by GIANFRANCO PANIZO
Jozy Altidore had not stepped on the field at the club level in over seven months, but that did not stop him from making an immediate impact in his Hull City debut.
Against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, Altidore entered the match in the 60th minute, and one minute later he delivered the game-winning assist in the 1-0 victory. It was only his first touch of the game, but Altidore controlled a pass before flicking an overhead pass to forward Kamel Ghilas, who buried the ball into the back of the net.
The American international also had a chance of his own moments later, but after a great trap and a neat chip, the ball rolled just wide.
Regardless, Altidore was active throughout his half-hour cameo, and his impressive performance in Hull City's first win of the season drew praise from head coach Phil Brown.
''It has been a tale of two weeks, that substitution,'' Brown told Soccernet.com. ''The kid got back into London from an all-night flight from the USA Friday morning, 6 o'clock. We then flew him up to the KC by helicopter.
''I looked at the whites of his eyes, asked if he was fit to play and the answer was fantastic. He was raring to go. It was a calculated risk that we didn't start him.''
With a performance like Saturday's, Altidore is sure to to find his first start soon. And if his debut is a sign of things to come then it appears Altidore is ready to thrive in the English Premier League.
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What do you think of Altidore's assist? Think he can help keep Hull City up? Will he start next week? Are Ching's days as a starter for the USMNT numbered?
Share your thoughts below.
us fan-
You are right about France. I apparently had another team in mind, but at any rate I was wrong. Sorry.
By the way, Alan Shearer was one hell of a target man who was an even better goal scorer.
My point about the target man is that you don’t need a Rooney for it to work for you. In the US’ case the obsession with it is a direct result of the success McBride had and the desire to replicate him. I like Ching and he is a useful player but he isn’t in McBride’s class and what has happened this summer with this comparatively new group (Jozy, Davies, Cooper, Casey, etc.) may indicate a lessening of that desire (unless Casey develops further). In any event it is good to have options.
“The point about the England midfield is not necessarily their scoring. When you have a Wayne Rooney, you know where your goals are coming from. But more importantly, their midfield can control possession as well as the pace of the game, thus having a hold up type player does not affect the overall attack system as much as for a team with a one-dimensional attack: the counter, followed by hope for a set-piece. The England midfield can dribble, send through balls, attack down the wings at speed, or strike from long range. The US midfield isn’t nearly as versatile. ”
As I said, I won’t debate that the England team have a higher talent level than the US. However, the US can do all the things you say England can do, just perhaps not as readily or as consistently. Nevertheless, your comments on England don’t describe the team I have been following quite closely for many years. England can do all the things you say, they just didn’t for a long time. Look at their very ugly 2006 WC campaign. England invented the Route One long ball, over the midfield looking for a target man, style, apparently as a reaction to their love for physical play and the crappy pitches. In other words they set the standard for the exactly the sort of football everyone is now blasting the US for playing. England have always been chronic mega-level underachievers burdened by fans with a crushing, unrealistic, megalomaniacal- level set of expectations. Under Capello, they have developed a far better attitude and more versatility to the point where they are now a much more credible World Cup threat. The US team and their fans have many lessons to learn from them.
As I said, I agree with Lippi’s quote. He is a gracious sort who usually has something nice to say. I’ve heard enough of Lippi’s post game comments to think he was sincere. He’s the coach of the defending world champions and he doesn’t need to attempt to be classy, he already is. I’d be interested in what Hiddink or Capello would have to say about the US team after they had a chance to view some game tapes. You might have noticed after the Spain game Francisco Torres spoke about how they all knew the US had a “fantastic team”. Is this an attempt to make the loss look better or is it an honest compliment? I don’t know Torres personally so I’ll take his compliments at face value.
I don’t think you can expect such candor from the postgame comments of all opposing coaches. I don’t expect them to all be truthful, objective and clinical in their assessment of the US player’s performances. So if they don’t have something nice to say about a particular US player, (such as Ching) it really doesn’t mean anything.
