[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhgUnQbgsLM"]YouTube - Jozy Altidore's Goal Against Antalyaspor[/ame]
I think Jozy played pretty well, took his goal well, and had some nice combination play to set up teammates a few times. What he didn't do well though stood out more for me. First, he didn't find space for himself very well with off the ball movemenet. In some cases he was open, despite not moving into space really, and the midfield should have found him, but in others he was just in a bad position and made no effort to get in a better one. I'm not really sure what his position was in this game, but sometimes he was right in the middle, spearheading the attack, and others he had drifted way out wide. If he's going to be a pointman, he needs to stay near the middle. On some of the free kicks/corners he wasn't even in the mix, for some reason was at the top of the box or something. Second, as has been said already, he needs to look to shoot way more often. His first instinct with his first touch, if he can't take a first time shot, is to immediately pass to someone else, which can be great to get someone in on goal sometimes, but others he'd be better off trying to make some space and create his own shot. I've seen him do this before, not sure why he doesn't try anymore. And of course that play near the end when he had a shot from a tough angle but opted to pass... forwards shoot that, passing from there was just the wrong decision. EDIT: Just read that he was playing right mid.. and I can see why they put him there with his decision making. He needs to be a forward and play like one.
He beat a guy to make space and saw a killer pass that would have sent someone free down the left. It was a good look and he should have put some air under the ball. He tried to keep it on the ground, the defender read it and lunged to block it. It bounced behind Jozy, was touched towards the forward. The guy marking the forward looked like he should have cut it out, but didn't and the forward was in on goal.
Funny, I saw Jozy making quite a few strong diagonal runs cutting in from outside (especially in the 1st half) but never got the ball from his teammates. I thought he looked just fine off the ball and actually did find space out wide. It's the damnedest thing that two people can watch the same thing and have completely different points of view huh?
I saw a lot of runs also, was thinking I'd like to see more of those in a US shirt. There were also several times when he called for the ball with his hands and didn't get any service.
Yeah, this was definitely Jozy's best game. Maybe tis goal will get his teammates to feed him the ball more often when he gets himself in good positions.
The spacing and the movement in the Turkish league are very good - not just better than what the US offers but better than many leagues offer. As to his position on the field - off the line-ups, it looks like a 4-3-3, with Miller and Altidore often switching places. Whoever of them isn't up is wide. PS. I didn't see this match. PPS. Excellent goal.
Wasn't able to see the game so can't comment on his overall performance but that was a well taken goal. Great positioning and direction on the header. Great pass too. Hopefully that opens the flood gates for him.
He looks pretty excited about that goal. He needed it. Too bad they couldn't win the game, but they just don't seem like a very good team. Can't see them beating teams like Besiktas or Fenerbahce. Let's just hope that Jozy keeps scoring. I wonder if he'll stick with Bursa next year, try his luck at Villarreal again, or move elsewhere. I also wonder what kind of league would provide a good blend of playing time and quality competition for him. Surely he's better than Championship quality? On the other hand, I can't see him starting for many EPL teams until his form improves. Bundesliga, maybe?
If Jozy improves a bit and gets on form and gos on a little scoring streak, I could see some lower level epl teams going for him. Bundesliga would be great though. At this point Jozy just need to make sure that where ever he is going to play this season he is going to get serious playing time.
He should stay put for a while, get playing time and progress well. He took off for Europe far too soon and was never able to settle in and progress the way we all would have hoped. But he's 21 and it's certainly not too late. If he goes anywhere, I'd say the Netherlands or France. But Turkey has a strong league too.
Considering his personal feelings about the club, their record for growing attackers, the current situation at the ArenA and their previous interest in him, might I humbly suggest Ajax?
You might. I might suggest other Eredivisie clubs too. Turkey and the Netherlands are fairly close in terms of overall quality.
when people complain about him in the air it's usually when he's playing target like off long passes and goal kicks. He's not good at that, he's always been decent at heading off crosses and set pieces.
I think Jozy's current game is perfect for a 4-3-3. I think his career has gone off the rails because managers look at his physique and think "target man." But I think about his best plays, and to me, he's effective using that strength NOT to body up to center halves, but to slash past defenders in space. Few defenders can ride him off the ball. Bruce Arena, I think, was really on to something when he used Jozy as a right sided attacker when Arena coached NYRB.
I remember him playing left mid for Hull against Arsenal and running through them. His running and dribbling is made for the open field, not tight spaces in the box.
I started an analysis thread after the Algeria World Cup game pointing out Altidore's positioning and the danger he posed out wide: Altidore has always been more dangerous when partnered with someone who can at least share the target responsibilities. He was better with Davies, for example. A partner who can check back to midfield allows Jozy to be where he is most dangerous - going at defenders. His best partner in the current pool is Teal Bunbury.
Look this is nothing knew Lots of people have observed that jozy is way better out wide It's where he's comfortable. Like oh... Kenny cooper. To me jozy is simply faster Kenny cooper with less touch and who can't finish nearly as well. Before Cooper went to Europe and got hurt he was clearly better than jozy. (he still might be) Perhaps not longterm but this is a jozy thread. Where he plays is very much the issue