For someone playing just his first La Liga match, Jozy Altidore certainly didn’t look out of place.
The U.S. national team and former Red Bulls striker made his debut for Villarreal on Sunday and was extremely impressive during his 45 minutes of actions. His combination of size and speed troubled Deportivo La Coruna’s defenders throughout the second half of Villarreal’s 1-0 win.
Though Altidore is not on Villarreal’s Champions League roster, he certainly made a strong claim for more playing time and certainly did enough to put some more pressure on U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley to call him up for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.
If you missed Altidore’s debut, here is a video compilation of his best moments (courtesy of Yanked Around):
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgqxiekXThU&hl=en&fs=1]
Altidore look completely comfortable, not at all overwhelmed or overmatched, which is amazing considering he is still just 18.
While it was only 45 minutes, Altidore’s performance certainly raise the question of whether Bradley can keep holding off on calling in Altidore while choosing to call in Eddie Johnson, who failed to get off the bench for Cardiff City this weekend, and who has been thoroughly unimpressive in recent national team appearances.
If anything, we saw a healthy, confident and dangerous Altidore who just might wind up thriving on a loaded Villarreal squad that has plenty of attacking stars to help Altidore flourish.
With that in mind, it would be tough to justify failing to call in Altidore for any future national team games, especially if he keeps getting minutes for a top club in a top league, a distinction he would share alone among players in the current U.S. national team pool.
It’s time for a poll:
What did you think of Altidore’s performance on Sunday? Do you think he could be an impact player in just his first season in La Liga? Do you think it’s time for him to become a U.S. national team regular, or do you think being patient with him is more prudent given that he is still just 18?
Share your thoughts below.
I don’t think he was “extremely” impressive, but he looked comfortable in his debut and he did well a number of times 1v1 vs. defenders. I think he nut-megged 2 or 3 guys and was hard to push off the ball. Almost got an assist, almost scored a pair of times, but also was inclined to pass the ball when he could have created opportunities for himself and pulled the trigger. He also had some bad touches. Good performance no doubt, but made better by the fact that it was his debut. Had he already been playing a number of games, this performance might have been disappointing.
In all fairness, since defenders weren’t used to him or knew much about him, it’s likely he got more space on Sunday than he’ll get going forward. Just as his teammates didn’t really know what he could do or how to best serve the ball up for him, his opponents didn’t really know either.
The guy who’s REALLY making a case to be called up to the national team is Charlie Davies, who scored his 10th goal for Hammarby this season. Double-digit goals in a European league is nothing to disrespect. Eddie Johnson is still trying to get consistent playing time in Europe at any level.
understood – show you the results?? ok
1-0 Guat (away), 1-0 cuba (away), & 3-0 T&T (home)
while they are not flashy amazing results against weaker competition, and we played like crap the first two games, we still managed to come away with 9 points… this leaves 2 games where we play at home, and quite frankly we are pretty dominant at home…
quite simply, there is no reason to call Jozy in against the likes of Cuba… Guat and T&T could be cause for arguement but id much rather see him come to the roster during the Hex…. this opening round isnt necessary especially since we have forwards capable of putting away goals (against this level of competition)…
im not really disagreeing with you as id much rather see some of our youthful players get some experience, but you cant argue the fact that players like Wynne, Orozco, Kljestan, MB, and Edu all got onto the roster against Cuba and T&T… while not every player got time, they are included into the system and im more then positive we’ll see other faces against Cuba and Guat at home… im hoping to see the likes of Holden, Kljestan, Rogers, Edu, and cooper get the nod…. let players like Ching, Beasley and MB go back to their teams and rest…
RK- If thats the case, and he’s available, then i agree he may as well get the experience and play….
Bradley is getting stale. Eddie Johnson has shown time and time again that he can’t finish much less produce anything of note with the Nats. It’s time for Altidore to come in on a regular basis. If Bradley wants this team to succeed it’s time for genuine changes with the squad he calls up again and again.
feel the highlights don’t tell the whole story either. How many time were you people watching and you saw Jozy putting himself in a dangerous position only to be bypassed for a more established player on the team. I’m partially biased I’m sure but there were numerous times when he was open in the box and his teammates ignored it.
Posted by: kyle | September 15, 2008 at 01:19 PM
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Must be Racism or Anti – Americanism or
maybe you wear a Tin Foil.