One last thing. The World Cup is the only meaningful tournament the US has. And in that tournament the kind of open, flowing attacking football you describe becomes a luxury. The ability to play catennacio and win ugly, smash mouth, counterattacking, set piece football is vital. Look at Lippi’s Italy. They can be pretty but in a World Cup, they are not vain and above all else they know how to stop you from playing and then they are good enough to make the most out of the few chances that come up in such a game (set pieces? quick counter attacks? sound familiar?). Right now, with a good draw, a little bit of luck and a lot of heart, commitment and fighting spirit, the US can go a long way in the World Cup because they have a good to great goalkeeping, a brutal, committed team defense that can shut you down and are just dangerous enough on the quick counters and set pieces. Lippi and Torres aren’t the only Europeans who worry about getting the US in a World Cup Group. When Sven was in charge of England he said he was relieved that they did not get the US in their group. Everyone remembers Greece in 2004 in the Euros. You don’t have to be the best team, or even very watchable, you just have to be dangerous and the US is a very dangerous tournament opponent right now.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Patricia
Ching having a place on the bench is fine, but as soon as we get Jones cleared to play by Fifa he will shift the lineup, and Donovan will move up front behind Jozy and Davies.
jimmygreaves:
(1) I actually state in my second post that I think Ching should have a place on the national team going forward.
(2) Just because Capello thinks the target man system will work for England, doesn’t mean it works for the US. Just look at this years qualifers, where the US has struggled for offense. It clearly was not working then.
(3) England has actually used and prospered with a non target man striker pair: Linekar/Barnes; Linekar/Beardsley; Shearer/Sheringham; Shearer/Owen; Owen/Rooney, as examples.
(4) The point about the England midfield is not necessarily their scoring. When you have a Wayne Rooney, you know where your goals are coming from. But more importantly, their midfield can control possession as well as the pace of the game, thus having a hold up type player does not affect the overall attack system as much as for a team with a one-dimensional attack: the counter, followed by hope for a set-piece. The England midfield can dribble, send through balls, attack down the wings at speed, or strike from long range. The US midfield isn’t nearly as versatile.
(5) Creativty is not necessarily “flash”, which is what I think you are referring to. Creative players, through their decisions and technique primarily, place the ball or their teammates in positions that threaten the opposition goal. Donovan, Davies and Altidore have demonstrated this ability against top flight teams fairly consistently. Dempsey sporadically. Bradley, Clark and Ching inconsistently.
(6) In 1998 Thierry Henry scored at least 3 times for France. Trezuget and Dugarry also scored. All 3 were forwards.
(7) Your take on the Lippi quote is interesting. First off, he didn’t even know their names– he just gave their numbers…Is your position that Lippi was insincere? Did he believe that Altidore and Onyewu DID NOT play well, and was just making it up to be “classy”? And why go to the efforts to single out players, by their numbers, no less, instead of just giving some generic compliment to the entire team, or the teams figurehead player? Or is your position that Lippi was just incorrect? That Lippi meant what he said, but was just wrong because Altidore and Onyewu, in actuality, played like crap? Which is your position? And wasn’t his compliment towards Onyewu shared by the folks at AC Milan who signed him after that tournament?
Phil Brown is such a pompous ass.
Good job Jozy. Don’t let Phil Brown make you go crazy.
so proud of Jozy!!!
btw shorts are, according to sytle gurus at GQ, not supposed to be all ghetto-knee length like ur in Andre the Giant’s shorts. you should show ur VMO
If i had a VMO like Jozy I’d stroll around in speedos all the time
Us fan
“Stikers are supposed to score– not knock off balls.”
It’s interesting you are even debating the notion that Jozy and Davies are the first choice pair. The Spain game lineup is most likely the going to be the opening day line up in SA unless someone makes a better case in the interim or we don’t qualify. However, the game today is 14 vs. 14 not 11 vs. 11 so a guy like Ching remains a valuable option since no other US forward does what he does. Heskey has 54 caps and 7 goals for England yet Capello, whose judgment you should respect and who clearly understands what is required of strikers, still considers him part of England’s plans. Obviously strikers do other things besides score, as long as they get their share of goals. By the way, Ching has 10 goals in 42 games for the US.
