Altidore's Lack of Effort

[Fusion Logix]

Why is it Altidore's effort is always lacking? His work rate leaves something to be desired at times. Davies jumped into the Egypt game and immediately made a difference(please do not stipulate altidore's pass because that could have been any average joe on the cross)

I want altidore to grow some nuts, receive the ball and do damage. Not act like some highly paid player who thinks its a privilege for him to grace the National teams. I thought dropping him down to the Spanish second division would be a slap in the face but evidently not.

[GVPATS77]

Why is it Altidore's effort is always lacking? His work rate leaves something to be desired at times. Davies jumped into the Egypt game and immediately made a difference(please do not stipulate altidore's pass because that could have been any average joe on the cross)

I want altidore to grow some nuts, receive the ball and do damage. Not act like some highly paid player who thinks its a privilege for him to grace the National teams. I thought dropping him down to the Spanish second division would be a slap in the face but evidently not.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he is just barely coming off of a two month layoff due to injury and isn't game fit yet is forced to be out on the pitch due to injuries to other strikers.

On top of that, he's spent the first two games as the lone target striker getting beat up by the Italy defense first and then the Brazilians. Maybe he's just gassed. Can't blame him for that.

Maybe.

[dwsmith1972]

Jozy was really dogging it on that play we scored on...

[Fusion Logix]

Dont get me wrong, ill be the first to say altidore genuinely helps this team because he has something not a lot of our other players possess....Natural Talent. But his off the ball posture needs a boost tremendously. Take a page out our next opponents striker, fernando torres.

As for altidore playing all 3 games, i also thought bradley was pushing his limits with him. Coming off such an injury one has to wonder if hes up to full spec.

Either way, we won buy some divine intervention if you will, so lets celebrate!

[JeffreyWyatt]

You better believe he'll be up for the game against Spain.

[regulator]

i dont think it was a lack of effort as much as lack of fitness. when he played for RBNY, you would often see him gassed after 50-60 mins. now that hes just coming back from a long spell w/o any games, i wouldnt expect him to be match fit for a full 90 either.

[cc-atl]

It is pretty impossible for us to tell how much effort he is putting in off the field. But in the two years or so that he has been on the professional scene we have not really seen him make great strides in his fitness.

With that being said he is still just 19.

I think there are two things that may be holding him back a little (pure speculation on my part)

1. He may not be putting in the necessary effort to be in peak physical condition.

2. He may be slow to embrace the idea that his future should really be as more of a target forward. He has decent pace and skill. Good enough to be effective up to this point in his career, but at the international/elite level I do not think he will be able to earn a paycheck playing facing the goal and trying to beat guys off the ball. I think he needs to pattern himself after a guy like Drogba and really work to get stronger. He has the frame. If he can get considerably stronger and combine that with his adequate pace and skill he could be a dangerous player. But I wonder if he that is the type of player he wants to be.

[TabLalas]

I actually thought his work-rate and the job that he did was much better in the first 2 games than it was yesterday. Maybe the guy's beat, of course with Spain coming up, now's not the time to be dogging it out there.
Maybe Bradley will start Davies or Casey and bring in Jozy at some point like the 75th minute?

[TulkasTheStrong]

It could also be that Charlie Davies is a seasoned professional who is playing all the time for his team and Altidore hasn't seen the field in months and has been coming off an injury. I mean, maybe.

(side note: why has it taken Bob so long to play Davies? Connor Casey? Serious?)

[bobbydigital]

i doubt this thread would exist if a handball was called on egypt. but he has been sucking balls lately, he's working off the rust.

[kb1171]

This is crazy. The guy hadn't played a league game for 2 months as people have mentioned above. He isn't totally fit.

With that said what the hell do people expect. If everyone wants their forward to be Carlos Tevez or Dirk Kuyt, those aren't realistic expectations for a few reasons.

1. Not everyone can run that long going that hard.
2. If you are running that hard it is likely because you aren't as skilled.

Watch Fernando Torres when we play Spain. He doesn't always do tons of hard work, yet he is not labled as lazy. Would you rather have Tevez or Torres?

