[arkjayback]

I was going to wait until after the Denmark match, but I figured I'd do it now. (for anyone who knows college and NFL football, I made a video a couple years ago about Felix Jones at Arkansas when he was having bad stretch, and he proceeded to outshine Darren McFadden for a few weeks, get drafted in the first round, and become a solid running back for the Dallas Cowboys) I'm hoping to have that same thing happen here. I'll be glad to eat some crow come Wednesday night.

We can talk about not having Donovan and Holden, and a lack of creativity all we want, but that has never stopped Jozy before. He has always been a big time performer and sometimes the team around him wasn't stellar. The sad part is that he is getting consistent training and playing time with Hull, but its not helping.

The main point is that once upon a time Bob could pair him with anyone, and he would still get results. He burst onto the scene with his brace against Brazil in the U20 World Cup playing with Adu, then he had his magnificent header to go ahead against Mexico in February of 2008 up top with Dempsey, he found a way to get the ball into the net against the Netherlands in the Olympics, he was able to score for Villareal in minimal playing time, he proceeded to make Cooper look like the next big American forward, then set up Davies goal against T&T before CD blew up, then he helped save the US against El Salvador, became the youngest American to score a hat trick (both games paired with Chingy), he made Capdevila look like a chump, and then he started off his Hull campaign with a glorious assist to Ghilas and almost scored a beauty on the break.

Ever since? Almost nothing (he did have that beauty against El Salvador though). You can blame Bob all you want, but this is a problem with both club and country. It is great that we've seen him develop the other parts of his game, but we've never heard "workmanlike" describe him before. Instead there were words like "explosive," "exciting," and "a finisher." Now he's just not doing it.

I don't know what can be done about it and I don't know why this has happened, but this is more worrisome than everything else people are freaking out about. Did Charlie's ascension take away something from Jozy's mentality? Is there anything suggesting his slump may end soon?

[RedBaron]

I see alot of parallels between Jozy and Freddy. Now, before everyone sets their gun barrels on me, I am not suggesting that Jozy is about to go the way of the dodo bird as far as national team existence is concerned.

What I mean is that all of the things which come with being lauded as the "next great thing" are very, very challenging for these young guys to balance and/or handle. Of course, this is just speculation on my part, as it is on anyone else's. But I see things like the recent Twitter episode with Hull City, and I think to myself...gee, great that he's on Twitter, but shouldn't he be more concerned with doing everything he can to raise his profile and standing amongst his teammates via his play and professionalism and less with telling me about where he got his last strawberry milkshake?

I think it really is a question of maturity, and I'm hoping that he'll realize that if he focuses the majority of his energies on the playing field he'll be much better served in the bigger picture. He undoubtedly has the talent to be that breakthrough star; he just needs to apply it properly, and on a consistent basis as well.

[Cujo1126]

Did you guys see him vs Costa Rica? He was one of our best players by far.

Just because a striker isn't scoring goals, it doesn't mean he's in a slump. The only bad game hes had in a while was against Slovakia. Can you name any other bad games he's had?

[SamsArmySam]

Originally Posted by Cujo1126

Did you guys see him vs Costa Rica? He was one of our best players by far.

Just because a striker isn't scoring goals, it doesn't mean he's in a slump. The only bad game hes had in a while was against Slovakia. Can you name any other bad games he's had?

That Costa Rica game was all about CD lying in the hospital and Jozy wanting an opportunity to pay him tribute with his undershirt. It was a glimpse of what Jozy could become, but he had never played a game with that level of intensity before.

I'm hoping we don't have to wait as long as we did with Donovan for him to mature into a full pro game in, game out.

[Karl K]

Why has it taken Landon Donovan, with all his talent, nearly 10 years as a professional to get to the point where he is now? Dominating games, always a threat to explode and punish the opposition? Where, when you watch him, you think, "Wow, this guy is GOOD!!"

Simple. It's 100% soccer, 100% of the time. Absolute total focus.

I don't remember where I read this, but I have heard that Jamie Carragher -- not someone who would jump to mind as one of the world's great players, but a pretty good pro -- is completely obsessed with soccer, to the point where that's all that matters to him and that's all he thinks about.

