Excellent point. If he took his PKs, that's probably another 3 goals at least (I think he's drawn 4). Of all the places in the world, England is the most understanding when it comes to appreciating the value of a striker, even if they're not scoring. Just look Hodgson's raving about Zamora last season, and the fact that Emile Heskey might make the trip to SA with England, ahead of much more prolific strikers. All that said, I don't want Jozy to become a Heskey clone. He needs to be more than that. For that reason alone, I hope he doesn't come back to Hull, relegation or no. We should thank Hull for allowing a very young, very raw player to play so many minutes, and hope for a more technical side for Jozy's future.
It looked like Kochensky called Altidore a "monkey" after Altidore got fouled on that last play...it was right before Altidore turned around and started shaking his finger at him. Anyone else see that?
Jozy was doing a very good job of hustling and working off the ball yesterday ..... even if he was occasionally offsides or did not have a run timed well with a teammate ... his work rate was higher than I have seen in the past and he was pressing defensively more than I have seen in the offensive third ....
You can't measure a player, eve a striker, just by how many goals they score. For forwards, I say, how many goals does he have a part of? The assist, the build-up, the drawn foul, etc... They are all as important as the finish. The true question is: does the team score more goals and have more opportunities with this player up front than without him? For Jozy, this was true yesterday. If Jozy creates a goal per game, but he never scores, then he's done a fantastic job. Defenders rarely dive. It's an occupational hazard. Not to mention, as a former defender, defenders HATE divers.
A referee will just look at Altidore's physique and realize there is no way this guy could dive. He must have been pushed.
I was watching Sao Paulo vs Corintians and SP's mammoth striker Washington (I believe he's a distant relative of George) gets an elbow to the nose.... three seconds pass... and the he falls down like tyson did spinks. He was red carded along with the elbower. I feel when a big guy really dives... it's painfully obvious to everyone around. What Jozy does is more calling your foul in Basketball IMO.
I think Jozy is really developing his target forward game. He's not great on goal kicks, etc. but the rest of his game in terms of being physical, holding off defenders, making good passes, etc. are all really taking off. Much, much better than I ever recall him doing before.
Jozy drawing fouls ?! It's all a ploy by English refs to get Jozy used to the idea of diving. When he gets to the WC. The English defenders will all be laughing at his diving and the resultant non-foul calls with international refs.
The only forward Fulham have that can draw enough defensive attention to let Clint operate and play his game is Zamora, and he wasn't playing today. And of course there's the issue that when he leaves midfield he leaves a hole that Fulham have to fill.
Altidore seems to have developed a lot. His hold up play and first touch are vastly improved. He also seems to be more fit, putting in a lot more runs. I'm actually surprised that his coaches in England still think he's not a 90 minute player. A lot more confidence as well. Hopefully he can stay in the EPL if Hull go down. Dempsey had an average game. No major mistakes but nothing special as well. On another note, Jozy did seem to really get into it with Konchesky at the end.
David Elm has been doing pretty well in that role too but Hodgson decided to give Clint some PT instead.