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Altidore heading to Bursaspor on loan

Jozy Altidore (ISIPhotos.com)
 

U.S. national team striker Jozy Altidore is heading to Turkish league champions Bursaspor on a six-month loan, Altidore revealed via Twitter.

Altidore leaves Villarreal in search of more playing time after being limited to cup appearances and a substitute role on a strong Villarreal side currently in third place in La Liga.

Bursaspor is currently in second place in the Turkish Super Liga, two points behind Trabzonspor. Bursaspor recently added another forward, Kenny Miller from Rangers, to help bolster the attack.

What do you think of the move? Like the idea of Altidore playing for a strong team? Worried about him going to Turkey? Ready to go stream-hunting to watch him play?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Riddle me this:

    If this is garbage then what does that make opinions based on a “feeling” that the MLS is a better league than Turkey’s?

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  2. MLS is actually a very decent league, it gets underated because 1) it’s the US and 2) it is even top to bottom unlike every other league in the world and 3) because of poor officiating has a good amount of ugly play. I believe MLS teams would win the North American Champions league if the schedule wasn’t so ridiculously set up against them (seriously starting elimination rounds when each MLS team is essentialy rebuilding, while the mexican teams are in mid-season?). Also It’s pretty obvious a large chunck of MLS managers take international competition as a distant second goal behind success in the regular season. If the mexican league is so superior why has the US passed mexico in CONCAFE?

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  3. Fischy, the UEFA rankings are based upon 5 years of performance and in 3 out 5 years Ukrainian league came ahead of Turkish league. There can be no which league is better now. In the most recent competitions, Shakhtar won its CL group finishing ahead of Arsenal, Metalist eliminated Sampdoria and advanced beyond the group stage in the Europa league, Dynamo Kiev won its Europa league group. In contrast, Bursaspor finished last in its CL group and outside of Beshiktas there is not a single Turkish team left in the European competitions.

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  4. I lived in London as a kid and when my parents had to return to Mexico someone suggested they come back thru Boston so that they didn’t go through a big culture “shock”. And so we did. My dad never understood why anyone would ever make such a comparison after that experience. Many years later I lived in Boston and I don’t find it in any way shape or form similar to London. New York, yes, Boston no way!

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  5. This is a good move for Altidore…UEFA soccer at a slower pace than EPL, Bundesliga, serie A etc. It’s only for 6 months but he needs this type of enviroment to grow at a gradual rate. Speed, Physical attributes, quick hard “shots on goal” and ball control….reading and understanding plays….reading and anticipating plays, these are all skills and instincts that have to be developed. In spain and Italy, managers are mostly looking for the finished product, the pace of the game is way too fast, with precision timing and control on each play, not to mention lots of one on one match ups which SHOULD be in favor of the Attacker.

    A true number 9. will strive anywhere because of their ability to make something happen out of nothing, skills to create openings for the shot, qualities to get by defenders..Andy Carroll, Torres, Berbatov etc, and Atlidore (with some similar skills to Emmanuel Adebayor) needs to learn the ability to read the game at a high tempo and develop the instincts of a reaction striker. Still 20+ years old….time is on our side

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  6. I was going to post this info, but you beat me to it. Turkish league is no small fries. It’s basically even with the Dutch Eredivisie that Gooch now plays (er, gets injured) in.

    Basically, The Turks have 5 really good teams, and 2-3 others that are competitive as well. So it’s not super-deep, but it’s way better than Scandanavia and the Scottish League.

    For example, Edu has looked really good, but he needs to get into the EPL ASAP because outside of playing Celtic it’s hard to truly judge his progress. Same with Feilhaber in the Danish 2nd Division. If he WASN’T tearing up that craptastic league, I’d be surprised.

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  7. Just for the sake of argument, lets say the Turkish league is level with MLS for developing players (we all know it’s not true). Josy still will get payed 10 fold in Turkey (or any of at least a dozen other Euro leagues) what MLS would ever pay. Why would he, or any other aspiring players with similar offers, WANT anything to do with the shackles of MLS???

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  8. His contract was ending at the end of the season and Rangers seemed disappointed to see him go, but I don’t know if he turned down a contract extension with them or what.

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  9. Yet another stunning post. there’s ro reason to believe MLS would have done him any good. Heres what we do know: Altidore left MLS for a huge spanish club for a record MLS fee. He’s played in the EPL and in a world cup. Now, he is going to develop more this season by seeing more playing time for a very good and well respected club, NOT some random team like you suggest.

