Altidore: Villarreal vs. Sevilla, Dec. 14, 13:00 ET

He just needs more time with the team, Villareal has the most inconsistent strike force in La Liga. They have 2 strikers red carded, 2 strikers sick, and between them they alternate between being injured.

 

yes.....yes it does.

 

OK then, send him a lawnchair for Xmas then he can just post up there next time he's played as a lone striker.

way to miss the point btw.

 

Gol in 3D http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2008_09/primera/jornada_15/sev_vil/115160.html

 

I thought I saw Franco repeatedly signaling Jozy to stay posted up top, and calling him off when he tried to drop back for support.

 

That's the way Pelligrini has had Jozy play before, too.

 

Jozy did have that run back on defense before. And after Franco came in, I assume Jozy was told to stay up more. Of course he didn't do anything up top either.

 

Until Franco came on Jozy was doing all these things you are criticizing him for...tracking back, pressuring defenders, etc. Once Franco came on Jozy became the target forward meaning 'waiting' for the ball as you say became his priority....

For the record Jozy IMO is coming along quite nicely...I'm not sure if everyone just criticizes him as some sort of defense mechanism, maybe because they think he might fail , but he is doing very well in La Liga considering his situation....just enjoy the journey

 

That's the bottom line.

 

Well, he's right either way about defensive hustle not being Jozy's strong point, not even at New York.

But, it's tough to take too much out of this game, since the midfield was being overrun and having trouble finding Llorente even before they went down a man, and it only got worse afterwards. I did think Jozy's touch and physical presence was lacking in a way it hadn't been against some of the lesser teams he's faced with Villarreal, but I'm not sure how much of that was a product of the man advantage allowing Sevilla to double team Jozy at all times.

 

this is utter nonsense. You think Villa paid $10M for a guy who"lacks the technical skills of other La Liga players"?

 

I think you guys are being pretty harsh on the guy. Sevilla controled the midfield and after Llorente got sent off it got even worse. Jozy had some nice 1 touch passes and combined pretty well with his teammates, more than Llorente did in his 55 minutes. As for tracking back, after Franco came in it seemed pretty clear that they wanted Jozy on the last man, and even when he came back Franco waived him off and told him to go forward. He didnt do anything of note, but with 10 men and an ineffective midfield you cant really expect him to.

 

Slightly disappointing performance from Jozy in my view. Villarreal couldn't do much with a man down, but even so the chemistry still just isn't there for Jozy. It'll come, though.

 

Player Ratings @

 

Yes, I think he isn't yet on the level of other players even on his team, such as Rossi, Cazorla, Senna, et al. His touch is sometimes lacking, and he can't maneuver as well in tight spaces. Mati Fernandez went through two defenders ridiculously in this game today. Jozy can do that against New England defenders (I saw him), but not yet in La Liga. That's the point of improving your game and working on your deficiencies, which I'm sure Jozy is doing. He is allowed to need development at age 19; he is by no means a finished product.

And to be fair, I didn't say he can't attain the same level of skills. In fact, I said the opposite, and I think he is a great player who is doing well.

 

I don't think it was a big deal, the real problem was Villarreal's midfield which was unable to stop Adriano, control the ball, and later when they were down to 10 men, find Jozy in a situation where he could've created a clear scoring opportunity. Of course Jozy could've don better, but given the facts (an away game vs a top four team and down to 10 men), Jozy nor Luca Toni nor Eto'o were going to do much. Senna and Llorente should be criticize for their horribly performances in such an important match.


On the plus side, looks like Jozy is earning Pellegrini's trust to be brought at such an important time. He's definetly going to see more time in the coming weeks and might even put on the CL squad.

 

Ever since I've been tracking Villarreal (in other words, since they bought Jozy), I've been highly critical of Llorente. He's been garbage in the games I've seen him. That continued today as he had more cards than touches. It's unacceptable that a striker can never find the ball. I would've yanked him after his first card. Once Jozy came in, he got touches regularly, despite being double-teamed most of the time. Now I'm not saying Jozy is the best player, but an Altidore who gets touches is better than having Fernando Torres (for example) up top if Torres can never get to the ball.

A little more polish and I think we could see one of the best strikers in the world emerge from Altidore. Maybe he should play some american football in the off-season so he can learn how to not get knocked down so easily?

 

They must love Pires, this is the second week in a row they gave him a much higher rating than he deserved. There's a reason he came out when he did.

And Jozy deserved better than a 5, though not much.

 

I missed the match, but just from reading your reports on this thread, this is why I'm a little bit skeptical about playing Jozy as a lone forward in this cycle with the Nats. Next cycle, almost for sure, but in this cycle he'll definitely need Landon running off of him.

 

here is some basic soccer stuff: Jozy is a center-forward, what is called a #9. To play that position you need size, strength and power. Jozy has good skill for a #9. 9's are people like Toni, Veiri and even McBride. To compare Jozy's skill to a little forward like Rossi (or Donovan for that matter) is completely absurd. By the way, did you ever notice that Rojan Rondo handles the basketball better than Shaq? Does that mean that Shaq is not skillful?
If you want to discuss skill, you have to compare Jozy's with other #9s.

 

You must have high expectations then Lllorente after transferring from Valladolid this summer has appeared 11 times for Villareal and scored 6 times...that's not a bad haul IMO. When a striker is not getting the ball sometimes one has to look at the quality of service being sent there way. Lorente is one of those strikers who depends on touches to get into a game rhythm...his lack of service plus frustration led to his two totally avoidable bookings..Altidore's ability to get touches was in large part due to Sevilla defense laying off him a bit as they had the luxury of a man advantage..if Jozy would've been in the game from the beginning as the lone striker he might been as 'unproductive' as Llorente

 

What are you talking about he had a defender on him when Villarreal didn't have the ball and double team any time Villarreal crossed the halfway line. Llorente is the Vieri type, he's not going to create his own goals, something that Jozy can do, he's not going to move around with the ball, something that Jozy can do, all he's good for is to have someone like Rossi attract defenders and put the ball on a platter for Llorente, otherwise he's useless. Jozy, can at least recieve the ball in a bad spot, lose his defender and take the shot or pass it. The difference right now is Llorentes years in La Liga and Jozy's years spent running back and forth in the US system, but skill-wise Jozy has him beaten even at his age.

 

Right but not until after Franco came onto the pitch and Altidore because the lone man up top....

I didn't make my post to debate whether Altidore is a better striker than Llorente because right now the edge goes to Llorente I was just saying maybe the criticism of Llorente was harsh....he had a bad day at the office for that matter the whole team did....

Btw I do not doubt Altidore's immense talent or skillset, I said earlier I thought he was coming along very well in La Liga

 

Jozy's struggles had nothing to do with him being a lone forward. A man down midfield was getting run over, making it easy for a more athletic Sevilla squad to double team Jozy at every opportunity, and Jozy didn't get many. You may be right - he may need an off forward - but this game neither supports or debunks that.

 

Exactly. There is nothing much to be taken out of this match. There rarely is when one team is playing down a man. It's changes the entire game, dramatically.