Half the time his teammates mispass or don't pass to him. The other 25% he is in an off-ball position that's not ideal for the situation; the remaining 25% he takes the pass and either makes a shot or actually usually looks to pass instead of driving goal.
This is the same shit we were hearing when the USMNT had an anemic offense attack. Jozy Island all over again. Waiting for Poyet to come out with he needs to create that one chance.
No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. -John Donne
Jozy did blow a peach of chance in the area by taking several touches before shooting... Also needs to stop blasting the ball against massed defenders, as the deflection really sets up the counter. Jozy isn't a poacher but he needs to cultivate that part of his game to be more effective with S'land.
Jozy's NT form has nothing to do with his club form. There was a time when he was bagging them in for AZ, but doing little for the US. There was a time when he was sucking with Hull, but he was scoring for the Nats.
I think is too early to be yelling "the sky is falling" on Altidore. His inconsistencies IS part of his game. The problem that I have is that JK is willing to give him all the time in the world to snap out of it. I would like to see Johannsson get more minutes since he is the one that is scoring.
I'm not so sure it's that clear cut. With the quality in our WC group it would be nice to have someone who is scoring regularly with their club as our starting striker. I think in the EPL, a lot the individual improvement comes from the players themselves. Unlike other leagues the tactics are not as involved and for players Altidore's age you aren't going to be getting coached up at all. It definitely isn't evident with Sunderland, for anyone at the club. I wonder if the Altidore has the the will or even the ability to improve himself without a disciplinarian coach and a league where the tactics aren't the main focus. Dempsey was constantly second guessed by a string of coaches at Fulham but kept improving himself. I wonder about the mental discipline about some of the guys we have in the EPL (Shea and Edu for example).
Hi Jozy, here is your 2013 USMNT player of the year trophy! Congrats. Oh by the way, hit the bench for 2014.
Sure, we don't want Eddie involved in situations where he isn't claiming a 50/50 or finishing with his noggin. But isn't it worse in certain situations to have a guy out there who can't do those two things? If we have the run of play, Jozy or AJ should be our guy. If we can't pass through the midfield, we should strongly consider EJ.
How is it an enigma situation? It is quite simple, really. Strikers atop a functioning attack score more than those atop an attack that neglects the striker. The difference is the USMNT were just creating few chances back then; Sunderland creates a few, but then has another 18 rushes ended by pointless 24-yard shots into the bleachers and crosses that hit the shins of the first defender. I am not entirely convinced that squad knows what an entry feed is.
I think JK has given him more time and chances than he deserves considering he almost never scores. At some point JK will have to do something different. Running around and "holding up" the ball doesnt score goals and we need forward(s) that score. I know these boards are loaded with Jozy fan boys but face it... except for one brief period when he was scoring, hes a bust and no matter how much people want him to succeed, odds are what you see is what he is. We need to start working on a backup plan now that doesnt include Jozy
I kinda think Dempsey is on the back side of the mountain career wise. The Fulham loan will go a long way towards answering if there is anything left. His MLS performance was not worth what he was paid, if its more of the same back at Fulham then JK has a lot of thinking to do. It's been a long time since we've seen any performance that was remotely like those that got him to the NATs
As a Revs fan, I have been totally impressed with Aguedelo and will be very disappointed if JK snubs him for the Jan camp. He may very well be better than Aron and seeing the two of them together would be exciting I think. JK should call him in for a look, there is nothing to lose here. If he doesnt then I think he's done. Do we really need to see EJ again? In fact, a few more NAT appearances and he would have been at Stoke now. Will be interesting to see what happens
Jozy is the most experienced striker we have at the moment. And the best. AJ is scoring Yes but we only have a few caps of him with the NT. He should be given way more chances but wouldn't be so quick to appoint him a starter. We know what Jozy can do. He knows the team. They know him. The midfield needs to be strengthened to utilize Jozy's qualities. Even if he isn't scoring for the NT, he's providing an assist or opening space for our attacking players.
Agreed. This is how EJ and Shea were used during the Gold Cup. Against teams we plan to bunker/counter against, I think EJ makes better runs in behind, and is better flicking on 50/50 balls. Obviously, he's monstrous on set pieces, too.
Wait. I want to make sure we understand this. Jozy scored 8 goals in 14 appearances for the USMNT in 2013. In other words, for the USMNT.............................saying he "almost never scores" is patently false. In 2013, nobody scored MORE goals for the USMNT. I'm not talking about 2010 here. I'm talking about the present. 2013 And we can say it was a "brief period," only if we consider that "brief period" as the calendar year 2013. Scoring against Germany, scoring in 3 straight vital World Cup Qualifiers, scoring a hat-trick against Bosnia on the road, etc. isn't meaningless. Only 4 players scored more than 5 goals for the USMNT in 2013. That was Wondolowski scoring hat-tricks against Belize and Cuba in the Gold Cup (so meaningless). Then Altidore (8), Donovan (8), and Dempsey (6). Dempsey, it should be noted was our leading scorer in World Cup Qualifying. Another guy that consistently came up big when it mattered that people are desperate to replace. So who are we starting over Jozy Altidore? Johannsson is the only possibility. What he's doing is scoring goals for the same club Jozy did last year!!! He hasn't earned anything yet in terms of replacing Jozy in the starting XI for the USMNT yet. Will he? Maybe. We'll see. Players go thru peaks and valleys in their careers. Ups and downs. Ups and downs. We see it with everybody. Altidore and Dempsey are down right now. I expect both to be our best options to start when the World Cup rolls around People do realize Jozy Altidore is just 24 years old, right? They do realize that barring injury, he'll go top 5 in all-time USMNT goals this year? So when somebody says "Jozy Altidore is a bust," I wonder what they hell they're watching. He may not be a premier-league star...........but that doesn't mean he's a bust. It means he's not Didier Drogba, which 99.9% of us knew anyway. Frankly.............................
^You're right. But the reason we all love Clint and Donovan is because of their WC goals. Right now it's looking like 2010 all over again.
Jozy is making the team, not sure why this thread is here. Whether it's 2nd or 1st choice who knows? Sunderland are a sorry excuse for a soccer team and Jozy isn't playing well. Consider we're not blessed with tremendous depth at striker and it's no brainer.
Thing is that the USMNT has players that are in good synch with Jozy. Much better than the guys at his club. Dempsey can combine very well with him in the area. Donovan can provide the sweet pass that breaks the defense. Fabian can cut inside and give him a very smart ball. Bradley can lob a ball in the direction he's running without waiting, Jones can make a long pass exactly in the right space, etc. Sunderland doesn't have any players like them.
Ok, suppose I accept what you say, it could also be true that your rosy scenario works great in CONCACAF and Dutch league, not so good at the highest echelons of the game, i.e. Prem and against Ghana, Portugal and Germany. Ofc, the title of this thread is half the question. The other half is whom do we put on in place of Jozy. Edit: That latter question is purely academic because Klinsmann will not risk his popularity by yanking Jozy. Not happenin.