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Osorio: Red Bulls paying for Altidore being overworked

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Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio believes Jozy Altidore is worn out and feeling the impact of playing almost non-stop soccer for the past calendar year. Between his role with the U.S. national team, U.S. Under-23 national team, U.S. Under-20 national team last summer, and the Red Bulls, Altidore has played far more games and done far more traveling than you’re average 18-year-old player.

Osorio believes that loaded schedule has resulted in Altidore not playing his best and feeling fatigued and the Red Bulls coach may choose to sit Altidore for this weekend’s game against the Los Angeles Galaxy in order to get him some much-needed rest.

"I’m worried that we have seen some signs of tiredness and I can only try to help him as much as I can," Osorio said. "Therefore, if tomorrow he’s not 100 percent, which I think he won’t be, I will consider seriously not including him in the starting lineup."

"That’s something I have to discuss with my coaching staff," Osorio said when asked if Altidore may stay home this weekend rather than travel to Los Angeles. "It’s not playing, it’s all the traveling he’s been doing and all that stuff, and I don’t want to make things worse."

Osorio believes the Red Bulls are now paying for Altidore’s loaded schedule of matches, and while the 18-year-old striker did take a two-week break from the game this winter, he has shown signs of fatigue at times this season.

"It seems like I upset some people because I did say that the problem with a young player like Josmer playing so many games is that at the moment he’s showing some signs of overwork," Osorio said. "At the end of the day it’s us as a club that pay for it. I respect everybody and I respect all the coaches in the world and I respect the national team and the coach and everything else, but I do think that we, as a club, have to take his situation as unique because at the moment he’s been playing a lot of football and not resting.

"We are the club he plays for and we have to adjust to that," Osorio said. "We’re trying to do our best so he can play for the national team and for the Olympic team and he’ll still have enough energy to play for us."

Having Altidore miss the Galaxy match would be a tough blow for the Red Bulls, especially considering how well he played against Los Angeles last season. Altidore scored two memorable goals in the Red Bulls’ 5-4 victory against the Galaxy at Giants Stadium last season.

Osorio sounds confident in Juan Pablo Angel breaking through after struggling through his first game back following a back injury. Angel was ineffective in the Red Bulls’ 1-1 tie vs. Toronto FC, but has looked sharp in training this week.

"I think he just needs a goal," Osorio said of Angel. "But we all know what Juan brings to the table and once he scores his first goal I think he will be okay.

"It’s just probably anxiety, his first game in a while and probably his back, his injury," Osorio said. "I think he’s coming out of that and he’s training really well at the moment and hopefully he’ll score his first goal on Saturday."

Osorio has ruled Claudio Reyna as doubtful for Saturday’s match. Reyna has yet to train this week and is nursing a calf injury suffered against Toronto.

"We have two more training sessions, tomorrow’s and Friday, but I will not push the issue and if he’s not 100 percent then we’ll go with plan B."

Seth Stammler left training on Wednesday with an undisclosed back injury. He was sent to see a specialist after Wednesday’s practice.

Comments

  1. Everyone missed the “its the travel” part.

    Those of you who are referring to Altidore as a wimp have obviously never had to do the kind of traveling he has. I have had to do similar distances and schedules for much shorter periods of time and I can promise you I would never crticize Altidore for being tired from traveling.

    When you are 18 the tiredness is primarily mental. Steven Gerrard, an average big time euro star, for his longest flight for a Champions league match, might fly to Istanbul, which is about 1500 miles and 2 time zones from London. That’s about the equivalent of flying from NY to Denver.

    Anyone know how far LA is from NY? It’s 2776 miles and 3 time zones. Obviously the MLS has a less stringent schedule than the Premiership but this last year is really Altidore’s first year dealing with this sort of merry go around. Someone like Beckham has been logging these kind of miles for half his life and has the experience and wherewithal (first class sleeping accomodations all the way)to deal with it.

    Jozy is going to need a little time to adjust to the travel and to the “savior of USA soccer” role.

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  2. Thank you, furia yanqui! Even though I detest the Sting or the Fire or whatever name you go by now because of their small minds and inferior pizza, it is clear you are a wise man and should root for the Cosmos or MetroStars or Red Bulls or whatever we are called these days!

