Photo by Kieran McManus / ISIPhotos.com
By JUSTIN FERGUSON
Three of the top four teams in the English Premier League are at home on this Soccer Saturday as the tight race for the title continues.
First-place Arsenal will look to make it five league wins in a row Saturday as they host struggling Fulham at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners currently hold a one-point advantage over second-place Manchester City, who will be looking for revenge at the Ethiad Stadium. Months after falling to Cardiff City in South Wales, the Citizens welcome the Bluebirds to Manchester, where they have crushed opponents by a combined score of 38-6 in 10 consecutive home victories.
The day’s action from England opens up at the Stadium of Light as Jozy Altidore and Sunderland aim to get out of the dreaded drop zone with a victory against Southampton, who have been up and down in form recently. After the middle stretch of matches, Liverpool will wrap up the Saturday slate with a home match against Aston Villa.
In Mexico, the most anticipated match of the young Liga MX Clausura season will take place at the Azteca as defending champions Club Leon visit America in a rematch of last season’s final. Later in the evening, first-place Queretaro visit Monterrey in another intriguing matchup.
If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action. (Today’s TV schedule is after the jump):
7:15am – Leeds United vs. Leicester City – beIN Sport USA
7:45am – Sunderland vs. Southampton – NBC Sports Network
10am – Arsenal vs. Fulham – NBC Sports Network
10am – Manchester City vs. Cardiff City – Premier League Extra Time
10am – Norwich City vs. Hull City – Premier League Extra Time
10am – West Ham United vs. Newcastle United – Premier League Extra Time
10am – Crystal Palace vs. Stoke City – Premier League Extra Time
10am – Real Betis vs. Real Madrid – beIN Sport USA
10am – Aberdeen vs. Inverness CT – Fox Soccer Plus
11am – Olympique Marseille vs. Valenciennes – Univision Deportes
12pm – AS Roma vs. Livorno – beIN Sport USA
12pm – Elche vs. Rayo Vallecano – beIN Sport en Español
12:30pm – Liverpool vs. Aston Villa – NBC
2pm – Nice vs. Ajaccio – Univision Deportes
2pm – Granada vs. Osasuna – beIN Sport en Español
2pm – Palmeiras vs. Linense – ESPN3
2:45pm – Juventus vs. Sampdoria – beIN Sport USA
4pm – Espanyol vs. Celta de Vigo – beIN Sport en Español
4:30pm – Santos vs. XV de Piracicaba – GolTV USA
6pm – America vs. Club Leon – Univision
6pm – Veracruz vs. Chivas de Guadalajara – Univision Deportes
8pm – Monterrey vs. Querétaro – UniMas
8pm – Pachuca vs. Club Tijuana – Univision Deportes
8pm – Boca Juniors vs. River Plate (Friendly) – Fox Deportes
10pm – Chiapas vs. Cruz Azul – Univision Deportes
10pm – Atlas vs. Atlante – Univision Deportes 2
Is Dempsey even on the field? I do not think I have heard his name once.
Shea has looked good so far for Barnsley today. He missed a shot that he should have put on-frame, though.
Are you watching it?
Commentators just said Berbatov is not playing as well this year, but “you have to look at the players around him. He seems to get all of the criticism for the team, which is unfair.”
Hm…. sound like someone we know?
But Berbatov isn’t an American.
That is the reason for that.
Why it isn’t obvious to everyone at this point is beyond me.
Oh well…
Everybody hates Jozy for being american? Stop being paranoid. People hate on him cause hes played like s*** in so many games
Perhaps.
Poyet seems to like him. Any comment on that?
It seems poyet likes him i guess. I mean not evernody hates jozy. And while he has played awful a lot he is still one of the teams better players. I believe hes leading assists if im not mistaken, so any coach would be a fool not to play him
cheers
Jozy plays a better striker than Fletcher in Poyet’s system.
And Poyet seems to have always been positive on Jozy.
Also, the club paid major $$$. It would be silly to not play him.
However, I am convinced the other players dislike him and I know the fans think he is awful.
Sunderland was not the place for him.
… or a reflection of the side for which he is playing.
No?
Berbatov still has 5 goals in 16 matches… and has kind of earned the benefit of the doubt having well over a 100 EPL goals to his name including 5 seasons of 12 or more goals.
will Jozy ever get a goal or is he saving 4-5 for Brazil?