It will be interesting to see how Jozy does, now that the La Liga Defenders will be marking him , like Deportivo started to do after the first 20 minutes.
“What is this stuff about settling in?
Villarreal is off the next week of qualifiers in October.”
____________________________
Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that an 18 year old kid is adjusting to lifestyle, language and culture that is different.
Plus, I’m sure they still train.
Jozy will get more out of training with Villareal than he will playing against Cuba.
northzax:
podolski always starts for germany nowadays…so i dont see your argument…ill just have to respectfully disagree…my only argument is show me the results…show me where doing things the status quo way has led to any thing significant in the world cup…any big wins against world class opponents…show me the results…
and why so many excuses (travel, getting settled at a new team)…well how do you explain the conembol and african young stars participating in their qualifiers…and i can bring up tons of examples of young stars at new teams who get called up…jo for brazil…vela at arsenal are just two…
i think us soccer and some of our fan base are two smart for our own good…bringing all these other factors into the process is just out thinking the situation…in the countries where soccer matters where the expectation is to compete with the best…all they worry about is selecting the best squad possible to win the game…i think its because the pressure to win and show that you can compete with the elite is much more than it is here so they just select the best team possible and go to battle fully equipped…we need to start doing that in this country…forget about all these other BS outside factors…just choose the best team possible and lets go.
is it legal to have a man crush on an 18 year old?
Andy in Atlanta, I’m not disagreeing with you but I’m wondering your source(s) for saying Monaco and it’s fans (and coach?) is happy to have Adu? Also, what are you basing your assertion that he will play any (significant) part in Monaco’s season this year? Not grousing, just curious.
no need to rush him. i think he should play for the usa, but we’re almost through to the next rd. why bring him in and start against Cuba/Guatemala/TnT?
I’d rather have him for the Hex, so he can hurl straight fire at Mexico in their house.
What is this stuff about settling in?
Villarreal is off the next week of qualifiers in October.
Kyle, you make a good point. Watching the game showed a slightly different look than the highlights. It appeared that he put himself in decent positions and yeah, they might have passed the ball to him a couple of those times.
What he DOES need to work on is running thru the center of the box to draw defenders and create space. He actually looked better when he was a bit wider and looked a little lost when in the middle, ahead of the ball. Experience should help that.
in regards to Adu… Monaco and its fans are very happy to have him and he will play more of a part as the season goes along. They have some very talented youngsters (19 yr olf Nimani is awesome) and they are not afraid to play them. Adu will see plenty of time and will have an impact @ Monaco soon enough.
Jozy is very talented player and needs to get some CONCACAF games ASAP.
I feel the highlights don’t tell the whole story either. How many time were you people watching and you saw Jozy putting himself in a dangerous position only to be bypassed for a more established player on the team. I’m partially biased I’m sure but there were numerous times when he was open in the box and his teammates ignored it.
What’s the point of having someone like Jozy when they can’t provide services to him?
Hey Nic D “The Texas Math Genius” –
One vote out of 600+ rounds to 0%
(Just giving you crap – saw you meant it as a joke)
Nick – I have no idea what you are talking about. There was one give way that came after a nice run. If you don’t think those highlights are extremely impressive for an 18 year old American playing in Spain, then you are an idiot.
-mike
understood:
totally different stories. Among other things, how many games away from the continent those players were playing on at the time were they called up for? Has Theo played a national team game farther than a two hour flight? Podolski and Schweinsteiger were called up to prepare for a world cup at home (and hey, how is Herr Podolski doing these days? getting a lot of PT?)
to make a different sport analogy, for every Kobe Bryant, there are 50 Kwame Browns. Some people have the chops to handle that transition from a boy to a man, living in a new place and constantly moving around while under a microscope, and some don’t. We’ve seen what happens to Jozy when he gets tired and worn down (last spring anyone? for a man who just looked great in La Liga, he sure didn’t light up MLS when he played, did he?) we don’t have enough talent to throw people into the crucible and hope they make it.
Nick=Hater lol
@Zax, re: Freddy you make some good points but Freddy has been playing professional ball for quite a while. And unlike Altidore whose game will mostly be based on his size, strength, and speed, Adu needs to PLAY to develop the timing and vision for his attack-passes. Just MHO on that one.