In other words, you have to become a warped person.

You have to watch everything you eat and drink (see Clint Mathis:beer), how much you sleep, how much you train or don't train, how much you lift, stretch. You have to be able to communicate clearly to your physio, chiropractor, massage therapist to get from them exactly what you need. You have to know your body.

You can't be distracted by girlfriends/wives with issues; otherwise, dump her. You must be completely objective about your athletic and technical limitations and work constantly to improve and/or minimize them.

In other words, you can't be really normal. You have to be compulsive. Talent and physical gifts are not enough at the highest levels. In fact, they may be an impediment to your success in that you think you can skate by.

I think a lot of young people just aren't ready at 20 or 21 to engage in this kind of compulsive behavior. Maybe Jozy is just not fully ready.

[arkjayback]

Originally Posted by Cujo1126

Did you guys see him vs Costa Rica? He was one of our best players by far.

Just because a striker isn't scoring goals, it doesn't mean he's in a slump. The only bad game hes had in a while was against Slovakia. Can you name any other bad games he's had?

1. Strikers are measured by goals. Its not always the best measurement and I don't like it, but you can't ignore his lack of goal scoring.

2. One of the best players on the field against Costa Rica? Just because he had some opportunities? Believe me, I know he showed GREAT energy in that game and Casey should have finished off the goal in the 9th minute, but Altidore had several opportunities and finished none of them. Some of that can be contributed to his high emotions, but it reflected his overall form.

3. Bad games? His substitute appearances against Mexico and Honduras amounted to nothing, and he was invisible against T&T. You want to ignore the last few months of his club career also? His first couple of games were awesome. But even on a team like Hull, Altidore has not been his normal self.

[arkjayback]

Originally Posted by RedBaron

I see alot of parallels between Jozy and Freddy. Now, before everyone sets their gun barrels on me, I am not suggesting that Jozy is about to go the way of the dodo bird as far as national team existence is concerned.

What I mean is that all of the things which come with being lauded as the "next great thing" are very, very challenging for these young guys to balance and/or handle. Of course, this is just speculation on my part, as it is on anyone else's. But I see things like the recent Twitter episode with Hull City, and I think to myself...gee, great that he's on Twitter, but shouldn't he be more concerned with doing everything he can to raise his profile and standing amongst his teammates via his play and professionalism and less with telling me about where he got his last strawberry milkshake?

I think it really is a question of maturity, and I'm hoping that he'll realize that if he focuses the majority of his energies on the playing field he'll be much better served in the bigger picture. He undoubtedly has the talent to be that breakthrough star; he just needs to apply it properly, and on a consistent basis as well.

You bring up a good point. I'll give him every bit of credit for wanting soccer to grow in America. He has appeared on ESPN talk shows as much as anyone lately. BUT it seems like he is thinking way too much about that, instead of worrying about his form on the field. The talk shows and Twitter posts are great for fans, but don't seem to be doing him any favors on the field.

[Adam Zebrowski]

jozy is like freddy in that both need playing time..

[QuakeAttack]

While everyone focuses on Jozy physical abilities, they forget a key component to being a successful pro is mental. You need to be able to show up every game, play 90 minutes, and every waking minute should be on improving yourself (getting rest, eating right, training).

It appears that Jozy hasn't made the ajustments to being a professional at the highest levels. Frankly, I have always had a wait and see approach with him. At most, I think that he can be a good forward at the professional level. My reservations are around his technical abilities and his ability to read the game. While I think that he will learn more about the game, I'm not confident his technical abilities will improve much...

With our lack of international caliber forwards, we (Bob) had a major problem with injuries and form. Already Davies is gone and if Altidore is not in form next year, well, it may not be pretty...

[arkjayback]

Originally Posted by Adam Zebrowski

jozy is like freddy in that both need playing time..

That's the thing though, he's getting playing time right now. He was sitting the bench for Villareal and Xerez, but he was our most dangerous attacker during that time.

Now he is getting into just about every game for Hull. Maybe its a fatigue issue. We saw it happen with Bradley and Dempsey before.