Did anyone read the blog comments with the ESPN story on Altidore today----first off I think it's best for him to stay another year- --but-there are some wild wild suggestions- -Chelsea???--come on Tottenham???--these guys will finish 3rd in England this year its going to be a mid club---Swansea--or Fulham--or Everton-- the next one is what's the dollar amount---AZ got him for $3mil-- so-probably $6mil Dembele went for $6.5 and he's no where near what Dembele was 3 years ago---but he's a striker
I like what they are doing at Swansea. Altidore could be a more direct option behind Michu. Seems like a reasonable option to me.
Dembele was not that great at AZ though, very inconsistent. The move to Fulham and the change of his position to center midfield is what made him the player he is today.
I disagree, I thought Dembele was after Schaars their best and most talented player. I wished they had held him one more year He was inconsistent and seemed to take coffee breaks on the field but when he had the ball he got involved and he was dangerous--true he should have been at midfield and sitting on the wing probably hurt his development but Az had a pretty good midfield then
Jozy is far more productive than Dembele ever was though. It was only at Fulham and with Jol where he found his true role on the pitch as a midfielder. While at AZ we all thought he was a forward, who-just-didn't-score-much-but-put-up-a-lot-of-work-and-held-up-the-ball-well.
More productive in scoring--no doubt--but we had El Hambone as our main striker back them and Dembele was on the outside Dembele only had one good scoring year but everyone must have seen him as a pretty good player or he would not have been sold for the big $$ AZ got for him from Fulham Dembele left AZ at about the same age Jozy is now---I may be wrong but I don't see Jozy maturing like Dembele has over the last 3 years and becoming a top EPL player on a top team
1 more season in Eredivisie might be useful but you just don't see very talented top3/4 potential strikers staying very long in Holland. If you score say 20 goals a season for 3 years in a league, you have mastered that level. Either head to a bigger league or to the biggest club in the league. Otherwise what else is there?
His upcoming transfer whether this summer or the next will be 1 of the most significant transfers in US Soccer history. Even more so than Bradley to Roma which was weeks and weeks of anticipation.
I have a lot to say about this comment but don't have the time. What I will say is that Huntelaar and Suarez both had three 20+ goal seasons at Ajax. Both of them had multiple 30+ goal seasons in that time. Their careers seem to be doing just fine after having stuck around for more than good season.
They headed to bigger clubs in Holland once their numbers kept going up. I don't know exactly why both hung around for as long as they did, Huntelaar especially, as he could have been scoring in Germany back in 2007 rather than failed time at Madrid/Milan.
Both of you make good points---which brings up-- How many goals would he have if he was with PSV or Ajax right now with a Lens or Narsingh on a wing and and Mertens to help or an Ericksen to feed him and would he look better than he does now? He's scored just under half the AZ goals 16-34--and like I said earlier--gets a lot of attention from opposition players becaue if you stop Altidore--you basically stop AZ From all the games I've seen this year Bony is the best most dangerous striker--Pelle has been a surprise as well
I'd honestly guess Jozy would score less. He's the main man a AZ as you said. At PSV he'd have several players capable of scoring and perhaps not even passing to him. That being said I can imagine he would have way more assists at those type clubs. Is there anyone on the fanforums for AZ? I wonder what fans are thinking about his potential move? Do they feel satisfied with the Iceman?
As a Dutchman, not particularly an AZ supporter, I can tell that most people are suprised of Altidore's development. In his first season he was very inconsistent and did not manage to impress the Dutch football supporters. In general, they saw him as a big athletic target man with no football skills. The second season, as mentioned before, was quite suprising. Altidore is carrying the team, by scoring important goals. His general football technique has developed tremendously, and Dutch media is quite lyrical about the American. However no transfer rumours has been spotted yet.
Altidore "appears" to be carrying the team but the reality is that AZ is having problems because of all the players who were lost during the past two years because they needed the money. His football skills have marginally improved but he's still more of an Alves scorer as opposed to Suarez or Huntelaar. He will be a decent player for a mid-table EPL team but that's about it. Maybe AZ get €6-8M for him, anymore than that would be great and indicate that the acquiring team is wildly overpaying.
AZ laid another stinker egg yesterday--they almost always start slow and play from behind They did not score so Jozy was part of their problem--but games like that one have been the norm this year--
Jozy played a great match, though his ''assist'' shouldn't be allowed, since he touched it with his hand.
He was non-existent in the first half and any school boy could have scored on the chip shot in extra time, nothing special about that.
What Jozy did yesterday was almost assure AZ plays in Europe next year--in spite of their tough season that should be worth a bit of retrospective respect and conditional value to the team forhis efforts for AZ Jozy got the goals--Ajax got the sour grapes if you think that was a school boy play and he did nothing----well what was Ajax--with their horrible shooting and general clowning around out there Ajax is at home playing a 12th place team--they sit half the squad out of arrogance and look like liquid crap and become observers and watch as late in the game as they get their teeth kicked in So grumble away but please don't lesson what Jozy did yesterday grumble away believe what you like but the final was 0-3 As I've said many times to the victor go the spoils and the winners write history--
The goal scoring American. I think his time at AZ just goes to show you that Dutch coaching is a big plus. The league is ranked 8th in Europe which is pretty outstanding and though everyone seems able to score there, it has produced some of the greatest attackers in the world. I'd love to see Agudelo, McInerney and future strikers moving to Holland to develop their touch least of all.
Couldn't agree more with you Louisana! The Dutch league alongside with the Portuguese League are the perfect place for youngster to mature and learn real football.
The only way that happens is for the good MLS players to move abroad as soon as possible. They will never improve as long as they stay in here. I see this with our young DC United players and it's good that Najar has moved on to Anderlecht.