Watch: Jones calls out Morris, U.S. Soccer in 15-minute rant

LA Galaxy and former U.S. men's national team midfielder Jermaine Jones took to Instagram Live to give his thoughts on U.S. soccer after the Stars and Stripes failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, covering a wide array of topics in his 15-minute live stream regarding the future of the program.

Jones, who has 69 caps for the U.S., offers his impression of young American players and their objectives, and the role Major League Soccer plays in the big picture of success in soccer for the nation.

Jones praises Christian Pulisic for choosing to go the "hard way" and foregoing the comforts of home and family in order to test himself in the Bundesliga. He conversely calls out Jordan Morris, who attracted interest from Werder Bremen but ultimately chose to stay at home with the Seattle Sounders.

I remember (then-U.S. manager) Jurgen (Klinsmann) called me and asked me to please call Jordan Morris. I called Jordan Morris and I talked to him and I asked him, I said, 'I know that Werder Bremen really wants you and you can play there and you have the opportunity. You never know what comes after. You play already Bundesliga and you can go farther,' and he said, 'You know what? I want to go home. My dad is the doctor in Seattle, and my mom, she bought me and my girlfriend a dog' and that kind of stuff. I was (like) 'really?' I'm like, why you go the easy way when you have the chance? There are so many kids out there, they would love to go this way, but why we go always the easy way?

Jones also took the time to talk about former LA Galaxy boss Bruce Arena, who stepped down at the helm of the U.S. national team after a 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago. He strongly urges U.S. Soccer to hire a big-name manager with a "strong personality" to step in and bring legitimacy and a bit of fear back into the team. Jones calls for increased competition for spots, but particularly points out that players need to step up in a bigger way, too.

He explains that Klinsmann struggled to adequately implement his plans as some players weren't even at a place to pull them off.

"It's tough to bring some players in from MLS, and you have to teach them the easy soccer thinking," Jones said. "That's the problem.

"If you take a 25-, 26-(year-old) player in MLS and you compare him to a 19-, 20-(year-old) player in Europe, the Europe player is, in his head, farther already. And that's not good."

Jones also outlines the problem with MLS and its growing rank of star national team players like Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard, etc. The problem, he explains, is varied; those players earned big-money contracts due to their experience in Europe, but the trickle-down effect is an expectation that U.S. internationals are paid more in MLS without ever gaining that experience abroad.

The average U.S. player of sufficient quality also does not have to worry about losing their spot in the starting lineup, and do not have to fight for it like they would have to in Europe. It does not encourage the sort of growth needed to truly compete on the international stage, nor does it inspire fear in opposition who, like Costa Rica, can boast players who play for the likes of Real Madrid.

In the end, Jones' frank, honest assessment of the state of U.S. soccer offers the sort of insight that isn't often seen, and is certainly worth a watch.