“But arguing that the US should use Ching like England uses Heskey overlooks some significant aspects. (1) England hasn’t really found much international success recently. (2) England has a far deeper strike force to choose from. Heskey is typically lined up with Wayne Rooney, a full, out and out world class goal scorer. For a while, Capello was using a 4-3-3 with Walcott joining Rooney and Heskey. With the rise of Defoe, it will be interesting to which of these strikers make it to South Africa. But the main point is, the US does not have a Wayne Rooney it can line up with Ching. Which leads into the final point(3): England gets a lot of goals and possession through its midfield. Lampard and Gerrard are forces…throw in Walcott, Joe Cole, etc. you have a lot of speed and technique that can cause problems. If you also have Rooney, why not have a bruising target man to hold the ball up and soften up defenses?
As far as US midfield invention, the US has Donovan, and that’s it. And even that is somewhat inconsistent. Dempsey simply is not as influential in the US midfield as he is as a forward for Fulham..”
England is a lot more dangerous now that Capello is in charge. England’s striker corps has, in the last few years, been a source of great turmoil. It is true that the US has no Rooney but that does not mean they can’t play with a target man. Other Rooney-less teams do. And actually the target man (big guy, little guy) thing was more for Owen who may or may not be coming back. Ching is the only US player who really plays like the classic target man so I see no problem with Ching pairing with Jozy, Davies, Cooper, Dempsey or even EJ. The two who are playing the most consistently when the WC begins should start for the US. I won’t argue that the US strikers and midfielders are as talented as England’s but take a look at this list. I can’t tell you when Dempsey and Donovan played as midfielders or moved up front but my recollection is they have played mostly in midfield. It’s clear the US relies heavily on midfielders for scoring. Lots of teams do. In 1998 France won the World Cup without one goal from a striker. The US players may not be as talented or pretty as the English guys but when you look at goal per game ratios, their scoring rate is comparable to England’s midfield and they get the job done. You could, of course, argue England’s opposition is stronger, etc. etc. but that argument is difficult to validate as it relates to the US’ performance and it is irrelevant unless England and the US meet in the World Cup (which could happen).
“Bradley/Clark are clearly not creative options”
Creativity is nothing without product. For example, C. Ronaldo does all this creative stuff which is a blast to watch but the most important thing about him is that he is productive. He scores a lot of goals, frightens the opposition and his teams do a lot of winning. The US does not have players like him but that does not mean they can’t win. It is still a 14 vs. 14 game. You don’t win by having more creative guys than they do. Style is great to watch but you win by having a better team. And for right now that will have to do for US fans.
“If not convinced about Altidore, take it from Marcello Lippi, who said that Altidore was the player (along with Gooch) who presented the most problems for the Italian team. They double teamed him nearly every time he got the ball. Has the coach for mexico, T &T, or Honduras or El Salvador ever said that about Ching?”
I agree with what he said but Lippi is a classy guy and usually has something nice to say about the opposition. On the other hand, I’ve rarely heard any CONCACAF coach, particularly Mexico, say anything complimentary about the US. So the fact they don’t compliment any particular US player should not come as a surprise to anyone. And it doesn’t mean he did not play well against them.
ENGLAND
Rooney 52 caps 24 goals
Lampard 72 caps 17 goals
Gerrard 74 caps 14 goals
J. Cole 53 caps 10 goals
Defoe 36 caps 10 goals
Heskey 54 caps 7 goals
Walcott 8 caps 3 goals
USA
Donovan 116 caps 41 goals
Dempsey 57 caps 16 goals
Ching 42 caps 10 goals
Bradley 34 caps 6 goals
Jozy 17 caps 7 goals
Davies 14 caps 4 goals
Cooper 9 caps 4 goals
redeye flight and a helicopter ride to the assist! great story and start to a great EPL career, Jozy is out for blood!
great game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6gC6ATvGiE
Don’t get me wrong, I like Ching. I think he has a place on the national team. But he should never be our first option. Davies and Altidore are showing themselves to be far mor well rounded than any US stiker before them. Davies has shown his ability to single handedly turn a game in an instant as has Altidore, and BOTH against top flight competition. Ching has NEVER done this, certainly not against any top national teams, and not even against CONCACAF teams. Stikers are supposed to score– not knock off balls.