He’ll get some more goals and save the rest for Brazil. Most importantly, his hold up play is getting better and better which can pay big dividends in the WC. The important thing is to apply what he is learning at Sunderland to the National team.
Did I hear that correctly? Fulham have never beaten Arsenal?
Can that be right?
For this morning’s entertainment, search “altidore” on twitter. Needless to say, Sunderland fans don’t seem to rate him.
Onyewu getting a start?
Oh man, I hate social media… People are not nice through the media of computers. They lose all humanity. If I was famous, I would never have a personal twitter. Just a minion who updates things unrelated to my actual life.
+1
People can be real j$rks on social media. And comment sections.
Have you ever seen Bill Maher’s New Rules on that?
BTW if West Ham lose by 7 this weekend. Sunderland is out of the relegation zone. Also that scoreline is not as insane as it sounds. They lose 5-0 to Forrest and 6-0 to City.
Somehow… it looks like Sunderland will make it.
1. If they stay up Who thinks Mr. Altidore should stay and tough it out.(Even if they stop playing him for a while.
2. Who thinks he should leave no mattter what? Is this even possible with his record right now?
He needs to stay.
It’s really a lose-lose situation. Sunderland can’t or won’t play to his strengths and it seems obvious at this point the team doesn’t care for him, at least as a player.
If he leaves, it will curse him as a player. No one will want to touch him. I could be wrong on that one. It’s just the feeling I get from it.
Despite it all, this will make Jozy a better player.
Thats what I was kinda thinking. He has to stick it out. If he doesn’t, it will haunt him. Personally and careerwise. Blah, no good answers here. Part of me wants them to go down so He can get some time in the Championship. Then have a magic promotion, but… thats not that simple.
Yeah, it’s a bad place to be in.
Thanks for being respect BTW. This place is getting overrun by tr0lls as of late.
Urg I know. It started like 3-4 months ago. I’m not sure what happened. I feel like people feel there is only 1 correct answer in Soccer. So its their opinion or nothing. How boring would soccer be if there was only 1 way.
I think Jozy should transfer to a team with better players and a system that plays more to his strengths. And I don’t think it has to be a team from a top 4 league, though I suspect there will be teams from a top league that will give him a shot because of his physical skills. But its his mental game that needs improvement, the ability to stay sharp even when you dont see much of the ball. And I’m sure that isn’t easy.
+1
Great comment.
Interesting. I would like that too but.. I can’t think of where. Maybe wolfsburg. They need decent players on the Cheap.
Some sports writer made a comment about his first touch, which I think is accurate. You can’t make your career as a pure hold up player if you need a touch to steady yourself.
Therefore, he needs to play in a league, and for a team that will get him the ball in space as well. We saw in this game in one play that he’s able to make dangerous plays when he can settle into the dribble and size up the defense. But if they expect him to just put his back to two defenders and have all his touches be in that situation, he’s not going to be successful, not because he can’t hold up the play, but because it’s tough for him to do anything more than make a simple back pass.
funny comment considering what he’s brought to that team’s buildup play is his ability to one touch pass accurately.
One touch pass is not the same as first touch. He’s good at making an incoming ball bounce back to a player he’s aiming at, but when it comes to controlling it immediately (killing the ball’s momentum) and trying to do something with it (not simple pass) he has trouble, especially when it becomes predictable for defenders and he’s doing it the entire game. That’s just not who he is. He’s more comfortable when given time and space to turn.
Comment in moderation, probably because I referred to the difference between a one touch pass from a heavy pass and k#lling the ball’s momentum with a single touch. For Jozy to be successful for an EPL team as bad as Sunderland, he’s going to have to control the ball, and make something happen. He has the strength and skill to do this, but he doesn’t have the first touch to set him up in this frantic, high pressure league. The Dutch league left him more time and space to show his strenths- but that one moment when the ball is coming in and the defenders are on his shoulders isn’t helping him do that.
Playing only one striker up top makes a huge difference. He rarely has any support and the defense can gang up on him without fear. If you have two strikers then they can play give and gos and make runs off one another. I have seen many games change when a team changes formation from one striker to two. I think it is Poyets tactics, especially in the first half, which affect Jozy’s lack of opportunities.