    Oh, Jozy is tired, is he? Maybe he should work on the docks in Venice or do masonry work or unload trucks for awhile! He is lucky to have the opportunity to play ball amd go to the discos and make love to all the fine ladies who are so hapy when he put the ball in the back of the net, like I did for Lazio and the Cosmos. No one scored more goals than me and trust me, even though I was out all night making the ladies happy, I was never too tired for calcio!

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  3. a few things:

    1. special players get special treatment.

    2. Osorio may be making a political point. Good for him.

    3. Woly had a great game against SJ. Let Big John have a game!

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  4. As a fellow 18 year old, who travels alot, it takes effort. Effort that goes unnoticed at first but hits you in the end.

    Rest him one game….tell him to go out and enjoy the weekend with his friends!!

    On the other hand Jozy is gone this summer so you guys might wanna get as many games as possible out of him.

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  5. I guess everyone missed the part where it says “its not from all the games but from the travel”

    hmm lets see, your average Euro star has to travel within Europe to play champions league games and what not..have you traveled in Europe? hmm chartered 1 hour or 2 hour flights..

    ..a flight from NY to LA is 6 hours..this doesnt compare to anything in Europe. plus Jozy had to fly with NT even if he didnt play or start he still had to fly overseas, back and forth all summer and then right into MLS season where he still has to fly back and forth..i dunno that would wear me out and I dont care that you played 4 games a week for your highschool team lmao

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  6. that’s to say nothing of the fact that most European teams play 38 league games compared to MLS’ 30. Add in the Cups and he’ll be playing 15+ more games. He’s gotta toughen up quick.

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  7. @Posted by: mikeK | May 07, 2008 at 01:54 PM

    t5he average European player get’s about 3 weeks off in a World Cup/European Championship year. Does that extra week really make all the difference?

    Seems odd for an 18 year old to be that fatigued but I guess all people are different.

    Though let me point out one thing to our dim friends from NY about the travel: How bad was the travel in the Olymppic Q’s when he was in light training in 1 location for a month, then playing a few games over 2 weeks in one spot or the U-20’s that were mostly in 1 spot again with 1 month of light training before.

    Sorry if I don’t see the strain of the sked here. Again though, perhaps that’s just how he’s made up. It’s not like he went deep in the playoffs last fall either.

    It doesn’t bode well if he wished to go to a Champs league team since they travel almost as much as he will for NY this year.

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  8. Jozy is going to have to learn to play a lot of games if he wants to go to a big European squad that competes on three/four fronts.

    Deal with it buddy, it’s part of being a really good professional player.

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  9. If Jozy is not up to the cros country flight then he should be left home. If he gets on the plane he should expected to play. I agree with the earlier posts, he did look tired at the olympic qualifying and he should not be playing at the Toulan tournament. I read somewhere that Novak will probably bring in those players that are on the fringe of making the olympic squad for that tourney

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  10. Seems to me he will have had 9 days off since the Toronto game. Will another 7 days added to that help that much? I like the theory that it has something to do with the transfer window. I don’t know about you, and I know these guys work hard, but 9 days off for me is call vacation.

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  11. Altidore being held out of the biggest game so far this season because of fatigue? In other words, lack of *energy*?

    Who owns this team again?

    Well shoot, there goes another Irony Detection System.

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  12. Ives, can I nominate Giorgio Chinaglia for SBI Post of the Year?

    Hang with Chinaglia, kid, and your creditors will be chasing you around the world in your dotage.

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  13. I should have been more clear. While I was addressing Fire Fans, I was also addressing the Eurosnobs regarding the traveling.

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  14. Although it appears that Orsorio’s decision is based upon true concern for the player, I do think that he has a tendency to be overly careful with his players. Maybe that’s good or maybe it’s bad, I’m not sure but if the coach continues to tell you take it easy, you will do exactly that and that might not always be the best decision because Orsorio changes his mind about players so rapidly that he might then decide, he no longer needs you.