Nick: I think it was that he took on defenders directly four times in one half, and beat them cleanly twice, failed once, and had a harsh foul call when he shouldered a guy off the ball. Then there was the quickness of his release on the right footed shot that almost got by the keeper. In one half, that’s a lot of positive activity for a striker.
Cheers,
It’s glaringly obvious based on form alone, Altidore is our best forward right now. However, if he doens’t get called up soon, that’ll be ok as well because it’ll give him time to settle in with Villarreal (I’m still of the opinion that the constant call-ups of Adu last season hurt him with Benfica). If he does get called up, that’ll be ok, as he is our best forward. But there are benefits of not being called up as well. As long as Bradley communicates with Altidore that he’s not calling him up out of some failure on his part, but rather he wants him to settle in with Villarreal.
I want to see Jozy stick with Villareal as long as possible so he can continue to train there and earn minutes. I say call him and the other young guys in for T&T so they can get a road WCQ under their belt and be ready for the hex. Outside of that match I say leave them with their clubs.
Did anyone vote No, he’s not ready yet! I did! And it still says 0%! I’m calling SHENANIGANS!
Of course I’m not at all serious.Just wanted to be the first NO! LOL!
Aquaman, keep in mind Deportivo beat Real Madrid in round one. They aren’t too bad. I did notice tho that they were missing a couple of their starters. All in all tho, a promising start for Jozy.
What part from those highlights aside from the first pass was impressive? The part where he kept losing the ball?
no need to call him or Freddy in until at least after Cuba. they’ve been going and traveling non stop for months, lets let them get settled into their new clubs (and just as important, their new cities, cultures and languages) as much as I’d love to see them at RFK next month, I’d rather give them a bit more of a break from constant flying across the Pond.
and before anyone says anything about Mike Bradley, let’s not forget he is 22, and has been in Europe for four years. the difference between 18 and 22 is huge. Same with Mo Edu. When BB or someone else says “settle in with their clubs” they aren’t just talking about soccer-wise, they’re talking about culture, food, location, language, the way the very air is different. Let’s not forget that for all their precociousness, Jozy and Freddy are teenagers. give them time to breathe.
I think its ludicrous and wholly indicative of how far some people in US soccer have their heads up their asses that somehow we…the high and mighty US of A…with all of our world cup titles and all of our superstars dominating in the champions league…and…oh wait…nevermind…
i mean its crazy that whats good enough for the world powers…england with walcott…argentina with messi…brazil with jo and pato…germany with podolski and schweinsteiger…and on and on…somehow…we…the mighty US has somehow figured out that OUR way of doing things is superior…somehow whats good enough for the real heavyweights of world soccer isnt good enough for us
I think Jozy is a big part of the future the USMNT has to look to. But as Pugs and the Five have said, we would all like to see Jozy starting for the team on a regular basis, but does the team need him for some of the qualifying we have gone through at this point? I would say no. Therefore, it has probably been better to let him get settled with Villareal. But, as the qualifying gets tougher when the US plays some of the stronger teams, then Jozy needs to be brought in and get his time with the national team.
PS-Jozy looked awesome during this last match. Very threatening. I hope it is only a matter of time before he starts, and wreaks havoc on the rest of the league.
I suppose the decision on calling him up rests with whether he keeps getting playing time at Villareal. I just can’t see that he’s going to get many minutes once Nihat and Rossi are healthy…not yet at least.
Adu is in a different spot. Might as well call him up since Monaco ain’t going to play him for more then 11 minutes, apparently. Makes me wonder about the rumors of Monaco trying to solicit American investment and that’s why they agreed to take Freddy on. Seems a bit far-fetched but….who knows?
Cheers,
The crowd was behind him almost immediately, and maybe BB will be too. I think he’s ready to move in now, and that’s how I voted, but I have no problem letting him keep getting numerous and quality minutes at Villareal. Works out well for all.
By the way, already given a nickname: El Toro.
I’ll take it.
Jozy was great.. wish his assist would’ve gotten finished by Cazorla.
Jozy and EJ are not an either/or proposition: EJ should be dropped irrespective of Bradley’s decision on Jozy. We don’t have that many great choices up front but at this point I would prefer even someone like Conor Casey over EJ. EJ might not be good enough to start for any other Top 100 national team.
I hear the “defenses will adjust”, but when you have the skill to take a defender one on one, what’s to adjust to? Altidore is for real, and will have success as long as he keeps running at defenders and staying aggressive (*cough*cough*Dempsey*). Loved to hear the crowd behind him and appreciating his play.