There is also an issue of the choices of runs that Jozy tends to make. I think you can really see his lack of confidence in those choices.
The biggest difference I’ve noticed between Jozy and Fletcher is those runs. Jozy too often elects to make the back post run, which I interpret as a deferential run. As if he’s hoping to be there for the 2nd ball on a team that is rarely capable of playing the 1st ball, especially on a team where there is rarely a supporting player coming in to fill the space. Therefore nothing ever materializes for that back post run. Fletcher tends to make the near-post or center channel demand-the-ball run. Based on the body language I interpret this as low confidence on Jozy’s part and a certain I-am-the-alpha/I-am-the-tip-of-the-spear attitude on Fletcher’s part.
I am a huge fan of Jozy’s and think that overall he is likely more skilled than Fletcher, but in games I’ve watched lately I seem him making poor choices about the spaces he fills on the rare occasions where Sunderland flows into attack. As a striker you are a lot more likely to receive the ball if you are driving into the box like a freight train at the most dangerous point of attack at the most critical moment.
With that said, if he does do that Johnson is going to shoot from 40 yards or dribble into a cul-de-sac on the wing 90% of the time. But his odds of receiving a dangerous chance will about triple by moving from back post (I estimate around a 3% chance) to near-post/center-channel (around a 9-10%) on any given attack.
I’ve been wondering if some of the stuff Altidore does that people don’t like is the result of Poyet’s tactical decisions or coaching. I think one could argue that Jozy is the favored of the two (especially with all the Fletcher transfer talk) and if he is, we have to wonder why.
I might submit that some of the things Jozy does, like make those back-post runs, are things Poyet has asked him to do for the sake of the team. The sort of actions that don’t make Jozy look good on paper, but that help the team win and ingratiate him to his coach. Just thinking aloud here.
Another great comment!
Good stuff guys.
Keep it coming. I like learning from you guys.
I think there’s a good chace you’re right, but it’s impossible to know for sure unless Poyet or Jozy come right out and say it.
And if that’s the case, is Fletcher making the runs he does AGAINST the coach’s instructions (seems unlikely)?
It would seem likely that when they’re playing individually up top in a platoon, as they have been, they’d be playing to basically the same set of instructions from the coach.
So for the moment I’m hesitant to attribute the diffence to explicit instructions from the coaching staff.
Oh yeah, I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s happening at all. I’m just wondering if there’s a possibility for an alternative reasoning. And, of course, I would love that to be the case instead of a lack of confidence/whatever.
The Fletcher transfer talk is due to the fact that there is probably more demand for him.
If you are looking for a classic aerial threat British center forward, like Palace is, he is probably an easier fit than Jozy.
He is rated at 9 million pounds while Jozy is rated at 6 million pounds.
Quality comment.
I like what you are saying.
I am going to pay more attention to those runs.
FRANCE
Yes!
stay. I’m impressed with this team under Poyet, and Jozy’s role under Poyet.
Sunderland just parted ways with their director of football, and Poyet has come out publically to say how he wanted Huddlestone and how he wouldn’t have chosen the players Di Canio brought in. I’m sure that must give Jozy a ton of confidence.
Completely random comment: don’t know if any of you saw Searching for Sugarman, but every time the announcer says Rodriquez, the song “I wonder” pops into my head….
By the way, if you have never seen Searching for Sugarman, get it and watch it. Don’t look up anything about it or read anything. Just watch it. You will be so glad you did.
Great film! Cold Fact is a must get!
Great album!
I don’t know guys, Fletcher defffffinitely has done more than Jozy in terms of leading the line and scoring goals, which is what the color guy said Jozy wasn’t doing well.
Haha he just lost the ball and the announcers going on about his nice touch
Not a negative word for Fletcher, of course. It’s all, “Oh a very difficult ball for Fletcher to do anything with.”
Great goal by Johnson. The guy has some tools, no question, but his unwillingness to move the ball sensibly the great majority of the time drives me crazy. The very next good attacking sequence, he had the ball on the right and a teammate wide, wide open at the corner of the box, but instead he decides to try to run at his man on the sideline and turns it over. He helps his own stat line, but kills the whole attack and prevents his teammates from getting the ball in a good position.
Ya, I saw that as well. Hes not bad… just mindless. Why wouldn’t he put it our right and let that guy get a clean cross in. Who knows.
