Rumor: Jozy Altidore - New European Interest

Going to Europe was the right move but going to Spain was a mistake. Jozy had a ton of promise but I think made a mistake going to Villareal and the style of spanish soccer doesn't suit his game. I think we're seeing now with young americans that Germany would have been an incredible place for him to develop but in 2008 La Liga was the hottest thing in the world with Barca/Madrid. To me still a Top 3 striker in US history.

 

he nor red bulls were going to turn down 10 million dollars from the 3rd best team in La Liga back then

 

Villareal mismanaged his development, imo.

Look at that club since....haven't been close to what they were when Jozy went there....

La Liga wasn't the problem...it was just a poor choice of club....(and clubs later on too i.e. EPL bottom dwellers)

 

The problem was Jozy. He failed in the big leagues for the same reason he's rarely scored against strong competition for the NT: he needs time/space.

You won't get those at the higher levels.

 

Jozy admitted he was partying too much at Sunderland. I guess we can't blame that one on his shitty teammates.

 

It's always funny the need so many US fans have to go round the long way just trash Jozy. I'm always interested in what that's about.

I can't really think of a US player with Jozy's level of success that gets folks to come all the way to an old rumor thread just to take a gratuitous shot.

I guess GAM, back in the bad-old Cardiff et al days. Maybe Shea. Certainly LD and MB in certain circles. Anyone I'm missing?

It's an interesting psychological phenomenon.

 

Yeah, I too get frustrated that Altidore didn't seem to maximize his potential, but if he had slightly better luck with injuries, he'd be right there with Donovan and Dempsey as the all-time scoring leader for the USMNT. I thought he had an outside chance of catching them anyhow until it became apparent that COVID is going to probably wipe out at least a half-dozen USMNT games. It's not fair to be too hard on him.

 

Definitely, Jozy has been one of our best strikers ever.

Which is why we're not in the Top 20.

 

I sure hope Sargent can be a step in the next direction. 7-10 league goals in a top 5 league over the next decade and scoring in both qualifiers and tournaments for the NT.

Jozy is missing a credible WC performance (and goals) to stake his legacy on.

 

This I think is probably the crux of it: fans are mad at Jozy for being one of the best, yet not good enough. (I think MB suffers the same instinct.)

Folks don't get so mad at, say, Wood or AronJo, because they never expected them to be "next level."

But it's still weird. All the guy ever did was show up, play hard, score some goals and try to help his team's win. He's been one of the more scandal free players we've had (as had MB for that matter.) Very little drama/prima Dona stuff...

It's just interesting.

 

You can add Julian Green to that list. All three were exceptionally promising youth players who never quite lived up to expectations but have carved out solid careers at levels that every single poster on these boards would give their right arms - and quite a few would give their left nuts - to be playing at.

They haven't failed in any way, they just haven't lived out other people's dreams. Which says at least as much about those people as it says about them.

 

I agree. I also don't get the Zardes criticism in a way. I mean, I certainly understand it and I see his shortcomings as player. But the criticism is completely misplaced.

Zardes isn't on the team because of some mass conspiracy. He's on the team because Aron Johannsson, Bobby Wood, and Terrance Boyd couldn't stay healthy. Even more, he's on the team because an enormously long list of forward prospects (both domestically and abroad) didn't pan out over a 10-12 year period. In addition to Wood, Johannsson and Boyd you have Rubio Rubin, Jack McInerney, Jose Villarreal, Alonso Hernandez, Conor Doyle, Juan Agudelo, are some of the names that jump quickly to mind since they were all earning minutes as teenagers. But there are plenty more: Jerome Kieswetter, Maki Tall, Mukwelle Akale, Alfred Koroma, Ben Spencer, Villyian Bijev, Gabe Ferreri, Mario Rodriguez, Johann Smith, Boxi Yomba - and soon Haji Wright.