Some people compare Ching to McBride, and the general skill set is the same but without the strike rate.
The Emile Heskey/Ching comparison is an interesting one, especially due to Heskey’s inconsistent presence in the national team over the whole of his career, and the fact that he’s only been selected for 1 major international tournament.
But arguing that the US should use Ching like England uses Heskey overlooks some significant aspects. (1) England hasn’t really found much international success recently. (2) England has a far deeper strike force to choose from. Heskey is typically lined up with Wayne Rooney, a full, out and out world class goal scorer. For a while, Capello was using a 4-3-3 with Walcott joining Rooney and Heskey. With the rise of Defoe, it will be interesting to which of these strikers make it to South Africa. But the main point is, the US does not have a Wayne Rooney it can line up with Ching. Which leads into the final point(3): England gets a lot of goals and possession through its midfield. Lampard and Gerrard are forces…throw in Walcott, Joe Cole, etc. you have a lot of speed and technique that can cause problems. If you also have Rooney, why not have a bruising target man to hold the ball up and soften up defenses?
As far as US midfield invention, the US has Donovan, and that’s it. And even that is somewhat inconsistent. Dempsey simply is not as influential in the US midfield as he is as a forward for Fulham. Bradley/Clark are clearly not creative options.
So, bottom line is, the US needs as much speed and unpredictability in its attack as possible. The plodding, lets hope for a set piece style of grinding out 1 goal wins against El Salvador is not going to cut it in South Africa, and is no longer necessary, given what Altidore and Davies have shown against top teams. Davies’s recent goal output speaks for itself. If not convinced about Altidore, take it from Marcello Lippi, who said that Altidore was the player (along with Gooch) who presented the most problems for the Italian team. They doubleteamed him nearly every time he got the ball. Has the coach for mexico, T &T, or Honduras or El Salvador ever said that about Ching?
I keep hearing about Jozy’s lack of touch. You tube some of his goals (specifically, his first for Villareal) and you will see examples of excellent first touches. In his last shot on goal yesterday, his first touch was sublime: holding off the defender, receiving the pass and turning all in one motion, then firing in a shot. He was unlucky to fire straight at the keeper, but that was a very difficult move that required a high degree of skill, as anyone who’s laced on a pair of boots can attest. I just don’t buy the argument that some are making that he’s all size, strength and speed with no technique. You don’t get signed by Villareal with zero technique. Jozy is basically a stronger EJ with better technique.
His main issue right now is consistency in all areas. He does have some bad touches, shots, moves (that half-hearted step-over yesterday was lame) and decisions. Not to mention a more consistent effort during the game. But hopefully, that will come with regular playing. We shouldn’t have expected to see these things yesterday, because the rap on him during the summer and for earlier qualifiers was that he shouldn’t play because he’s not match fit. So let him get some matches under his belt, then make an assessment.
What I do think is that he has more talent than Brian Ching. This much is obvious to any person who was watched soccer for any period time. He causes many more problems for defenses because of his ability to beat defenders in a variety of ways.
Ching was horrendous during the Gold Cup. Barely even visable. And that was against “B” versions of CONCACAF minnows. Ching was ineffective against Mexico– a situation where Isaac argues Ching is MOST VALUABLE to the US: Holding a lead. The problem with that approach is that you cannot “hold up play” for the rest of the game. You must have the ability to both hold up play AND be a threat to attack with speed. Prior to Davies and Altidore, the US did not have that dimension in its attack.
All of you so-called “experts” / Ching apologists:
I would rather see somebody play who is “obviously” good, than someone who can only be appreciated by soccer “experts”.
Obviously.
Once again, the Ching haters show their limited nous of the game. At least Howard Cosell had the common sense to let us know that “I never played the game” – the title of his autobiography indicating his humility in analysis. He worked hard to get the facts straight before he spouted his opinion. I would not say that of many of my fellow US Nat fanaticos on this blog, especially those who hate Ching. Look closely, think carefully, then comment.
Well done Jozy. Be a monster for Hull City.