Considering he just fired away for the first half of the season missing everything, I guess he finally starting to even out.
They say the same thing about Arjen Robben.
Guys like that you take the bad with the good and hope there is more good.
Tell me you didn’t just compare Adam Johnson to Arjen Robben?
Mr. T.
Of course, I did.
Johnson is very capable. He was highly regarded at Manchester City. He is an England international with 11caps and 2 goals. He is hoping his recent revival will get him back on Hodgson’s radar.
He also plays on the right wing even though he is strongly left footed.
And like Arjen, he can be infuriatingly selfish with the ball.
They do not share the much higher level of ability Robben has but Johnson has 7 goals for Sunderland this season, 5 in the league, which makes him very important to Sunderland, just like Robben is important to Bayern.
At least Jozy is overseas training and playing with the greatest players in the world.
He will be in top form for the World Cup.
THIS idea is so absurd. Do you really think that by playing with a lower-tier team and having no service is going to make Jozy a better player?
In some ways, yes. Playing against the best competition can only help him against the likes of Germany this Summer. He’s not going to get much service there either, after all.
He is being sarcastic I believe playing off all the comments about Bradley’s move
+1
Chris is a troll.
I usually don’t like to use the word but his behavior on here reflects it.
Chris is implicitly mentioning Bradley’s move.
It’s sarcasm. Nothing more.
The important word is the preposition. It’s “against” not “with” that matters. Sunderland is not world-class but many of it’s opponents are.
John is right. I’m just harboring annoyance from earlier comments still ;D
To be frank, I’d LOVE for Altidore to be back in MLS at this point.
i agree, although i’d say he’s playing *against* the best players in the world, not *with* 🙂 . his confidence may be lower than we’d like, but he will be very sharp.
another commenter remarked that the premier league is exposing his weaknesses. i don’t think that’s a bad thing; i think he’s being made to improve on those weaknesses.
and yes, i know the op was being sarcastic. f— that, i still agree. 🙂
Yeah, his heading was noticeably improved today.
Did anyone just see Fletcher like… do a belly slide in the box? What was that about?
Is it me or do Bourc looks fatter than I remember?
Ridiculous. AS soon as Jozy leaves, the rest of his team decides to start playing. Gee, service and pressure. Jozy must feel cursed.
What are you talking about?
Sunderland have looked pretty good this whole half.
I interpreted his comment to mean Jozy got hung out to dry alone up to while they had 30% possession, then get withdrawn as soon as they decide to make a game of it. How can a striker ever get any confidence with an approach like that?
You took it as intended.
Should’ve read: Jozy got hung out to dry alone up top while they had 30% possession, then gets withdrawn as soon as they decide to make a game of it.
And I couldn’t agree more. Ridiculous is right.
If by good, you mean better than the unbelievably abysmal display in the first half, sure.
+1, I made basically the same comment word for word a little higher in this thread.
96th minute, stole the ball and pass to Fletcher in the box. Did Jozy get a single ball even remotely as wide open as that?
Yep…being a crap team’s scapegoat must not be much fun for Jozy, but he should be stronger for it in the end. Just gotta try to keep his head up.
I cannot recall one ball for him like that, and Fletcher’s first touch on that ball sucked
I thought it was once they took Larsson off, he was awful
Why they keep playing him in center midfield is beyond me. Decent wide player at times but he’s complete crap in the middle.
One could really get the feeling that the team doesn’t like him.
I have made that statement before but I got attacked for it. I think it’s true. They don’t like him, AT ALL.
Like him? I don;t think that enters into anything. If anything at all, Jozy is being asked to hold up the ball, which has never really been his game. When they make a late sub like this, its to add more attack, which in turn means asking the sub to not hold up, to make runs instead. i think the response, if it is triggered by the sub at all, is triggered by the change of approach.
Liking or not liking has nothing to do with it.
I disagree. Have you ever played sports?
It matters BIG TIME if the other players on the team like you.
Have you played professionally? The sports world is full of teammates who hated each other – and were great as teammates.
If you seriously think that a relugation threatened team makes an effort based on liking or not liking… well, I don’t know what to tell you. If you said, “They have no confidence in him” I would say you have a case to make. I wouldn’t necessarily agree, but you could say that lack of confidence makes a subtle difference, at least that’s possible.