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  15. I don’t understabd all this talk about Jozy being tired. When I was his age, I would go out all night to the disco, drink Chivas Regal, have three women at a time, stay up all night, score two goals, get on a plane, drink some Chivas, make love to the stewardess & score for the Azzurri. I was the man to put the ball into the back of the net. No one scored more goals for Lazio than me. No one scored more goals in the history of the North American Soccer League than me. I am Chinaglia. Jozy needs to go to the disco with me and learn about life! Only then will he be a great player like Chinaglia!!!!

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  16. Chicago fans aren’t Euro-Snobs. They’re sausage eating, fat slobs who live in their mother’s basement & have never kissed a girl, but they’re not Euro-Snobs.

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  17. 1. I think it’s less the “number of games played” but the travel and nonstop training and living out of hotels that is part of being on all of these teams. Plus, you get different coaching advice, different training advice and especially for a young player it can lead to a confused game where you’re thinking too much and not just playing/reacting.

    2. If I can generalize on JCO based on limited time as an MLS head man, it’s that like Nicol he clearly gets that it’s the post-season that matters. I think he didn’t put a premium on getting players to start the season figuring if he doesn’t get exactly the right guy, there’s always August. Frustrating for the fans but he’s probably thinking that he just needs to stay in the pack and then make sure he’s got the team ready for the playoffs. That’s a gamble but it’s often worked for NE which has typically not taken the USOC, CCC and other competitions seriously. Related to that, on a thin team (let’s be realistic now, RBNY is a very thin team, especially with Reyna and JPA gimpy), it’s easy to overplay Altidore.

    3. I don’t believe that RBNY has faced more than their share of injuries this season. It’s just that when you don’t have a lot of depth, injuries seem glaring. I think Chivas and DCU have arguably had just as many bodies missing.

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  18. Calling Fire fans “Eurosnobs” is quite possibly the single stupidest comment I have ever read on this blog, and it didn’t even come from kpugs!

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  19. It’s never good news about RBNY. It’s always either not so bad news or just full on bad news. I think that disappointment is becoming an understatement.

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  20. Things aren’t looking so great for RBNY… I have to say Jozy’s looked off his game. He’s missing that explosiveness. He admitted in his NYT blog that he let TFC get to him with physical play, too… I had a feeling that would happen at BMO, esp with those crazy beer-fisted Canucks.

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  21. <<>>

    He’s only started 1 match for the Sr. Nats. If he’s establish himself as a member of the team, he’s going to have to play more matches and get used to the other regulars and the types of matches they’ll be playing. And besides, these next two years before the WC contain the WC qualifying matches. You need all your players playing for the Sr Nats then.

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  22. the poor guy needs an offseason longer than two weeks.. every major sport allows its players some sort of offseason to regroup mentally and physically. the pressure to be dominant week in/week out–one would think he would need a break once in a while to be able to really bring it.

    just because some all-stars across the pond sometimes go a while between club & country without break (and then physically breakdown or turn in listless perfomances when it matters) doesn’t mean Jozy should do the same.

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  23. IMHO he didn’t look bad in the TFC game because of fatigue, but because he was playing as a winger (which will also result in more running incidentally – if he is tired why put him in a position where fatigue will come on faster and be more of an issue?)

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  24. G-d, what is about Chicago fans that make them complete IDIOTS!!

    If JCO was still your coach and made the same remarks about one of your star players, you all would be QUIET!

    The fact is not so much the games and teams Jozy is playing for, it’s also the traveling. You Eurosnobs, what you’re not taking into account, is the amount of TRAVEL. Getting on a bus for an hours drive to some sort of fixture and having to take a plane EVERY-F**KING-WHERE is a lot different.

    Please Fire fans, stick to the Red Card for all your stupid comments.

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  25. >>>>Even so, the national team needs to rotate players more so that its not all the same guys that are getting burned out and MLS club teams can also get some benefit from the players that they ARE PAYING.<<<<<

    oh yeah, like that is one of the big problems the US Nat team has had over the years. Playing game after game with our Best XI. Sheesh. We hardly ever play our best XI together. Just what we need a rotating system. funny. Let's cheapen the meaning of a Cap even more.

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  26. And by the way, Jozy has been travelling all over the world, not just all over the US. You have to consider the China trip, the South Africa trip, the Europe trip, all in addition to travelling around the US.

