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Villarreal: Jozy isn’t going anywhere

JozyAltidore (AP)

Just a day after reports surfaced about an Everton move for Jozy Altidore, Spanish club Villarreal has stepped forward to let it be known that the young American striker isn't going anywhere.

Villarreal manager Manuel Pellegrini made it clear that he intends to keep the 19-year-old striker around and still intends on using him in the second half of the La Liga season.

"The squad is prepared for the battles of the second part of the season," Pellegrini said. ''I have demanded the continuity of Altidore within our club, but the final decision lies with the directors."

Don't you love when a manager makes a statement like that, only to conclude it with the disclaimer that basically says he COULD be sold if the directors decide to sell him?

With a loan deal no longer in the works Altidore will compete for playing time with a loaded stable of forwards for the Spanish club that includes Giuseppe Rossi, Nihat Kahveci, Guillermo Franco and Joseba Llorente.

What do you think of Villarreal's decision? Happy to see him stay? Sad to not see him go to a club where he can play more?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I agree. Stay in Villareal, run the course. Don’t be anxious to get Playing Time and leave a team with such good coaches and players. In my opinion, la liga is collectively better than Premiership and Jozy will benefit next year and might even start at this time next year.

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  2. Jozy has a long way to go. Even if Franco leaves he still has a lot of competition. Some people might not know this, but Joseba Llorente is actually a lot better than Altidore. Watch him play for Villareal or when he was with Valladolid and you’ll see. Then there is Rossi and Nihat who are the top front two on the squad. Jozy needs to train hard and take notes. He’ll get his chance, but moving now will be the biggest mistake of his life.

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  3. I think we’re taking for granted the fact that Altidore would go to a different club and have success. What if he went to a La Liga bottom feeder and failed to impress? We’d chalk him up as another lost talent, a la Beasley or Adu. I think the best scenario is for him to stay with Villareal-he’s been abroad for just 6 months-and allow him the chance to develop and compete for a starting position on a top club.

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  4. Hey has anyone found a site where you can get a Jozy jersey? The Villareal FC official site store is down and I could not find any other official jerseys on ebay or the usual suspects. Thanks.

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  5. This Sucks. Jozy is stuck with Sinking Ship aka Villarreal while Everton is a good team and Jozy would have more playing time with them.

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  6. Let’s be honest, Jozy hasn’t done anything to jump ahead of Franco on the depth chart even with Franco’s play lately which hasn’t been that good.

    The reason why is because Jozy is inexperienced (duh) and Franco has been carrying injuries for the past 4 months.

    He’s not the only one, Rossi and Nihat have missed games this season for a number of reasons.

    Franco will leave Villarreal this summer so expect Jozy to play a bigger role next season.

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  7. Here’s hoping this means Jozy has earned the confidence of his manager.

    It seemed at the outset that Jozy was doing very well, but he fell off a bit after those two starts.

    He should get his due time if this is the case. I wouldn’t be upset to see him transferred to England, but, as many others have stated, La Liga is more beneficial to his development.

    As far as his safety valve statement, he’s only telling the truth. The directors are only obligated to listen to the manager’s advice and critique on players. They are allowed to make decisions that contrast the manager’s if they feel it is to the benefit of the club.

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  8. There wasn’t much doubt Jozy was staying in my mind. He’s only just got there. He’s had some chances and while he hasn’t taken all of them, he’s learning. He’s impressedd in certain parts of the game and the product(yes that means goals too) will come.

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  9. I think when the man says “But it’s up to the directors.” I think he means that they’re not going to sell him for a loss. Jozy’s a good player, but no one’s going to shell out significantly more than $9mil American or whatever his transfer fee was.

    Directors are businessmen, they’re not going to sell Jozy unless they’re making a nice buck from the deal.

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  10. lol if he was on Everton I could watch him on FSC though.. lol although I do agee Villareal is much better than Everton

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  11. There are quite a few Villarreal fans who consider Jozy the fourth forward behind Nihat, Rossi, and Llorente, and ahead of Guille Franco.

    I think Jozy has a good chance of seeing more time because he presents a different view to defenses (Nihat and Rossi are basically the same physically and in style), the same as Joseba.

    Besides, his touch will benefit greatly just by training with the other talented players in Villarreal.

    Cheers

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  12. If he can go to a team with as much talent as Villareal and get guarenteed playing time, then I would say go for it. If not then he should stay at Villareal.