But liking? Who cares about liking? And if you are going to argue that personal feelings from the players affects the play, you need to cite some evidence.
Someone needs to relax.
Either you are drinking too much or too little. 😉
Or are letting this get to you a little too much man.
Take a minute, breath deeply and later we will talk. I do want have the conversation because I think you have a sense of things but not when you are steaming like this.
Someone does need to relax, winky.
😉
So if he doesn’t hold up the ball and he doesn’t create scoring chances for himself, what does Jozy do well exactly
Nothing
I guess people just imagined the 31 goals last year in Holland and the goals last year for the US national team, including a hat trick against Bosnia in Bosnia, outplaying Dzeko.
You should know the feeling well.
Keep in classy man. Keep it classy.
I doubt your mother raised you to act this way.
“usaalltheway says:One could really get the feeling that the team doesn’t like him….. I think it’s true. They don’t like him, AT ALL.”
Well, it is true that you think that. That does not make it true.
If I see a forward not seeing a lot of the ball I usually think it’s because his team has trouble getting it to him.
You seem to be implying that their dislike of him causes them to not pass him the ball. Unless you have inside information there is no way for us to know that the Sunderland players hate Jozy so much that they would cut their own throats by doing this. And if the Sunderland players are that unprofessional then they deserve whatever they get. They have enough trouble doing well with 11 men why try to play with 10?
You must think Poyet, who would be in the best position to know if this were happening, is blind. Yet he continues to give Jozy significant playing time.
When a team is losing there will not be a lot of happy faces around. And whatever the truth is if Jozy scores or otherwise contributes to the team doing well everyone will like him a lot more.
To be fair, the team looked much better after Jozy came on last week, so perhaps they are a second half club. Also, the Saints spent a ton of energy bossing the pitch in the first half so look as if they’re beginning to tire.
i saw it as a purposeful tactical change. throw on a fresh striker, and go for the win.
I would say Jozy Altidore played average, if not a little above average. He won many headers — which is a great thing! As a fan of the USMNT, I want Jozy to be great in the air (http://youtu.be/KvWOdloiJVw).
He had a few great runs, but other than that, looked average.
Nothing looked bad from his performance today.
Another goalless match from Altidore. That has to weigh heavy on the strikers mind.
One hell of a strike by Johnson.
Looks like Sunderland can get a point out of this.
Also, the comments about Jozy seem like the same exact comments running for weeks now. They are almost word for word the same.
Why did you go to Sunderland Jozy? Why?
My thoughts exactly. Poor decision
While it was ultimately Jozy’s decision to transfer to Sunderland. There was an amazing amount of pressure from Alkmaar for him to take the deal. It was quite a bit more than the other teams had offered AZ, and they wanted to cash out. The fact that DiCanio was stroking his ego, by pursuing him to no end and coupled with AZ need for cash, has Jozy out the door faster than he would have liked.
The fact is that JA wanted to stay at Alkmaar and Verbeeck wanted him to stay, but the club wanted the money and Jozy departed followed not long after by Verbeek, whose sometimes contentious dealings with former USMNT and TD at AZ, Ernie Stewart, sealed the move.
The fit at Sunderland was terrible for Jozy, as DiCanio must have only viewed scored by Jozy and NOT how he scored them. The offensive formation was terrible and DiCanio realized he neither had the players nor the money to change things around. There really is an art to being a target forward like DiCanio wanted Altidore to be, but Jozy has not found the art yet and continues to struggle in an offense that is not suited to his style or skills.
+1
Great post.
Well I’m sure watching Dempsey in a bit will be just as much fun….
And that’s a day for Jozy.
I’d be livid to subbed there for Fletcher if I were Jozy. “Yeah Jozy, we want you to do all the hard work, run around and get beat up without a sight of the ball for 70′ and we’ll sub you off as soon as soon we actually start creating anything!”
Johnson! Runs right into… nothing with a fullback clear down the line. Huzzah! But commentator compliments him.
Johnson with the amazing goal!
I know right. How does a guy who is that brainless score that well.
He is quite annoying, but he does have moments of brilliance.
Fletcher warming up
Great win there by Jozy over two Saints.
Larsson off thankfully.
Gus is getting schooled tactically today, maybe? Saints are getting the ball in huge amounts of space while no space or flow at all for Cats.
Maybe its tactical but the players aren’t doing him any favors much better 2nd half.