    European kids may be playing as intensely in Europe, but they’re not jet-setting at the same time.

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  27. Finally an instance where I believe Osorio is doing the right thing. Jozy needs some rest, he hasn’t been sharp and there’s an injury looming if this continues unabated.

    I think Osorio should take it one step further and limit his national team call-ups to meaningful games and high-profile friendlies, but not some of this crap the U-23s have lined up (Toulon tournament, I’m talking about you). Even so, the national team needs to rotate players more so that its not all the same guys that are getting burned out and MLS club teams can also get some benefit from the players that they ARE PAYING.

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  28. i really think its more of an edorsement for european teams. he’s saying don’t worry hes fine, you pick him up in the summer and he will be ready to go come august

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  29. Ives, how does Jozy’s situation compare to that of a phenom from Europe of similar age? I’ve been to Germany a lot and it seems like everybody there, from recreational to amateur to professional levels, plays soccer year-round. Is there something more to this with Jozy?

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  30. Here’s a simple solution for JCO: Trade Jozy to the Fire for your cabana boy Wilman Conde.

    JCO wants to be among the highest paid coaches in MLS (he thinks he earned it in 10 games with the Fire — never mind that his poor decisions led to their elimination). At the same time he moans like a whore when he has to deal with the same issues as every other MLS coach (national team conflicts, salary cap, discovery rules, etc.)

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  31. Can we please switch the topic to Reyna? It was mentioned in Ives’ post that he probably won’t play. Nobody in this comment section has even mentioned that.

    Is he a has been???? I think the lack of interest/concern answers the question.

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  32. This is also the kind of thing you would do if you were close to a sale, but didn’t want the guy to get hurt while you were hammering out the details. That said, he did look fatigued in Olympic qualifying, so maybe it’s genuine.

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  33. Love the comments.

    You just can’t look at his performances this year and say he’s at 100% energy and fitness. He looks obviously weary, far too often.

    I don’t know why (nor does anyone else here), but he’s looked tired. Here’s hoping he stops getting played in the midfield or the wing…

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  34. It’s going to be funny when NY loses to LA and everyone’s calling out Osorio for not playing this guy.

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  35. That is a bunch of crap. He is 18 has had a week to rest. Beckham took an extra trip to NY this week. I am a Galaxy fan, but I want to see a strong RBNY this weekend

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  36. I don’t think Osorio is saying that he’s playing too many games. I think it’s just that, besides the two weeks rest he got, he’s been playing year round. For the most part, this is unheard of. Even if you play the world cup or euro, you get some time off in between. JCO has been around the block, he knows his players, and he’s looking at if it’s worth it to bring Jozy all the way across the country to play a, frankly, poor Galaxy squad.

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  37. I think if a club is paying these guys they should get first choice when it comes to the games he plays. Does JA really need to play Sr. Nat games 2+ years before the WC? I don’t think so.

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  38. Before the season I estimated that Jozy would play about 15 games before leaving for the Olympics and then transfering. Now it looks like it may be less than that.

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  39. ITS A SCHEME TO HIDE HIM FROM EUROPEAN SUITORS! IF JOZY DOESNT PLAY NOBODY WILL WANT HIM SO HE’LL BE SAFE THROUGH THE TRANSFER WINDOW!!!!!

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  40. brooklyn:

    I am sure your club team was just as taxing as Olympic Qualifying and MLS.

    still, it seems like Osorio is being very protective of Jozy…maybe if he’s thought to be too fragile for his size he won’t leave this summer? or am I too cynical again?

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  41. Just curious, how many games has Jozy played in the last year. Is it anymore than, say, any regular starter on a Champions League caliber team. Sounds like he has a little wussiness in him. Next we will here he needs to take time off because he is “depressed”

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  42. too fatigued???? When I was 18 I played for my highschool and club team like 4 games a week and trained probably 6 out of the 7 days!

    I guess i didn’t jet all over the united states but c’mon your still a baby jozy!

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  43. Say it ain’t so…. Don’t the Red Bulls seem to have more than the average amount of ailments???

    I can’t wait until JPA is 100%. Hopefully soon. We need Claudio and Jozy healthy as well.

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