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  13. I’m glad Jozy is staying at Villarreal and I hope he does so for several years. It’s easy to forget how young he is, and I think stability is an important thing for him right now. As long as he is patient and trains hard I think he can work his way into the first team. Even if that’s another year or two down the line when he’s 20 or 21, that’s not such a bad thing!

    Same goes for Adu. Everyone is in panic mode right now from his lack of playing time but he’s still really, really young. I’m not worried at all about him. I don’t get why people freak out when an 18 year old isn’t consistantly starting for a big European team, and everyone is ready to write him off. Beasley’s situation is something to worry about, but not Jozy or Adu.

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  14. AJ, Franco is Argentine by birth so he might not have as strong of a connection to Mexico and the same desire to finish his career there as other Mexican National Team players.

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  15. Franco said he has parted ways with Villareal and is looking for offers. I bet he returns to Mexico this transfer window, it seems all others are. Good news for Altidore.

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  16. Ives,

    Everytime I come to this board, I read people griping about how American footballers need to go abroad to play and compete against better competiton, so that in the long run the MNT will have greater and more consistent success in WC and international play. Then, you ask if we’re disappointed that Jozy isn’t moving to a club where he can get more PT?? He needs to stay at Villareal and earn a spot against stiff competiton. He’ll be better off in the long run than going to a lesser club or league for more PT. Same goes for Adu. There’s much to be said for finishing what you start.

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  17. If you don’t care about the NFL playoffs Saturday, this Valencia-Villarreal derby is a must-watch. Especially with Real and Barca playing relegation-zone teams on Sunday.

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  18. Jozy is at the BOTTOM of the forward depth chart because he’s inexperienced, it’s that simple.

    Ryan is right, Franco came out to the press a few days ago saying that this was going to be his last year at Villarreal.

    That doesn’t mean the club won’t go out and buy another striker but it’ll surely be easier for Jozy to see the field next year.

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  19. Stay with Villarreal, even just practicing and training with those forwards, plus their great midfield players will do him a lot of good. He’ll get his playing time. The club is right, he needs time to settle and get fully up to speed — that doesn’t happen in 6 months.

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  20. Franco is 32, and for the most part, Mexican forwards want to get back to the Mexican league while they’ve still got some gas in the tank. I think its a safe bet that Franco won’t be at Villarreal much longer.

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  21. Is there anything that says that Altidore would be getting the chance to punt and run ahead of anyone at Everton?

    Let Jozy stay in Spain. He’s already got all the punt and run skills he’d learn in England. He needs to develop his skills on the ball and going at defenders. As he matures, he’ll be as strong as anyone on the other back line, he needs to learn to put the moves on to get around them, rather than shoving them around.

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  22. I think he’s ahead of Franco at the very least, and with all the injuries to Nihat he’s going to get some time. I read a post somewhere that Franco might be on his way out with Jozy taking his Champions League roster spot. Has anyone seen that?

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  23. I have mixed feelings, I’m happy that Villareal value him enough to want to keep him, but at the same time, I’m disappointed that’ll lose out on major minutes with a good club in a major league.

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  24. Although the directors have the last say I don’t really see anyway that they will sell him. I think a loan going over the head of the coach is a possibility, but very unlikely to happen. On the subject of playing time, I think training in such an intense and high quality atmosphere for a young player like Jozy would be more beneficial than playing and starting every game for the Red Bulls. That said if he was loaned out to a lower quality La Liga club I wouldn’t be mad at all.

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  25. Told ya’ so 😉

    Jozy was named to this weekend’s derby squad. Stopped me if you’ve heard this before, but Nihat came down with some last-minute muscle injury.

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  26. Altidore needs to improve his touch and technical skills, which he will do in Spain. The kick and run style of the English game will not help him develop.

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  27. Given his style of play I think Spain is a better league for him to develop further than England is. Tell Everton they can have Eddie Johnson.

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  28. It will be interesting to see how our young prospects who are getting little to no playing time with their clubs perform in 2009’s packed Nat’s schedule. I’m hoping Adu, Edu, Jozy are still improving while only training/playing with the reserves.

    I’m in the camp that their form will still be high for the Nats.

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  29. Between Nihat, Franco & Llorente it’s a round robin of injuries. He’ll see time. His technical ability will grow much more than at Everton.

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