I see the wisdom of letting him settle in with Villareal, and will work on patience…
Eddie Johnson has had more than his fair share of chances at the professional and national team level. He’s shown he’s not worthy of either. Jozy just continues to improve. Bradley needs to get his head out of his ass.
Thanks for the video Yanked Around.
Great decision by Bradley to let Altidore settle. He will be getting as much or more high level experience than he would be getting if called to the Nats. As much as I enjoy watching both Aldidore and Adu, they should be left alone until it is really time to work them into the Nats squad for 2010.
Bob Bradley es un idiota. Nada creativo. No imaginacion en el ataque.
Altidore es un estrella que sigue subiendo y Bradley lo tapa.
Sorry, just practicing on what I’m going to say to my Mexico-loving friends when we lose.
let jozy continue at Villareal…. continue to develope, continue to get PT, continue to WOW LaLiga…. until the Hex…
the remaining 3 games we can handle with our current pool…. Ching, Dempsey, LD, Cooper, Davies, heck even Buddle are all capable of playing at this stage…
since we have the full 9 pts so far, i say we bring in some players around the forward spot…. Rogers, Kljestan, Edu, Holden, etc… as much as i would love to see the likes of Adu and Jozy, i just dont see this stage in the Quals necessary….
ALSO, BB should leave MB off the roster for the rest of this stage, simply to relax and focus on his club…
I would say that he is ready to start for the Nats; but I want him to have time to settle in at Villareal first. A few more performances like that and he’ll put them in a hard decision about loaning him out in January. He’d be a great option to spell Champions League players for La Liga games. If he’s gone too much this fall, it might make their decision easier and I’d rather he stayed and won a place at VCF.
I don’t think he should be rushed into the national team right away. right now he has a golden opportunity to get settled at villareal and i think in the long run that is going to benefit the national team even more.
We shouldn’t forget that Altidore is still a kid and prone to fatigue. It has already happened once in his short career.
Jozy is and has been better than the rest of the striker pool for a while now. No reason not to start him next time.
Good first game from Jozy. My first instinct was to say that the national team should definitely be calling him up and starting him, and that’s how I voted. On second thought, though, I wouldn’t be too upset not to see him until next year in the hex. I think that having him getting minutes and playing well on a regular basis in Spain is what’s most important at the moment. If for some reason he doesn’t get much playing time over the next month, though, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to call him up for Cuba and make sure he maintains his match fitness.
I don’t know anything about Deportivo’s defense or how good they are, but Jozy sure had some slick moves to get around and through them.
Altidore was really impressive. Looked very very dangerous. Villareal is not a bad team to play up front for 🙂
But first, let’s not get carried away…La Liga defenses will adjust and not every game will be like this. And no one really knows how much playing time he’ll continue to get (due to injuries, team politics, etc.).
Also, let’s realize not calling him up for the first set of qualifiers has allowed him to get settled w/ the team. If he continues to get good minutes for Villareal, I actually would leave him there. But if not, let’s definitely call him up and start him to get ready for the hex.
There is only one word to describe what I saw – WOW!
With regards to the poll question, I think most of us probably wanted him to be called up and put in the starting XI even before his impressive debut.
For me, it’s not about how he plays for Villareal as much as how much better he can (key word: can) be than the rest of the U.S. strikers. So in my mind I just want him playing for the national team as much as possible–get this kid used to the scene and ready to roll.
Look at Dempsey, he can’t even get a look at Fulham now despite arguably being their second best player last season (to Bullard). But Bradley constantly uses him anyway, and he performs well.
i think it is time that the USSF and Bob Bradley put pressure on the youngsters of this country. Look at the likes of Fabregas and Ronaldo, ages 20 and 23. They didn’t get to where they are by wasting away in the national team pools.
jozy looked potent out there yesterday. while he clearly deserves to be called up regularly, i’m actually kind of glad he’s had the last few weeks to settle in with his club. having played for the red bulls, national team, olympic team and villareal in the last year, staying put in spain for a while might not be so bad.
The U.S. will be fine in qualifying until they have to face Mexico.
Isn’t it better to let Altidore get settled at Villareal, especially after the hectic last year?
I’m sure we’ll see Altidore get a game or two before the U.S. has another big matchup.