What I can’t figure out is why Poyet will play only one striker at home against a lesser team. It’s almost like he thinks the best they can do is get a draw. That’s no way to avoid relegation; you have to win these kind of games at home yet he plays defensively.
Southhampton are not a” lesser” team.
If you let them overrun you in midfield they can play you right off the field.
Great run down the right flank by Altidore. Passes to the middle, but no one was there!
Well someone was there but far post not near post. still decent.
Johnson has looked pretty bad, except for the one assist. He tries to weave his way through 2,3 or 4 defenders time and time again.
Another great header by Jozy! Almost an equalizer for Sunderland!
Ref isn’t calling anything but the most obvious fouls.
Borni pulls a Jozy falls over for a foul but it gives away a chance on goal. How did a giveaway near Southhampton’s goal give away a chance to score. Lordy Sunderland where is your midfield.
Jozy does flop occasionally, but usually when he’s on the dribble and shoulder to shoulder. A lot of this falling down is due to the fact that he’s got his back to defenders who are pressing so hard on his upper back because he’s stronger, eventually making him lose his balance when he tries to get the header. Refs are never going to call a foul, though they would a lot earlier if defenders did that to normal players.
I remember the color commentators voice now. This guy has a total hard on for Fletcher and just keeps badgering Jjozy all match, calling for Fletcher to come in over and again. He’s completely biased. The play by play guy is fine.
Ya, its dumb. He keeps saying Adam Johnson is confident in possession but what he means is that he doesn’t pass and keeps the ball. Oh he got an assist but the last 3 times he had the ball he just ran into 3 bodies and expected to get through somehow.
Agreed and he just called for Fletcher again after Poyet’s substitutions.
the same thing happened with dempsey last year. . . he is the only scorer for tottenham except for Bale, but the announcers pick apart his game while praising Defoe and Siggursdon . . . tough not to infer anti-american bias by the epl color commentators
There is no question regarding bias. They are biased. Incredibly so.
There is no way around it. Only Howard and Guzan get respect from the British.
Don’t group them all together. Some are excellent, some are awful, just like American commentators.
I wasn’t making a qualitative comment on the commentators.
I was pointing out that the British, in a general sense, think poorly of American footballers. Some of their ire (if that is the right word) is based on reality. Some of it is just bias because they are Americans.
Although Jozy has had a horrible go of it in the PREM, Dempsey was great. Last season, he got so little respect despite his performances.
That was my general point.
On a side note, I can’t stand 99% of commentators, regardless of nationality.
It is also possible that Americans are biased watching Americans. Altidore isn’t good/scoring enough so those watching in Europe turn a blind eye – why shouldn’t they? – and he therefore hasn’t earned much respect yet. I don’t see the anti-yankee argument. So many players were actually local heroes over there – Keller, McBride, Donovan, Friedel… and others were at least thought very highly of – Reyna, Harkes, Demerit, Dempsey, Howard, Guzan, Olsen, Convey, Moore, Wegerle … So I don’t think one case makes that a rule, even if there were a slight prejudice in the air.
Good points.
I agree actually.
That what the dynamic of a commentator and a “play by play” guy is supposed to: one mans opinion. Nothing else.
And can you blame him for pointing out so something that’s so blatantly obvious? Jozy is sucking hard, wether you blame in on the team or himself, he just is right now. Fletcher on the other hand has been on crap teams these past few seasons and taken it upon himself to score goals, something Jozy hasn’t been able to figure out how to do.
He’s not supposed to give his opinion, he’s supposed to give analysis based on reality. When he is constantly portraying the action in a way that is contrary to what is actually happening, the same way you are doing, he’s not doing a good job. Anyone can give an opinion, but dumb, biased and unsupported opinions like his and yours are worthless.
lolzzzzz! your really serious right now. It’s genius. Thank You
“constantly portray the action in a way that is contrary to what is actually happening when he’s supposed to give analysis based on reality and not supposed to give his opinion”.
Genius, well please let me and the scientific community know when this has come to fruition, because as far as I know, to analyze information is to do so after it’s already been processed through the prefrontal cortex of our brain, and in such case, any comments are already predisposed to opinions subconsciously, which would make it impossible to be completely objective on any level, never mind the one your comment seems to suggest, wherein a person transcends reality, time and space, to occupy another persons mind on some level of existence, all just to satisfy one ego. Seems a bit tedious, idk about that.
