Altidore does well in 4th round WCQers and against the bottom two teams of the Hex. In every cycle. Spread across the Copa, Concacaf Cup, and WCQing, Wood has the far superior competitive match record against the Hex's top 4 teams, the ones that directly qualify for the World Cup or the playoff-spot.
You think Wood is a better striker. That's fine. You may well turn out to be right, over time. However, to say that Wood's three goals (Mexico x2, Costa Rica) in non-friendly games vs. decent competition gives him the "far superior" record seems to a bit premature . The sample size is just too small to make any conclusions.
I really like Wood......................but not sure what you're basing that on. He's only scored a total of 8 goals, and if you take out CONCACAF minnows and friendlies..............................he's scored very few goals in games that actually matter for the USMNT. I'm not saying they aren't important and good goals, but this is it. He's never actually scored a game-winning goal in any game that mattered. If people wanna dissect the goals Jozy has scored for the USMNT, that's fine. However, I don't think any argument can be made that any #9 of his generation has a better record than Atldiore . I mean, he's scored 14 goals in games that mattered against non-CONCACAF minnows and you're saying Bobby Wood has a better scoring record against CONCACAF teams than him? Jozy Altidore just matched Wood's record in games that matter in his last two appearances alone.
My statement concerned his goals against the specified quality competition the players have faced. Wood has 3 such goals which about equals career about in such matches. Again, I'm stating that Wood has the better against quality competition I've cited. Donovan and Dempsey have also excelled against these teams. Altidore hasn't. Jozy has goals against Spain, Honduras, and Costa Rica B. That's what he has done across 3 cycles of matches in the Copa, GC, WC, and against the top 4 of the Hex in WCQing. 19 starts and 3 subs appearances. He is the greatest or whatever. I'm arguing a point about competitive performances against quality.
My statements are with regard to who should starting in '18. In this regard, Wood has the far superior record. Time is of the essence. In the top 5 leagues of Europe, Wood had more goals in 28 league appearances than Altidore in 79. That's another data point.
I've made this point before to you, and I know you don't find it convincing, but I'll just reiterate it for others who are reading this for the first time. 19 starts and 3 sub appearances would probably allow you to draw some fully justified conclusions about a given player's form over the course of a single season. However, things get a little more complicated over the course of a ten year international career, especially for a player who got a lot of caps at a very young age. I believe that the majority of the appearances you're including in those numbers are from the 2010 cycle, when Jozy was just a kid and hadn't found any real success at the club level yet (although I know you believe that there's no problem lumping numbers from 2009 in with numbers from say 2013 because you don't think Jozy matured that much in that period; I simply disagree). If you exclude the 2010 cycle, I believe you're basically talking about 9 starts, plus a brief appearance against Ghana in the World Cup before injury struck. That no longer seems like such an impressive sample size. Now I'm also fully aware that if you add in his goal scoring drought with Sunderland over that same period, then you might be able to draw some stronger conclusions about Jozy's inability to score against quality opposition even as an adult, and I don't have too much of a quibble with that. My personal belief is that the setup at Sunderland didn't play to his strengths as a goalscorer the way that the US style of play might, but I recognize that the burden is now on Jozy to demonstrate that he can be a consistent goalscorer at a high level in the way that he wasn't at Sunderland.
Altidore's competitive starts(WCQing[Top 4 Hex], GC CC, WC): 2010 Cycle(Top 4 Hex = Mexico, US, Hon, CR) Costa Rica: Donovan Honduras: Donovan, Bocanegra Italy: Donovan Brasil: Egypt: Bradley, Davies, Dempsey Spain: Altidore, Dempsey Costa Rica: Bradley, Bornstein England: Dempsey Slovenia: Donovan, Bradley Algeria: Donovan Ghana: Donovan 2014 Cycle: (Top 4 Hex = Mexico, US, Hon, CR) Honduras: Dempsey Costa Rica: Dempsey Mexico: Honduras: Altidore Ghana: Dempsey, Brooks 2018 Cycle: (Top 4 Hex = Mexico, US, Pan, CR) Mexico: Cameron, Wood Mexico: Wood Costa Rica: Dempsey, Altidore
When are the Gods gonna bless us with a striker who scores consistently for club and career? We had Dempsey, but just imagine if he was just 2-3years younger while at Fulham. That transfer for 2012 would have been far bigger rather than a last minute move to Spurs. Shame he never got to play in the CL.
What I really like about Wood is he's so reminiscent of Charlie Davies. And Davies started off well in Ligue 1 before his injury. 2 goals off the bench in his 2nd game there. And he was a great strike partner for Jozy. Need to have both Jozy/Wood replicate this partnership while in Russia. I think we can finally see both members of our striking lineup score at a World Cup.
ro To be honest, I just watched a segment on the BBC about the dearth of forwards out there at the elite levels of world football. Hence, clubs are spend ungodly sums of money to find some. Mbappe, who nobody outside of France had heard of prior to 2016, is going to fetch a huge transfer fee imminently. In our never-ending quest to find the international-caliber forward you're describing, we often overlook the contributions of a player like Altidore. He's only 27, and has 109 caps w/39 goals. How many international players in the history of world football, regardless of the nation they play for, have 50 international goals? As of right now the answer is about at 55 (two of which are Dempsey and Donovan of course). Right at 50 goals sit Edin Dzeko, Robin van Persie, Shinji Okazaki, and Iranian legend Karin Bagheri. Altidore has every chance to get to 50 international goals. With breathing room to spare. What set Landon Donovan apart is that he had both 50 international goals and 50 assists. A ridiculously exclusive club.
If one is projecting towards a World Cup caliber forward, citing the overall number of goals scored is meaningless.
I think Wood is better against good teams because we play defense and counter more and his speed helps. Jozy is better when we're the better team as he's better in the box. Not sure it matters as they are mix and match and will play together at times. Need to have both unless you are Spainlike in possession where you very rarely counter.
Both Jozy and Wood can score from distance, which is really important in a World Cup. Jozy may have the edge in that regard, at least on dead balls.
I don't think we've seen Wood even take a FK. It's usually Bradley or Dempsey's territory. It's good to know we have several options here. I really think a Wood/Jozy combo will for sure net us goals and wins in the WC.
Thats a silly term. Jozy is a lock starter for a team that is expected to make the knockouts of the World Cup. How is he not "world cup caliber." He is one of the best strikers on the planet. Most countries in the world would throw their guy overboard in a blink to have him. In the US, we are spoiled by dominating so many international competitions that we think it's a birthright to have a Dream Team or go 1,2,3 in the 100 like in the 80s.
More like 200. Just in top 4 leagues there are more than 100 forwards better than him. Easily. But he is still a great forward. The best what we have.
I'd use great only in comparing to what we have. He's decent and capable. He did real well early on and for a while he was hit/miss. But he has the tools to end his career well. I figured his return to MLS would dull his senses, but he plays like he really wants to be there. I'm hoping for some big goals next summer.
hard to really say that when he was on worst team in EPL. I think you'd have to see him on a decent team to draw any conclusions.