If any of those guys make it, Zardes isn't on the team and maybe Jozy isn't either. In addition, there isn't as much unnecessary pressure on Sargent to be "the guy." The lack of established options, both domestically and abroad, is astonishing. The criticism shouldn't be at Jozy or Zardes, it should be on those who had the talent, resources, and opportunities to be be at the top but came up way short.

 

Based on this site I get the feeling the top five most disliked American players are:

1. Bradley
2. Trapp
3. Altidore
4. Zardes
5. Omar Gonzalez

In other words, TFC needs to sign Trapp and Zardes and complete the set.

 

Speaking only for myself, I don't dislike any of those named players. I just want to see them replaced by better players for the National Team.

 

And I'd like to win the lotto and retire already.

 

Jozy on coronavirus, racism, UFOs, and a 2019 move to Feyenoord that didn't pan out:

https://www.vice.com/nl/article/m7qm8q/jozy-altidore-ufos-racisme-az

 

I keep forgetting he's with a tennis star. I don't follow it so not sure where she's ranked.

 

You ended your years at AZ with the cup win in 2013, then it was time to take a step. AZ and you could make good money from a transfer. How did you feel when it was time to leave AZ?
It didn't feel right. The timing was not right. Sunderland was not the best club I had spoken to, I had also spoken to other major clubs. But Sunderland was concrete. I remember very well that Gertjan Verbeek and Earnest Stewart said that I had better wait for other offers, because Sunderland did not play my type of football. They were very honest about that, saying it would be a disaster if I went to Sunderland despite the transfer fee being good. But my father really wanted me to go to England because the contract was good there. What if I got an injury at AZ? Then I might not have been able to get such a contract anymore. So it was a difficult, emotional decision. I went to Sunderland.

In retrospect, you should have taken the advice of Verbeek and Stewart.
Right. But my agents and my father thought about finances. With the contract with Sunderland I was able to secure my future, guaranteed. I was a young man. If I had had the wisdom of today, I would have made a different choice.

 

Sloane Stephens is currently ranked 37th.

https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-live-ranking

 

She's talented, but inconsistent. Some seasons she makes the Top 10, even the Top 5, and reaches the quarters or semis of a Grand Slam tournament. Other seasons she's in the lower 20s and crashes out of Grand Slams in the second or even the first round.

 

Ranking the 50 worst Premier League transfers of all time
https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...50-worst-premier-league-transfers-of-all-time

Several strikers who flamed out in a short time span miss out, including Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City), Jozy Altidore (Sunderland) and Andreas Cornelius (Cardiff City).

 

When you're so bad you don't even make the 50 worst!

Oddly enough, the list is littered with strikers who went to terrible teams and failed to score. That quote above re. Stewart and S'land is amazing and sad. I had always assumed it was DiCrazio who had talked Jozy into S'land, but it was actually Queen Elizabeth and Issac Newton...

 

Jozy could be a good player in Europe again, maybe not Premier LEague or La Liga, but lots of leagues in Europe he could walk into. He'd be one of the better strikers in Holland again instantly. The problem is, he's not good enough for any team that can afford his salary. If you're paying a guy $6 million plus per year, you are probably a bigger team than would need or want Jozy. If you're a team that would want Jozy and would play him, you're probably not in the market to pay that kind of money and recent events make that even less likely. Unless he wants to take a pay cut, something I would never recommend for a player the wrong side of 30, he's staying in MLS.

 

Maybe he could pull a Mathis and randomly end up in Greece or somewhere for a spell during his last couple years as a pro.

 

When his current contract expires in December 2022, he'll already have turned 33 that November. If he's willing to take a paycut and if he and Toronto can agree a cancellation of the last 6 months of his contract, he might get an 18 month deal at a top club in a tier-2 league (the likes of Anderelecht, Braga, Copenhaen, Feyenoord, etc) that'll be heavily performance-based.

Otherwise, what's the point in going back? To grind out 1.5 seasons in mid-table for the likes of Real Betis or Eintracht Frankfurt for less money and with zero chance of silverware or even EL footballin return?

The European boat has sailed. Let it be.