I'd never call him abysmal. That's, indeed, silly. His record in England, though, is abysmal. However, were we to play a second-round World Cup match tomorrow, I'd pick Jozy to be our striker. I have many theories as for why Jozy failed in England. All of them are based on the "human factor." Not everybody thrives everywhere, and each man is different. In the end, so far he scores for country, it's not THAT important. Although sometimes, when he's having a bad day, it's close to playing with 10.
Altidore is not as good as many dreamed he would become when he was 16, 17 years old, but those denying that he is by far our best number nine are just willfully ignoring the facts.
He is not the second coming of Saurez, of that there is no doubt. But aside from his poor year on an actual "abysmal" S'land team, he has had 4 fairly decent years/seasons for club and country. It is too bad he did not get a chance to make (or not make) an impact in Brazil. But the fact remains. If he was poor he would not do what he does with the consistency he has done it over time. If it were easy Aron, Agudelo, Wood, Zardes and others would have much better numbers than they have.
This perhaps is the issue for many. Jozy is not a great striker and I guess many hoped he would be. But "great" and "best we got at the moment" are not always the same horse.
So what? We don't have other strikers who can even get offers to go to the EPL. Agudelo did but whether he'd have made the cut and started regularly is unknown. Judging off his current form in NE and his uninspiring play at Utrecht, I'd say the answer is a resounding no. Bringing up his EPL record suggests we have other strikers his age or younger who'd do better in that league. To that I'd ask, whom exactly are these EPL level strikers we have I don't know about? Will Bruin? JacMac?
Jozy may not be a world class striker, far from it, but he is a very good one when he is on his game, and easily the best one we have. Jozy is already the fifth all time leading goal scorer for the National Team, and should soon be 3rd behind only Donovan and Dempsey. 29 goals in 84 caps is one of the better scoring records in the history of our player pool. He has proven he can score in MLS with 25 goals in 57 appearances, and in the Netherlands with 39 goals in 67 appearances. Yes he sucked in England. He had a few spells when he was 20 in Spain and Turkey that didn't go to well, but in the last few years he has shown the ability to score besides for playing with two HORRIBLE teams in Hull and Sunderland. He has also shown for the National team that he can score and be dangerous against any country in the world, which a lot of our other options have failed to do. It sucks that he didn't have the opportunity last summer in Brazil to show us, because he looked very dangerous in the tune up games against Nigeria and Turkey. We are a better team with Jozy on the field! Even when he is not scoring as much as some of you would like, his strength, pace, power, and ability to hold the ball up and draw fouls is unmatched by any other player in our pool.
The biggest mark against Jozy is that he's not as reliable as Donovan and Dempsey were/are at the international level, which is a big ask, really. Part of that, simply, is that he's rarely in form or not injured when a big tournament rolls around. He's good in WCQ, but he has the tools to be a threat against top foes, but we rarely see it when it really matters.
That's why it sucked he got injured last summer, though that is your point and him not always being reliable. I thought he showed well for us in 2010 in South Africa as a 20 year old. He was dangerous all tournament, and unlucky to have not scored a goal or two. Needed a little better finishing and some luck, but that tournament is what he brings to the table. He was constantly drawing fouls, getting into dangerous positions, and being a pain in the ass for each team we faced. I still remember when he burned Jamie Carragher in that first game then hit the post. But yes he was immense for us in the Hex last time around.
29 goals but he really should have way more. Im surprised he hasnt taken more PKs over the years. Not to mention many games when his shots were rebounded D with Clint knocking in the net. Hoping finally at the next WC he can have a great WC. Scoring in multiple games or a brace or a hat trick. We still have not seen this from our strikers. Maybe its due to how the team is set up or how poor we are up top or the quality of the defense of our opponents.
Agreed. Some of it is his body language when he is playing. He should be dominating in CONCACAF I always wondered how he might do in say France or Portugal. Not the worst thing to flop in the PL especially for a relegation fodder club. Hope he does return to European.
It's half mental, half physical. He looked kind of 'bulky' against Peru. But Peru themselves....didn't look in the best shape either. Other half is his head. After he scored that goal on the botched PK his energy, focus, ability to stay 'in it' all changed with that goal. He satrted chasing, pressuring, closing space. Same with the whole team to be honest. It's a big mental thing with him, and he doesn't like to talk about it because well...I am sure it's a touchy subject. How would you feel if people said "boy he's good, but it's his mind that's holding him back"--pretty uncomfortable thing to talk about if it was me.
So he's better when playing with confidence How is he different from most strikers in that? All goal scorers have to deal with ups and downs working hard means nothing without goals up top. In the rest of the field it's different. There are a couple strikers who seem to coast through without these problems but none of them have ever been US players. Goal scorers are rare. You can't ever afford to sit a healthy one if you don't have options. The U.S. Does not have options. As for the notion that his goals aren't that impressive: what? They are goals and he's a target scoring junk goals from there is 9/10 of the deal.
