Zakuani joins the near unanimous praise of Jozy by current and former players. They should watch fewer games and spend more time on the internet so they would know that he is actually not good. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...r-atlantas-way-forward-and-more-steve-zakuani Jozy, still the best US striker alive There are some players in MLS that I really wish I’d have had the chance to play with. Very near the top of that list is Jozy Altidore. As a former winger, he would have been the perfect forward for me to combine with and bounce passes off. Every now and then I’ll read a tweet or an article criticizing Jozy and I have such a hard time understanding why he’s not appreciated more. He is still the best USMNT striker, the best hold-up forward in MLS and someone who takes his team to a new level when he’s in form. In Toronto FC's 2-1 win against Montreal Impact some of his best qualities were on display yet again. When the ball is fired into him, it usually sticks and his layoffs often set up his teammates with good opportunities. Another thing I appreciate is how he can adapt his game to accommodate other stars. He hasn’t skipped a bit in the transition from Sebastian Giovinco to Alejandro Pozuelo. The only thing that can stop Altidore are injuries because if he stays healthy, he guarantees you goals and also guarantees that Toronto remain the best team in Canada. In my last column I criticized Toronto’s inability to convert their dominance into three points. They have been playing well, but if you don’t finish your chances you’ll be punished. On Wednesday, they played well without being overly dominant and the difference was their game management. They controlled the transitions well and defused Montreal’s most dangerous players. Then when they needed it most, the best American striker stepped up to give them the win.
Reports around Akinola make it sound like Jozy is a good mentor. At $6.5 million per year, I am sure he feels that his place in Toronto is secure and he can groom his competition a bit.
Jozy continues to be the worst striker around.... except for any other striker eligible for the US. I think Sargent likely overtakes him this year and I'd be shocked if Jozy is more than a bench option in Qatar at age 32, but the guy has gotten way more grief than he deserves for simply not being a superstar in a position where we have always been scraping he bottom of the barrel and where he has for a decade been our best option.
Jozy is 3 or 4th best US striker. But some players do have a great deal of good will from their peers.
I just hope he learned from his old teammate Pizarro, specifically how to garner a paycheck playing football at the age of 40 some-odd years being able to only move in a 5 yard sphere for about 10 minutes a day. Seriously, that was the guy from whom I hope he learned something about his craft.
Between Zakuani's article and Ives Galarcep's SBI podcast, it sounds like the powers-that-be are warming up the "Jozy is still the #1 USMNT striker" hallelujah chorus. He has 1 goal in 8 games this year. He scored in 1 out of 10 Hex games last time around. Zardes has 7 goals in 10 games. Morris has 6 in 10ish. That's before even talking about European options. How is Jozy our #1 striker, again?
Unless he gets back in shape, I'm not sure how he can play at the international level now. He is going to have to want it.
Yeah, nobody thinks Jozy is our best striker except some guy named zakuani, Ives (who also still has bradley in his starting 11 as of like 3 months ago), and a couple family members on this website. Nobody hates Jozy, everyone appreciates his decade of service, and realize he was the best we had for most/all of that time. But that won't stop these loonies. I'm a big boston sports fan, so i understand this sentiment. Anybody questioning or disagreeing with anything is a "hater", when all they are doing is questioning or disagreeing, rather than hating. Oh well, tried to ignore this thread, but had to bring some sense, utimately.
I feel Jozy worked best knowing he had/has competition and in recent years he hasn't had any. He played really well with Wood and with Dempsey but that's the past. HE'd had default starter status because other options were either too green or abysmal. So, I hope Sargent gets options going forward. I still would bring Jozy to warm the bench in 2022. Bring him on as a late super-sub to score a goal against Croatia or someone. Dude really deserves at least 1 big tournament goal.
Name one coach, reporter, analyst or player who is on record saying he's washed up. I haven't heard one. I am hard pressed to remember hearing anyone who says he's not the best, nobody thinks he's out of the team except for message board haters. It's like most fake things that are popular on the internet among people who like to think that they are the only smart people. All the experts and the stats and data are conspiring to trick the suckers but message board guy knows better.
Jozy has a tremendous amount of effusive good will from most everyone. But not from Gregg. At this point, I don't think Jozy is out of the team. That's simply the natural direction of things given the coach's preferences and Jozy performances.
Gregg clearly isn't in love but he also started him in the biggest game of his tenure. I've been clear that I don't care if he is beat out by better players, I just don't believe in ditching good players prematurely.
Again, nobody said he's washed up, and nobody said he's out of the team. Creating arguments out of thin air doesn't make your argument stronger.
Pozuelo ➡️ Altidore ⚽️Top class link up play. pic.twitter.com/dppGlo5XOQ— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 28, 2020 Nice finish.
Altidore is tracking back against Columbus. He just played a crossfield pass from the left- back position.
Jozy is back on the field for TFC. He came on at the 58th minute on Sunday. I'm blacked out so I have no idea what he did.