in preseason, Jones impressed in his latest attempt to climb up the defensive midfield depth chart.
The 21-year-old Homegrown player has been lost in the shuffle behind veterans Haris Medunjanin, Alejandro Bedoya and Warren Creavalle, and he didn’t impress much in his U.S. Open Cup start against Richmond in June.
During his 60-minute shift, Jones put in a solid performance in the middle of the field and produced the game’s lone goal, which came off a nice read 25 yards from goal.
“Jim (Curtin) just told us to press them for the last 15 minutes so we went out there to get forward and press and try and get a goal,” Jones said of his coach. “It was a good opportunity for me to come out there and play well, work hard for my team, just to get the confidence going. I’m just trying to work on my work defensively and attacking, stay compact in the midfield. That’s what the coaches tell me to work on.”
Curtin came away impressed from Jones’ performance, although he wished the midfielder was a bit more proactive.
“I thought in the first half Frankfurt did a good job of pressing us in the middle of the field,” Curtin said. “There’s a couple moments where maybe Derrick can angle his body so he can play one or two touches to get us out of a tight spot.
“He didn’t lose the ball, but he played safe and backwards, which we encourage our midfielder to have the mentality of playing forward first. I thought he did a good job for us, broke up some plays. I think physically it’s never a question with Derrick, it’s about changing speeds and doing it at intensity and then he has the quality to make a play and that’s what he did on the goal.”
While it’s sincerely hard to judge the quality of play on the field during a midseason friendly against a European side, Jones did as much as he could to earn a breakthrough into the first team.
Jones, who spent most of the season playing for the club’s USL side Bethlehem Steel, won’t land a starting spot unless something happens to Medunjanin or Bedoya, but he could be a valuable midfield destroyer during the stretch run of the Major League Soccer season.
Jones’ skill set is valuable to the Union because he is an imposing presence in midfield who offers a bit more going forward than Creavalle, who is a true defensive midfielder.
Time will tell if Jones works his way back into Curtin’s rotation, but he could be useful during a three-game stretch in the span of a week that begins Wednesday against Orlando City in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
“For me, whenever I get the opportunity go on the field I just try and work hard, try and get back in the first team,” Jones said. “I just know I have to keep working hard and try whenever I get on the field to give 100 percent.”