In an effort to be fair to Ching, his game is COMPLETELY dependent on a capable and atacking midfield. When the US doesn’t deliver that facet of the game, Ching is useless.
Conor Casey should have replaced Ching as a starter by now. Casey outworks and outscores Ching in the MLS with a weaker team behind him (of course Casey has outscored EVERYONE in the MLS including Donovan.).
looks like he had 2 or 3 pretty good chances to score and didn’t take advantage of them. that being said, if he had finished all his chances, he would have had a hat trick in his first ever EPL match which I would think is extremely rare. so let’s give him some time 😛
I really do hope everybody’s right when they say he’ll only have better performances as he gets regular training/PT. That touch, both on control and shooting, needs to get better and i hope it really is simply a rust issue.
jozy played good for not having played in so long and arriving in country just 24 hrs before. missed a lot chances for goals/assists. he said himself he was rusty
Ching hate: hilarious as usual. Fact of the matter is, we have three capable strikers now with different strengths and who will all get their time when the matchups are right. It boggles my mind that people’s reaction to this development is to try to insult one of the three rather than to realize how lucky we are to have three such options.
Posted by: Joamiq | August 23, 2009 at 02:22 AM
That’s the jist of what I was going to say….
he needs to finish some of those chances in order to stay in the lineup. hopefully once he gets hits fitness he will take those chances and put it in then net
Jozy did well, and I thought this was a big moment for US soccer fans. Bottom line: Jozy was an impact player in the match, no question.
Jozy’s assist… a little hard to judge, technically. He put the ball somewhere his strike partner could win it, perhaps it wasn’t as pretty or precise as one might hope for, but it allowed his team to win the game.
Jozy’s other moments, as well… the back to the goal turn and strike – he should have put that in the corner of the goal and scored. And it would not take that much more skill to do so. The chip over the keeper was actually a very nice skill, but just a little bit off, that little bit being the difference between scoring a goal and not. A couple other time he had the ball but should have found a way to pass.
A world class performance would have seen Jozy rack up a couple assists and a couple goals from his 30 minutes – Jozy is not there. Not yet, anyway.
Jozy’s abilities seem to fit a team that cannot go forward in numbers, and if he can sharpen his finishing and find his passing boots, he could be a very hot commodity among the teams in the bottom 2/3 of the EPL table. This can be an enormous chance for him to really develop as a player.
However, things will get harder in his EPL matches – not only will he play better teams, the opposing defenses will work out game strategy for neutralizing him specifically.
The main thing is for Jozy to progress and get better and better. He seems to now be in a good situation, where it’s up to him to make it happen. I would not bet against him.
Jozy isn’t, but maybe could become the USA’s first world class striker.
Joamiq, you may have made the best comment in this little tirade of what the US strikers need and do not need.
People focus way too much on the single talent and not the link ups, pairs, and the team as a whole. The biggest problem with the US team is consistently playing at their best or somewhere near it. There are many possible reasons (sometimes coaching erorrs, sometimes missing players, players failing to play at their best, i believe most of the time our team just cannot get its chemistry 100% down for multitudes of reasons). Now the thing with the 3 strikers we have right now is that all 3 allow a 4 4 2 in any combination. Since BB has moved to the 4-4-2 formation or any variation of it, the U.S. seems to have improved quite a bit (if it continues to help with consistent performances that is, other wise it was just a one or two time thing).
Now that sounds much better than examining each striker alone, because each striker has major faults. Ching’s is that he misses shots he should make and is easily neutralized when he is separated from the team and cannot lay off the ball to oncoming midfielders or make a cutting pass off to another striker. Altidore walks around a lot and does not seem to have much drive in many situations where you would think a forward would apply pressure. Though that may just be him not playing at the club level or something with my own thought process. Davies gets the fast breaks, but if you look at the brazil and spain and egypt games, on many of them he did not know what to do or got confused on exactly what to do. Thus his attempt ended up many times not even being a shot.
Of course they have their strengths as well, but there is no reason to state them since people do not seem to agree on them.