His problem is what you highlight--the second his confidence is gone, so is ALL the things a good striker does when he's not scoring. Jozy looks sluggish, touches are a bit more sloppy, ability to close down defenders to intercept leaves as he starts walking around the field or trotting with less 'chase' like he has when he scores. Stuff like that. Without a goal or on a bad streak, he's in a bad place and isn't contributing. Klinsmann knows though, at his best he's all we have. He does his best to keep that 'mind' of his in the right place never placing blame and using the press to build him up. Until we have someone come along and do better than him regularly, he's our #1. I am hoping Morris is that guy to give him a run for his money....we'll see vs. Brasil.
Pros: He wins fouls, penalties, is strong up top, he can finish when he's on - hard and easy chances, can create own chances and feeds off others, can occupy multiple defenders Cons: Slouches too much, not enough effort, confidence is often low, touch isn't great Given the way the US plays to win - long balls and set pieces, Jozy is the only option. AJ can't muscle around like Jozy does. Until we change how we play Jozy is the guy.
Surely there's a better alternative right? A 37 year old Didier Drogba shouldn't be a much better player than you in your supposed prime.
Altidore is a hard player to define. He isnt great 1v1 or in the air. Is just okay with back to gal, doenst link up great. His passing is usually awful, but he plucks goals, so on the bench he should ge. Almost anyone at striker getting minutes would be a team upgrade, though individually, maybe not so much.
Without Jozy we have Portugal beat 2-1 going into last seconds of play. Without Jozy we play Belgium to 120 minutes in R16. We should probably be talking about pairs of players to replace Jozy rather than 1 for 1 like replacement. Dempsey is done. If we start talking pairs or trios with Jozy in the lineup we are done because he doesn't fit, imo. I would sub Altidore in for a fullback in the last 2 minutes of a game but that's it for me. I want to see players who can move, link up, and if they cant score then open the gates or set screen for mids to come in for a blast at goal. Mexico beat us with a 3 man line. 2 of those played together in Olympics, I believe - Peralta and Jimenez It is too bad we couldn't get Rubio released for Olympics trials because he and Morris together would give us the kind of movement we need around the box and Keiswetter seems like a candidate for forward wing or right mid option if Zardes doesn't want it which seems the case. Otherwise somebody like Finlay or Yedlin seems promising. Agudelo and Morris seem similar. I would probably play one, not both. I believe Mullins has a good left foot and he has really upped his game at NYCFC. New stars who need to earn their stripes zardes morris finlay Rubio mullins keiswetter serna agudelo Yedlin Fabian MRod arriola I write this post because so many have said that Altidore is our only option. Keiswetter doesn't have a great shot on goal but gets into the right spots. Yedlin doesn't score but his assist rate should be high like Finlay's. Finlay hasn't received enough training. Jurgen needs to call him. Serna has some spectacular shots when he puts it together. etc.etc.etc . We just need to try something new at this stage and stop bawling about there not being a replacement for Altidore. How hard can it be to replace zero goals?
Had hoped Jozy would finally step up. But he has maybe a few good games and then a long run of terrible performances. Its puzzling sometimes. Though a lot of it may be due to Dempsey and whoever partners him. Or when he plays up top alone. And yet he is still the best striker we have. Or he used to be.
Uh... Drogba is the best striker in MLS right now (although Giovinco might have something to say about it). Drogba is much better than just about everyone outside of Gio and Kei Kamara.
I would say Jozy could have been good - if he put in the cross instead of flubbing the finish. Jozy got off a few decent hard shots - straight at the keeper - and earned a corner and a free kick on his one good spin move to beat a defender off the dribble. In a must-win game, that is all in all - not bad but not enough from the starting striker. As soon as Jozy left and Wood got on the field, the team looked better. What does that say? Can we imagine Jozy in 100 years making Wood's run and finishing with a well-timed shot - still straight at the keeper a la Jozy - but one-touching it between the keepers legs and into the net? I am sad to say my powers of imagination do not extend to Jozy making runs of the quality of our Bundesliga 2 finisher, forget about the Drogba comparison. When Drogba's 45 he likely will still be better than peak Jozy.
I've defended Jozy for years, but he's likely only in the team until a striker finally emerges from the catacombs of our youth ranks. To be fair to him, I'd like to see him get a chance with a strike partner that doesn't have that "Titi Henry on Field Turf" work rate.
Yet we still have a much better track record than the Ivory Coast. Make it 39 and you'll be right. I can't see Drogba staying that strong for that long. Of course, he's surprising me right now in MLS so maybe he can continue to do it longer than I think.