{"id":29512,"date":"2014-11-26T23:18:16","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T04:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=29512"},"modified":"2014-11-27T00:26:04","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T05:26:04","slug":"jones-relishes-villain-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=29512","title":{"rendered":"Jones Relishes Villain’s Role"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Kari Heistad\/capturedimages.biz<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 Jermaine Jones had a message for his detractors during Wednesday\u2019s press conference at Gillette Stadium: Bring it on.<\/p>\n

Jones, a fierce competitor who\u2019s never met a challenge he didn\u2019t like during his 14-year career, received waves of criticism across the country after playing an especially physical brand of football against the Red Bulls during Sunday\u2019s first leg of the Conference Finals.<\/p>\n

“In a different way, I love it when people a little bit start to hate me,” Jones said. “If it\u2019s outside in stadiums like the people in New York, I can take that.”<\/p>\n

Jones was taken to task by plenty of pundits for his scissor-style tackle on Dax McCarty in the first half of Sunday\u2019s match, which the Revolution won 2-1. The U.S. International was cautioned for the foul, but many felt a red card was warranted instead.<\/p>\n