But maybe you would know though. I mean, to call my assertions that Jozy isn’t playing well and that you can could hardly blame Sunderland fans and/or the announcer for wanting Fletcher because of his recorded scoring prowess on bottom table teams “dumb, biased and unsupported” (all of which, being a Jozy homer you would know first hand), is so idiotic and hypocritical it’s lunatic.
So if your reasoning really does make so much sense to you, you probably are “special” and do have otherworldly gifts. But please, put it to good use and, for starters, visit each and every USSF member and conspire to change our crest to the Centennial edition permanently. Thanks
Mr T.,
If you watch other sports programs the “color” commentator is there precisely because they have an opinion.
Usually they are former players who can give the viewer the benefit of their “inside” knowledge based on their playing days.
Their view of “reality” may well be different from yours. That does not mean they are wrong or worhtless.
Yeah. Lol, I went off but my comment brings his remarks into perspective.
It’s awaiting mderation
If any one wants something positive about today, a certain player has won alot of headers he normally doesn’t. Which is odd and they have to nothing be his head has been on them.
Jozy has looked good in the air today. If he can replicate the header that lead to Bradley’s goal, I would think that most fans would be happy with his performance.
http://youtu.be/KvWOdloiJVw
Yeah, I noticed the same thing. That part off his game is starting to come on a bit.
Jozy just had a great lay-off, and he just won a corner. Not a bad start to the half.
Strikers take a lot of heat from everyone when they aren’t scoring goals, regardless of race, or ethnicity. Get goals and the pressure will recede.
steven fletcher has 2 more goals than jozy (3 total). i’m assuming the sunderland fans will be booing him too.
Actually Jozy has 2 goals.One in the league cup and one in the league.
Jozy is playing poorly. The EPL magnifies his weaknesses. He is not active defensively. He is not very active offensively. He is either lazy or really “tactical”. When he has time, he gets rid of the ball like a hot potato. When he’s pressured, he tries to demonstrate his strength and looses the ball. Very hard to watch. Of course he doesn’t have much support but he should be much better than this.
Great lay-off by Jozy!
This was not supposed to be a reply, haha.
In your reply to your post, Jozy has actually looked decent today. Not great, but decent.
I wouldn’t go as far as decent. He has been as equally bad as others. We have to work too hard to find the good parts of his play for Sunderland. No one that big should fall down that easily.
I know other people feel unhappy about him falling down, but I do not really consider his falling when evaluating his performance.
He has looked great in the air. He has won many headers, but most have been to no avail because no one is helping him up top.
It seems like his role is to make Southampton’s line drop as far back as possible, which is why he is not seen in the defensive half.
Would you consider this performance (http://youtu.be/KvWOdloiJVw) bad by Altidore? He is basically the same player.
We’re judging his performance for this game, primarily. What he did last year or in MLS doesn’t really matter now. I think a lot of people who were unhappy when his Sunderland move was announced are looking correct now. Jozy needs to play with a bit more meanness.
The guy is playing consistently in the EPL. Is this not what all the Eurosnops want?
No, he actually has to BECOME European now. Not French or English or German but EUROPEAN.
Then it will be okay. 😉
i don’t see how you single out Jozy based on the terrible first half played by Sunderland. Southhampton came out firing (must have had an extra Red Bull before the game) and Sunderland had an extra helping of eggs and sausage.
Lets see what happens in the second half before we single our American out for either criticism or praise
The ball bounces neatly at O’Shea’s feet in the box but instead of simply clearing it out or controlling it, he inexplicably invents a third option and decides to bend over nearly 180 degrees and head the ball awkwardly over the endline causing the corner that led to the Saints’ second goal. What a crazy decision.
You can hear that the crowd has turned against Altidore. They boo or sarcastically cheer every time the ball gets close to him
yup, i thought i heard the same thing. awful, simply because it’s not like he’s the reason the team sucks. wouldn’t ever assume this, but you have to wonder if it’s a race thing.
I don’t think that it’s racism. Altidore’s wooden touch at times is frustrating for the Sunderland faithful.