    The real shame is for fans to not recognize how positive this truly is for both Jozy and the USMNT

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  10. Why does the MLS let these guys go so early? It’s really a shame, given a few more years in MLS Altidore could have made it and done well in far better teams than some random team in Turkey..

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  11. Ugh, not you. You’re a disgrace man, I mean, since you didn’t put in 25 la liga goals yet, win us the WC, and make a record transfer to Man City, I can say that you’re a failure. And at 21 years old, your career is over buster.

    Obviously, to anyone who knows ANYTHING about soccer, Juan Agudelo is the future and Bob Bradley should start him from now on. So what he’s only made like 2 APPEARANCES for NYRB? I and other really really smart fans are going to heap enormous praise and expectations on him because he’s so obviously better than you, scrub

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  12. I didn’t say that MLS is almost as good as the Turkish league. I didn’t say anything like that. In separate comments, I noted that Turkey is a top heavy league (Only four teams ever win the title), and I asked the question of “Where MLS wold rank among UEFA leagues”. Actually, if yo’d bother to read my comments before calling ne “crazy”, you’d realize that I wrote the Turkish league is probably ranked too low by UEFA because the current rankings are skewed by a banner year by Ukraine among other examples.

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  13. This worries me, and with the Kenny Miller signing… if he doesn’t get a starting spot then he should have just stayed put IMO. No more Xerex type loans. Hull was much better than Xerex.

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  14. Yes! And in a much lower pressure league than spain or england, he can really just focus on playing, development, rhythm, and scoring goals. The league is not a pushover. He could really improve in a league like this and a team like this. Getting used to playing with quality players and hopefully scoring lots of goals like MB did in the Eredevisie. Then he can make a leap forward if he wants. Just make a better move than Gooch did. Hell, EJ played regularly in Greece and it was great for him, even Adu got some minutes, and it is around the same ranking of leagues. A good move. He can be a star there.

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  15. “12. México 690,0
    13. Ecuador 662,5
    14. Russia 660,0
    15. Greece 636,5
    16. Perú 624,5
    17. Danmark 613,5
    18. Paraguay 611,0
    19. Türkiye 596,0
    20. Chile 585,5”
    ————–
    41. Tunisie 375,0
    42. USA 374,5
    43. Saudi Arabia 361,5
    44. Bolivia 359,0
    45. Polska 352,5
    46. Sverige 350,5
    47. Sudan 350,0

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  16. Hey everybody, my name is Jozy and I’m a pro soccer player. In case you don’t know me, I turned pro at an early age and scored my first MLS goal at 16. During my time in MLS, became the youngest player to both start and score in an MLS playoff game. I actually ended up scoring 15 goals in 37 games for the NYRB.

    I guess my time in MLS impressed some people b/c I got purchased by a huge soccer club for $10 million. (Still the highest purchase ever for an MLS player).

    Since then, I’ve played against top level talent in Spain and England, managed to rack up 10 international goals for my country, and even got an assist in a world cup game.

    My Championship level club team just transfered me to a top Turkish team to get experience. Considering the attention our top striker Rossi got during the transfer window, he will probably be leaving at the end of the season. It will probably mean more playing time for me next season at Villa.

    Oh yeah, few months ago I turned 21. I guess I can finally get a drink back in the states.

    My question to you guys is…how exactly am I a bust?

    (believe it or not…I’m not really Jozy. Just trying to make a point.)

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  17. Come on, dude. Look at the context in which he used “WC.” World class. Also, when do people refer to someone as being a World Cup player? Now, think how often players are described as being world class.

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  18. Can we stop comparing Altidore and Adu?

    Adu was a child prodigy who didn’t develop physically enough to be a good player. That and his questionable work ethic and attitude have left him as a very overpriced player that no one seems interested in. He’s a BUST and will have to prove otherwise.

    Altidore is, in spite of his flaws, useful to the U.S. national team. He’s improved his hold up play. He can win fouls. His finishing and creativity need work.

    There’s no comparison. Which is why Altidore is getting loan offers to teams in top flight leagues, and Adu is toiling in a second division.

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  19. Considering he’ll be at a team near the top of the table in their league, if he plays, he’ll get good service. So yeah, Jozy better score some or it’ll be quite discouraging.

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