It's the opposite of recency bias. It's a long-term conclusion I've had about him. The biggest pressure was in World Cups, do-or-die hex matches like this one, against top teams in the region, and in 3 stints in top 4 leagues between the EPL and La Liga. And I saw him wilt in each one. His tendency over the years in these situations has been to needlessly play far away from goal or fade to the back post hoping for a tap-in. I pointed this out when he was at Villarreal already, then he did it at Sunderland too. He was invisible in the Confed Cup playoff. Hoped he'd be more confident now though given maturity, opponent, and form. Last night he was lollygagging on the ball, underhitting passes, and after a bad giveaway in midfield instead of getting back to thwart the counter he just put his head down and sulked. The Total Soccer Show guys noticed that as well. It was shameful. I never said he was alone in choking. Not blaming him solely or even primarily for the loss and this thread is about him not them.
He's not a choker, he just sucks and always has. Ability IS the problem! He's a big, strong athletic guy who was anointed a #9 based on physique, not his soccer skills. His touch is terrible, finishing mediocre, and his game sense/SA are youth level. His runs off the ball are slow and predictable. He can't create his own shot at all. As someone else said, he's reactive instead of anticipating where the play is happening. If he's so good at holding the ball, why has the whole US team had to be reconfigured since 2010 around the fact that Jozy can't play alone up top? He needs another striker to do all the things he can't. Oh, btw, someone needs to tell him he's not a #10, he's getting in the way of the real players out there.
We routed our attack through him, and he killed everyone one. As always, useless garbage on the road. He can’t run, shoot, hold the ball up, or press. We’ve been seeing his for years, but his defenders have been in denial.
Does anyone have GIF about a minute before the 2nd TT goal where he loses a 1v1 inside our own zone and he just spins away and walks back toward the center line? Pretty much summed up his and the rest of the team's work last night.
That theory doesn't stand up to scrutiny. His touch is not terrible. He seldom loses the ball on touch. And he does a tremendous amount of nifty flicks. He makes some solid runs, diagonal off the shoulder. And he'll come back to the ball to be a target man. His finishing has been pretty good for long stretches. He scored 23 in 33 in the Eredivisie, before only netting once in 42 in the EPL. It's tougher to score in the EPL, but far from literally almost 30 times tougher. Guy missed tap-ins he hit in 5th grade. That's psychological. The U.S. team hasn't reconfigured to play 2 strikers. Actually, we've probably done that less since he was fully integrated into the team. We are historically a 442 nation.
Somewhat skilled, sometimes productive, but rarely dangerous, never really threatening. He gets goals when the team is playing well, but I don't think he worries our opponents. I wouldn't have started him last night.
I may not have started him either but you are dreaming if you think CONCACAF opponents are not worried about the guy with 18 WCQ goals. People go too far with this stuff...
Wood is definitely ahead of him. I’m fine with Altidore still being the number two since at the moment there really isn’t anyone else. But this conversation of “Why is Jozy underperforming?” has been going on for almost a decade. The answer is simple, he’s a mediocre player as far as the world stage goes. That’s not going to change unless he improves the mental aspects of his game. Wondolowski needs to give him a crash course on how to move in the final third.
The hallmark of Jozy's play has always been inconsistent play. He played a good game against Panama but was absent last night, and that's the way it's always been with him. His unreliability made him a liability, and it's one of the reasons we're missing out. Arena had to be aware of Jozy's unreliability, but selected him anyway.
That's a fair take. I would agree that he is mediocre if we are talking top 25 national teams. The truth is that he isn't a miracle worker. He is a very good role player. I think he was born to be a team's second or third best attacker. Some guys are Robin or Cato, nothing wrong with that. Robins help you hoist trophies. I don't understand why people are mad that a very good player is not great.
Nifty flicks are a sign of a player who can't control the ball with his first touch. A la Bradley, his first touch often goes bouncing 5 feet away from him more than it's put in a position for a meaningful second touch. Compare Pulisic's first touch to Jozy's sometime if you need convincing. We remain a 442 nation as the rest of the world plays 1 up top because some people believe Altidore is the answer. (the question being ... who do you start at striker if you don't want to qualify for the WC?)
Because not only is he not very good, he's not good at all. It's unbearable that he's been pretty much an automatic selection when healthy for the last 8 years. Role player? You're joking, right? I would think a very good role player at striker would, I dunno, score goals?! You know who was a very good "role player" striker ...? Filippo Inzaghi - his teammates used to laugh at how bad his touch was. Couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from distance. Brilliant poacher, though. Made brilliant runs. Scored goals. What role is it that Jozy plays? Traffic cone?
Seeing the ball bounce away from him last night was pathetic. Seeing him jog around aimlessly was pathetic. We couldn’t pressure the Trinidad back line because he will get gassed in ten minutes doing that.
In 8 Hex starts and 1 sub's appearance, he had 2 goals, one of which was a penalty that he didn't draw. Both goals came in the home blowout of Panama. He had 3 assists, 1 in 2-0 home win over T&T, 1 in the 6-0 home win over Honduras, and 1 in the 4-0 home win over Panama. He had 3 starts and 1 sub's appearance in the US's 5 Hex road matches. 0 goals. 0 assists. 0 drawn pks. He has been a solid Concacaf forward, nothing more.
You'd think he would be super pissed at himself. He's in the peak form of his life and he could have really delivered the goods in Russia. Alas
He has essentially missed 3 major tournaments on the trot. But his Concacaf record didn't auger success.
I kinda pity him. His age and the lack of competition, he should have been breaking goalscoring records for us at the WC.
Jozy is the player probably most hurt by missing the World Cup. As mentioned before he has missed major tournaments due to injury. He will be 30+ for the next world cup with an injury history and a body that is not really soccer friendly. Can't wait for the young bucks who are hungry come for his job. His lack of hustle and urgency will be forever burnt into my head. Apologize to yourself Jozy. You will have to live with the notion that you didn't leave it all out there on the field.
You're def right. His legacy will be like a Zlatan in a way. Never scoring in a World Cup. I gotta figure he was due some goals in Russia. Him up top with Wood and Pulisic.
Classy fans in Atlanta booed two USMNT players the entire game. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...points-record-and-silencing-atlanta-boo-birds Interestingly, both Bradley and Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore were booed loudly by the record crowd of 71,874 Atlanta fans whenever the duo touched the ball. Altidore responded to the supporters in the 60th minute, when he outran Atlanta defender Michael Parkhurst to the ball and poked it home past Brad Guzan. Altidore celebrated the goal by cupping his ear with his hand, WWE-style, as if to say, 'I can't hear you.' Meanwhile, teammate Sebastian Giovinco picked up a cup of beer that had been tossed onto the field and took take a sip. “I’ve been dealing with this since I was young. It is what it is,” Altidore said of the heckling. “It’s not going away anytime soon.” Let's hear it for @JozyAltidore! 👂A tidy finish for his 15th of the season!#TFCLive | #ATLvTOR pic.twitter.com/xdxAmTkdJV— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) October 22, 2017
Deserved the boo's to be honest. Both were terrible in a crucial match. Bradley was a terrible leader and Jozy's workrate awful.