I don’t think it’s a race thing. If you get paid as much as he does and don’t score goals… AT ALL. They’re gonna be hacked off, they don’t want excuses
Bean and J,
i didn’t say jozy was playing well, and i’m certainly not making any excuses for him. i said that it doesn’t make sense to single him out for poor play; pretty much the whole team sucks.
Wasn’t he their big summer signing? Assuming he was, that gets you singled out all the time.
that i could see, but wasn’t he one of like 11 big summer signings?
The thing though, is that this “team that sucks”, scores goals without him
okay? how many goals did they score today without him? doesn’t he lead the team in assists?
the team sucks, with or without jozy. and he’s one of their better performers.
With 30% possession, I would assume that they would boo their whole team. Everyone needs a scapegoat, though. Who can be that? The American.
That was what the commentator said, but I hadn’t heard any such thing and he said it directly after Jozy made a nice play to build the attack which Larsson utterly squandered with a weak header. It was Larssons header that predicated the crowd’s reaction, nothing to to with Jozy, whose touch was three passes before. I believe it is the color commentator’s issue, not the crowd’s. If anything, they’re groaning at Larsson getting the ball which is understandable.
Lol
Jozy helped with the build-up of that last chance. Nice control and pass.
I am so tired of Jozy falling down. I want to pull for him, but he is lazy and flops.
i agree that he flops (and not well). but i don’t see him being lazy.
He is trying to hard to draw fouls. Its something Dempsey does a lot too. But Jozy just can’t sell them. He didn’t again just now. I think he got shoved on the shoulder and went down easy. He is never gunna get that.
Yeah…. the prerequisite to getting the benefit of the doubt on those types of plays is building a rep by making plays, putting the ball in the net…. proving that a goal-scoring opportunity was thwarted.
Jozy finally received something and promptly fell on top of the ball. I think his feet were shocked.
Liverpool’s Fabio Borini loan has worked well so far.
Borini’s goal started with Jozy pressing the keeper. Beautiful finish by Borini, 2-1 Southampton in front.
ha, was just gonna say, i don’t know why players bother making runs when adam johnson has the ball. and there’s his assist to borini.
How are Jozy or Fletcher supposed to score any goals when the midfield doesn’t exist? How many passes to feet does Suarez get in comparison?
Woah. Please dont mention jozy and suarez in same conversation.
Please don’t comment here ever again.
Doesn’t feel so great, does it?
What part of this statement suggested Suarez and Jozy are equally talented? It’s true. Decent teams manage to get the ball to their strikers, or they are pretty much screwed.
Making a statistical analysis of two players playing in the same league in the same position is a perfectly reasonable comparison to make.
That is how most of the numbers are derived.
What exactly is the issue?
every time i watch sunderland play, i always come away thinking, ‘you know, 17 points from 21 games isn’t too bad, actually.’
Right. SAFC are hard to watch. Poor decision by Jozy. Or Jozy’s agent or whomever.
Lol +1
since jozy is starting today, i’m assuming everyone who concluded that he was obviously second choice to fletcher after last game will now post comments about how they were wrong.
Haters gon hate. These people are not motivated by a rational give and take with the real world but rather by the misery inside themselves that requires them to blindly lash out. Altidore experiencing any amount of success just causes them more misery. Sad.
That early goal may be problematic for the Black Cats.
First ten minutes, Sunderland might of had 30 seconds of possession
Great goal for Rodriguez!
Sunderland is looking like they do not want to press early.
So far, Southampton are dominating this game. Sunderland have had very little possession. Jozy has not had the ball at his feet at all, I think (10 minutes in).
Jozy’s had to drop back into the midfield and win the ball to try to get possession. Sunderland just looks poor today, I feel bad for him.
Jozy has an earlier flick-on of a header. Nice pass.
early*
Is Jozy in the starting XI?
Yes
……….In the Premiership, Altidore started and played 72 min and Cameron and Dempsey both went the full 90 for Stoke and Fulham
In the Championship, Shea went 77 min for Barnsley while Gooch started for Wednesday and went all 90 min, as did Tim Ream and Danny Williams, both partaking in the 7-1 route of Bolton by Reading
Duane Holmes, Will Packwood and Zak Whitbread all made the bench for their teams but saw no time
Also, Adam Henley went 90 min for Blackburn.
Thank you for the info dear stir!
Not a problem. I know how it is to scoure the internet sites to find such info, and in my ADD mind, penning it brings things in to full perspective