I was so very impressed with Jozy's workrate last night. For the entirety of the match, he pushed hard, pressed, made runs, ran back to defend and receive the ball. I can't say enough about that performance. I also was stunned by his first goal. STUNNED. What a first, second and third touch. And none of it looked like an accident, either. Way to go Jozy. More of this please.
No, please, add in caveats that discount those two goals as well! Although your caveats are not unreasonable, what is unreasonable is what you seem to be suggesting. Jozy scores against high-level competition. He's done it in both competitive games and friendlies. Jozy scores in competitive games. He's done it against high-level competition, but like most strikers in the world, it's mostly against competition that's lower-level than us. Jozy has scored a large number of goals, good enough for 3rd on the all-time goalscorer's list. These are all facts. All said, Jozy can have a significant positive impact on our team, and we've seen at WC14 what happens when he's suddenly gone. He's not the best, but in-form Jozy is unquestionably a positive force on this team, and he deserves minutes. Yesterday showed once again why he gets played.
This is what being fit and injury free can do. I found it disheartening about all the guff he's taken from "fans." As a pro athlete you expect to be criticized. However, as we're now seeing, if you're even off 5% in your physical status, that will be enough to render an athlete barely effective. Certain injuries, like hamstrings, like Achilles, take a long long time to recover from. Altidore never complained, he just kept going and did his best. I just hope he can stay injury free for an extended period of time.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...tting-stride-pivotal-moments-club-and-country Scored the opener, interception and assist on the winner. 6 in 8 in MLS. He is smoking hot right now.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/12/jozy-altidore-cant-stop-scoring MLS video of his 6/8 goal binge.
I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up testing the waters in Europe again. I can't see him staying in MLS for the rest of his career as long as he stays healthy because when he is healthy, he is dominant. I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but TFC has already said they receive offers for him (and MB) all the time. The pay cut he'll have to take may be an issue, but if they come across a good opportunity I don't see why he wouldn't want to at least give it another shot as long as it's not in England. If he did leave, he could easily come back to MLS and get another big pay day if it doesn't work out.
Besiktas apparently had a bid rejected over the summer. He finishes the season strong and injury free then'll absolutely be expecting bids in January.
I wish he'd gone to Germany right away (didn't he have an offer from Bremen?). It's almost like a natural next step after Holland in terms of player development. No other league is so well-rounded in the fundamentals IMO; I think it would have helped him immensely. I hope he gives it a shot.
Agreed. I recall Lazio being interested in Jozy. And maybe Everton and some Spanish club. But Sunderland were offering like 13 million pounds (and a really good salary so no wonder) he and AZ agreed to that.
Why would Jozy take a pay cut to play in Europe? It'd be nice if he had something besides the '09 goal against Spain.
he earns 4 million now right? he could make that if he returned to the PL but that isn't very likely. maybe he gets half of that in Bundesliga or Serie A. i doubt we see him remain in MLS til his contract expires.
You are the one doing the unreasonable discounting, discounting the vast majority of games against high level competition in games that matter where he's had no effect. I'm hopeful his current form is a sign of increased effectiveness in these situations, but that doesn't change the entire body of his work in important games.
I wrote out a long post explaining my position, and that's all you bothered to quote, not to mention argue against?
That was your core argument--I took the rest of your points as attempting to support it. Ultimately, none of those points rebut (or directly address) my criticism of Jozy for his lack of production in games that are both competitive and against high level teams. I never said he shouldn't have received PT, or even that he shouldn't in the future--only that I've been dissatisfied with his career thus far as someone who's been following him since he was 16 and had very high hopes for his set of tools.
Ah, agree to disagree then. "Competitive goals against high-level competition" is simply one marker of a good player. While it is a weak point in Jozy's metaphorical "resume", he has several other points in his favor. Feel free not to acknowledge them, we don't have to agree.
Winning against competition in those games is MY most important marker. And I venture most others as well. But feel free to value other things.