Altidore is either injured or has absolutely no heart. I wait to hear which. Findley should never have been out on the field. I don't blame him...he's just out of his league.
Pretty awful all around. Not really their fault though; they're just not that talented. Gomez and Findley both play their hearts out, but they're just not cut out to be international strikers. Hopefully our striker pool gets deeper over the next four years. Jozy must have concrete in his boot. He has to have the worst touch and finishing ability of any EPL striker at the moment. He really needs to clean up his game.
Jozy was pathetic. I've defended him in the past, but that was just horrid. Showed no desire or true effort. At least Findley tried....
Games played: 4 Goals Scored: 0 Nothing else needs to be added to that. Might as well play a 4-6-0 with as much use as we get out of the "strikers" up front.
never in a million years should he have made the roster. Without a doubt the most useless player on the roster. And Jozy was just gassed, he was toast. Again, coach needs to recognize this. Buddle needed to come out earlier
Too much Jozy basking. He played very hard but Ghana is a strong team with a very strong backline. CD would have given us another element that all the others (Findley, gomes, Buddle) don't have. We will be back.
Jozy looked like he was running with weights on his ankles and his finishing, ugh, atrocious. Findley had no business being on that field. Gomez wasn't much better, but it's hard for him to have an impact with balls continuously being played over the top.
Findley is out of his league. His pace can get him into good positions, but his talent and soccer brain can't do anything once he's there. To be on a break and shoot right at the keeper is something even MLS coaches frown upon. Findley's been a pro now for some time, he knows to put that in a corner, regardless of international experience or not. Altidore died in the second half, and Bradley should have seen that coming. He rarely helped in the attack and was non-existent in tracking back. What was so wrong with Buddle that he didn't get into this game? Gomez tried to do too much but you got the sense that either he didn't know what his role was in overtime or he didn't have the discipline to stick to it.
I've always been hopeful that Altidore would become a good player, because frankly, he has never really impressed me (granted against ALgeria he was pretty good). He doesnt have a great touch, hes rather clumbsy, but his size would make him formidable if he knew how to FINISH. Why do we always defend our forwards for all the cool stuff they do, like Altidore's muscle, Findley's speed. Both of them can do that, and well!! Yet Findley's speed meant absolutely nothing when he knocked it right at the keeper. Altidore has scored how many goals against non-concacaf opponents?? FORWARDS ARE SUPPOSED TO SCORE. Does the USA being eliminated mean I don't have to listen to Alexi Lalas anymore?? At least there would be something positive to come of this. Anyway, I'm now firmly supporting my second country, Argentina. VAMOS ARGENTINA
Jozy. Just. Isn't. Good. Enough. Findley, as others have said already, was just out of his league. But he tried. Gomez ran and ran, but he got *nothing* to work with. But the way the forwards were performing, we would have been better off playing 4-6-0 for the entire tournament. We certainly missed a threatening forward, but that's another thread.
I personally never wrote him on. I don't like this so called holding-striker ala Brian Ching, Altidore, because frankly they're not really that good. My kind of striker is someone like Luis Fabiano, or David Villa, they just make stuff happen. Our guys miss sitters. How does that happen?
He's an MLS-quality striker. That's pretty much all that needs to be said. That and his questionable decision-making.
Touch and finishing ability aren't exactly the skills that players pick up late in their careers. Good strikers have developed those skills by 21.
Today, our forwards weren't great, but the idea that Jozy isn't good or didn't have a good cup is a hysterical overreaction. Altidore set up the Bradley goal in the second game, the Donovan goal in the third game and drew a huge number of fouls. He has not yet developed a really solid touch (his first touch was pretty rough today, particularly) but he was pretty good, if not great this tournament. Findley was the wrong call today, as was Gomez as a sub. Ghana's central defenders were not strong on long balls and Buddle would have been a better choice. But not a great choice. We just didn't have a lot of great strikers to choose from. You don't get the players you want; you have to pick from the ones you have.
I'm referring to their style. When I listen to John "Obviously" Harkes and Alexi "Never-Really-Was" Lalas, I hear them talk about the importance of Findley and Altidore because Findley is fast, and Altidore is strong. I miss Charlie Davies because he started to show signs of being not only fast, but also somewhat skilled. When I listen to other commentators, they don't mention speed first on the list of a players attributes. Messi is fast as crap, but thats not what I first think of when I think Messi. I think of a dude who somehow keeps a ball glued to his foot while running full speed.