[miked9]

This is a dumb thread. I propose a moratorium on "Player X doesn't give enough effort" posts, because they're almost never substantiated, and it's nearly impossible to tell how hard a player is working while watching on television. It's one of the reasons why ESPN relying on the world feed is a serious detriment to its coverage. We're not seeing the runs that guys like Altidore, Dempsey, etc are making off the ball, and it helps when the coverage can notice things like that and then adjust their programming to highlight it.

[Mullet&Talon]

RIght now, the only similarity between Altidore and Drogba are they both fall down a lot. For being a physical presence he was getting knocked off the ball way too much.

He should have buried that hand ball shot in the uppoer corner. Unfortunately, this tournament has shown how far Altidore is from being a game changer. His flub against Italy on Donovan's through ball should have been a goal. And in the first half agaist Egypt he should have continued his run to the far post for Donovan's cross (which should have been a Donovan shot).

I don't worry about his fitness as much as his head for the game. So far he hasn't shown he has one.

[quinn]

RIght now, the only similarity between Altidore and Drogba are they both fall down a lot. For being a physical presence he was getting knocked off the ball way too much.

He should have buried that hand ball shot in the uppoer corner. Unfortunately, this tournament has shown how far Altidore is from being a game changer. His flub against Italy on Donovan's through ball should have been a goal. And in the first half agaist Egypt he should have continued his run to the far post for Donovan's cross (which should have been a Donovan shot).

I don't worry about his fitness as much as his head for the game. So far he hasn't shown he has one.

You know, you actually bring up an interesting point- it shows that LD and Jozy both view the game differently. Jozy wants the ball at the 18- so thats where he will supply it as well. LD wants to continue the run so that it is a square ball across the mouth of the goal. This impacted their runs as well as where they played the ball. The fact that they were not on the same page cost us 2 hypothetical goals.

[JcUSA]

This is a dumb thread. I propose a moratorium on "Player X doesn't give enough effort" posts, because they're almost never substantiated, and it's nearly impossible to tell how hard a player is working while watching on television. It's one of the reasons why ESPN relying on the world feed is a serious detriment to its coverage. We're not seeing the runs that guys like Altidore, Dempsey, etc are making off the ball, and it helps when the coverage can notice things like that and then adjust their programming to highlight it.

What he said. Some of the these threads are getting ridiculous. Jozy has no effort?. Guzan made the difference?. Come on.

What bout that run he made when Davies was on a break and Davies shot it? Jozy had no effort on that? What about the play that set up the first goal where he beat his defender? No effort in that one either.

[TabLalas]

It could also be that Charlie Davies is a seasoned professional who is playing all the time for his team and Altidore hasn't seen the field in months and has been coming off an injury. I mean, maybe.

(side note: why has it taken Bob so long to play Davies? Connor Casey? Serious?)

I don't get the hubub about Casey, the guy has done nothing special in his last 3 appearences for us.
I like Kenny Cooper more than I do Casey.

[TulkasTheStrong]

I don't get the hubub about Casey, the guy has done nothing special in his last 3 appearences for us.
I like Kenny Cooper more than I do Casey.

You misunderstand me sir. I was saying, why so long to play Davies? You are playing Casey instead? Are you serious?

[Tucson_soccer_fan]

Jozy better play balls out against Spain, if he expects to get any playing time with Xerez or Villarreal. I think his toenail has heeled by now. No excuses. Play big and even a little selfish if you have to.

[MLSn00b]

If you look long enough you'll see that Jozy does at times harass defenders when he can. I don't think that its a lack of effort as much as it is that he is 1) coming off injury and 2) lack of playing time in Xerez. Hopefully he'll get back in form as time passes.

[RalleeMonkey]

You know, you actually bring up an interesting point- it shows that LD and Jozy both view the game differently. Jozy wants the ball at the 18- so thats where he will supply it as well. LD wants to continue the run so that it is a square ball across the mouth of the goal. This impacted their runs as well as where they played the ball. The fact that they were not on the same page cost us 2 hypothetical goals.

That really bodes well for the U.S. Donovan & Jozy have barely played together. Get them some games together, devolope some chemistry - could be explosive. Jozy is only 19. What was Rossi doing when he was 19?