I don't think he managed his moves--apart from AZ--very well. He's one of a number of examples over the years of "Europe" not being particularly great for his career. Though at the time, staying at MLS wasn't a realistic option, either.
it's the damn PL. Splashing cash like there's no tomorrow. AZ made out like Kings. Had he gone to say Italy or France he may have fared better. Shame he didn't give the Lille option a possibility. They wanted him for a loan I think back in early 2015
I seriously doubt that if Jurgen Klinsmann quit tomorrow that Jozy Altidore's hamstrings would suddenly get healthy.
When taking into account his competitive international career, it becomes plain to see that Jozy's stints in La Liga and the EPL were reflective of his general level. On the other hand, his Eredivisie career in addition to internationals such as the Bosnia friendly demonstrated the possibility of elite play within a certain niche of use. I would use Kyle Beckerman's international career as an analogue. In Bob's dual-8 system, Beckerman was clearly out of his depth. But playing as a specialist 6 surrounded by runners, he shined in JK's system. Altidore burst onto the seen at NYRB, while playing alongside a striker. At AZ, he played off a dynamic a-mid.
This is JK. He is consistent with who he was when we hired him. I don't think there is any middle ground with him on training,diet etc. There is tons of evidence of this in the Tim Howard book, the LD battle...He is who you hired. You will not see a departure from this stuff until the relieve him.
Well Klinsmann also said that Jozy would be back playing during that World Cup. Can you also see the beginning of an Altidore/Klinsmann rift? Thankfully most of us and the players are sophisticated enough to see the difference between coaching gamesmanship against the opponents and middle school style rifts.
How does this fit in with the narrative of the January camp where several veterans supposedly turned Kinsman down when asked to report early for physical conditioning? Jozy came in very fit but guys like Wondo, Evans and Dempsey decided to skip the workouts. Bester wasn't there either, right?
http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...icking-right-23-man-usmnt-roster-copa-america To hear Matt Doyle tell it, Jozy is indispensible and we should thank our lucky stars to be blessed with such an amazing talent.
He whom payeth thy salary, shall control the words that cometh from thee. Ask him about Mix, and I bet he would suggest he is the second coming of Xavi.
In all the USMNT games that I have watched where we have either tied or loss, I have never gone home thinking "If only Jozy would have played, we would've had a chance".
During the World Cup I felt Jozy would have brought us more tactical flexibility that could have improved our results. Jozy's presence makes us better despite his flaws. Its an indictment on our forward pool rather than the man. Hopefully after the Copa this problem is resolved. Someone has to step forward and take the role from Jozy or make his role obsolete.
Yeah, I picked the wrong MLS player. But in the same article where he suggests he'd drop Mix for Sacha, he suggests Brek Shea and CJ Sapong for the Copa roster. I just can't take any of that seriously.
CJ Sapong might be as close to a true "target forward" as we have right now. Not saying he's USMNT quality or even an improvement over the norm, but I would have preferred him on the 40-man roster over, say, WondoW.
I've watched this guy quite a bit recently.... He would bring us what ??? Admittedly I cannot stand his team.
The argument that Hex goals aren't important drives me crazy. WE HAVE TO WIN THE HEX GAMES TOO! Its not like we are winning all of the hex games 4-0 and Jozy is scoring number 4. As for the repeated injuries. I am willing to bet a not inconsiderable amount of money that Jozy has never deadlifted 2x his body weight for 5 by 3 and squatted 1.5 his bodyweight for 5 in the same gym session. I imagine he is doing all sorts of dumb gym stuff that is so popular among professional trainers/snake oil salesmen.
His number one issue is the hamstring. I'll take his touch as-is if he could stay on the field. Availability is a skill.
http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68968/what-theyre-saying-jozy-altidore.html?edition=15625 nice move by Jozy: "When Haiti qualified, I just thought it'd be a cool thing, because they haven't qualified for a major tournament since the [1974] World Cup. I thought this would be something cool knowing how much Haitian people love their national team ... to have thousands of people who otherwise wouldn't be able to see the matches broadcast the group games and see them perform." -- U.S. forward Jozy Altidore