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The SBI Podcast: Episode 4 with special guest Jozy Altidore

By IVES GALARCEP

Jozy Altidore didn’t waste any time getting off to a great start to 2013, scoring a hat-trick for AZ Alkmaar in his first match of the new year, and as the U.S. Men’s National team draws closer to World Cup qualifying, Altidore figures to play a key role in the U.S. team’s qualifying campaign.

Altidore joined us on the latest episode of The SBI Podcast and he touches on a wide range of topics. He discusses his success in the Netherlands, his past experiences in the CONCACAF Hex, his memories of the MLS Draft, his thoughts on Mike Petke’s hiring as New York Red Bulls head coach and much more.

SBI Podcast co-host Garrett Cleverly and I also discusses a variety of topics on the American soccer scene, including the Red Bulls coaching hire, Real Salt Lake’s ownership change, the U.S. Men’s National team camp and even a sneak peak at my recent look at the 2014 MLS Draft talent.

You can listen to the show here, and you can also find The SBI Podcast on iTunes, as well as via the show’s RSS feed.

Enjoy the show (Episode 4 of the SBI Podcast is after the jump):

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/76371458″ params=”color=003aff&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]

What did you think of the latest show? See Altidore having a big qualifying campaign? Agree with my take on the Red Bulls coaching hire? Have you started to look at the prospects for the 2014 MLS Draft?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. First lf all, great show. suggestion: could y’all try to keep your distance to the microphones the same or find some other way to minimize the decibel fluctuations? I had to constantly turn it up for Ives and turn it down for Garrett, and when he got excited about the ball boy he hurt my ears!

    Reply
  2. Ives, so refreshing to know you are a hip hop head. I only say this because I feel that far too many of us try to be so Euro centric. I’m not anti Euro but I think are American culture should have some influence on our beautiful game.

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      • Really impressed by Jozy’s answers and his maturity.

        Also impressed that despite being busy scoring bucketloads of goals in Europe, he is still following MLS enough to know about the Petke situation in NY and to have seen part of the recent draft.

    • World Class?

      That would imply he is among the top 5 strikers in the world.

      He’s three or four in CONCACAF behind the likes of Dempsey, Vela and Hernandez.

      Certainly not world class at any point in time.

      I’m ok with it though.

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      • Made the Best XI for the second half a last season’s La Liga.

        Scored the most goals during the second half of the 2011-2012 La Liga season sans Messi and Ronaldo.

        Has bested Jozy in every league where they’ve played. EPL, La Liga and Segunda.

      • If picking teams, you’d really take Vela over Altidore these days? And Vela has never made a Best XI for any half season in La Liga. So, while we’re making stuff up: Altidore is the bestest striker in the whole wide world! I saw it on a website once, I swear!

        You might be the “french model” from the State Farm commercial on TV, but allow me to let you in on a little secret: just because you read it on the internet, doesn’t make it true!

      • You said “Made the Best XI for the second half a last season’s La Liga.” He did no such thing. While yes, he made some Best XI’s for some weeks, he was not one of the Best XI players for the second half of the season as you said.

        Facts are facts, and your statement is not a fact. And you should work with numbers so more, as someone else pointed out, “averaged between 6 and 9 team of the week nominations” is a pretty sweet state.

        Vela is not Altidore, and there’s a reason Jozy is lining up a pretty hefty transfer fee for this summer, and Vela isn’t.

      • The Liga BBVA’s own website does a weekly Best XI as well as an end of the season Best XI. Same goes for nearly major sporting publication in Spain. Those are facts.

        Vela scored more goals in the league in the first half of 2012 with the exception of Messing and Ronaldo which is remarkable when you consider the fact that Vela doesn’t play Away a forward. Those are facts.

        Vela scored more goals than Jozy when they were both in the EPL, La Liga and Segunda. Those are also facts.

        While Jozy has finally found a place to showcase his potential in hopes of going back to Spain or England, Vela is already an established player in La Liga with just as high a ceiling, if not higher, than Jozy.

        So yes, he’s right up there with Deuce and Hernandez as CONCACAF’s best attackers and yes I would take him over Jozy at the moment.

      • And neither is correct.

        It’s okay though. Jozy doesn’t have to be world class to make an impact on a good club in a top league or the national team.

        It’s just funny how people throw that word around here so often. It’s like they just started watching soccer last year because they bought FIFA 12.

        It’s quite simple really, the kid has a lot to prove still. Scoring goals in Holland is great for his confidence but it doesn’t mean much if he’s unable to replicate it at a higher level, something that Vela is currently doing which is why he gets the nod from me.

      • When was world class so specifically defined as being in the top 5 of a position? Aguero is world class but you could argue there are 10 strikers better than him in the world.

      • umm world class implies exactly that, that you are one of the best at what you do. Otherwise it would be average class or above average class.

        As far as Aguero goes, he is by far one of the top five in his position and role.

        He’s not a 9 per say but he’s one of the top five 9 1/2’s or withdrawn strikers in the world.

        Right up there with Messi and Luis Suarez.

        As far as Jozy is concerned, there are quite a few guys one would pick ahead of him so you would have a hard time claiming the kid is world class.

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