Now, no matter what strikers you have, they will have their flaws. It is up to the combination of strikers and how they link up with the midfield and defense that should really matter to us right now, because those are what will limit those flaws and strengthen the strikers. I say this because no matter how good your striker is, if the defense and midfield are not supplying them with something at least decent (for example: like for most of the Mexico game where most of the game the midfield and defense did not do this), then those strikers will be neutralized. All 3 players are able to compliment each other, and as long as the defense and midfield are able to do their job, the strikers should as well. Now if the midfield and defense are doing their job and the strikers or a striker is not, then by all means you can examine the striker because that is when it becomes a problem of individual talent or the chemistry of that individual with the rest of the team.
Now that I am done with all that, Jozy’s start was amazing, I can only wish him the best and hope he can do this consistently and improve his game.
I like Jozy, but I think he needs to practice on his defense up front. He doesn’t seem to mark up when he doesn’t have the ball and chase after the ball like Charlie Davies. He needs to hustle a bit more. But i am sure it will come with time. Great Job Jozy!
Oh and as for the real subject of this post:
I’ve been reading about Jozy’s debut all day, and all I can do is smile.
Ching hate: hilarious as usual. Fact of the matter is, we have three capable strikers now with different strengths and who will all get their time when the matchups are right. It boggles my mind that people’s reaction to this development is to try to insult one of the three rather than to realize how lucky we are to have three such options.
Hull could be the place for jozy after all.
Glad and surprised. Sky said that Brown didnt even train the team yesterday but took them to a park instead. Making today jozy’s true debut.
At this moment.. I think the starting USMNT fwds are:
Davies / Dempsey (Altidore @ 55′)
With Feilheber playing right mid (until 55′)
Depth Chart:
Davies
Dempsey
Altidore
EJ
Ching — falling
Cooper — rising
Here’s the thing about Ching. He’s only found success in the role he’s been playing for the USMNT with some cheeky passes and a few lucky goals (like the one that went off his shoulder in the Gold Cup). He does not strike. “He’s good at holding things up, he holds up play…” Yeah, but mostly he’s holding up the progress of the USMNT. He might have had success in his “role” of holding things up, but this isn’t a role that the US needs moving forward. What the U.S. has is speed, and exploiting that is what’s going to allow us to win against top-notch opponents, like Spain, Brazil, etc…. What we need is an offensive threat to keep opposing defenses honest, to move our midfield up so that we’re winning the ball in their half. To provide counter-attacking runs and movement forward so that we aren’t sitting back with a 2 goal lead while top notch internationals take target practice on Timmy Howard. Ching can’t provide this, and therefore in my eyes, his time as a striker for the USMNT should be over. Some say he’s got a great soccer IQ, and a bunch of experience, so maybe his best role would be in a coaching sense. I don’t have a personal vendetta against the man, I just think there are better options for the US up front, and that we ought to be implementing them so that we can be successful in 2010 and beyond…
From watching those replays Jozy should have at min. either 1 more goal or assist… that’s got to happen.
Great start though
Nic D: You have two stepped yourself retarded if you think Cooper is the 3rd best forward in the US. I won’t go into it all again, but to sum it up;
Cooper plays like a wuss for being a big guy. He can’t hold off players and has zero ability in the air. He is not a good passer, and has little work ethic in the defensive side of the ball. What Coopy does well is pad his MLS stats with penalty kicks, look it up. You think Ching is no good? At least he can score MLS goals from the run of play.
I’m not a big Ching fan anymore, I think he’s gone the way of Beasley. But if Cooper sees time with our full team I will feel like we have made zero progress in 20 years.
I see you are from Texas, maybe his dad paid you off? (It’s no secret to anybody in Dallas how he ended up at Man U.) Or maybe you are just rooting for the hometown hero. Regardless, our national team cannot afford to play forwards like Cooper, unless it’s on our C-team at the Gold Cup in 4 years.
No disrespect, but we need to produce better players than Cooper.
Congrats Jozy! He’s living the dream! I love it!
Cooper is better than Ching!
Heck! EJ may be better than Ching !?
1. Davies
2. Jozy
3. Cooper
4. Deuce
5. Donovan
6. E.J.
7. Casey
8. Tracy
9. My Granny
10. My Great Gran
11. My Dad’s Great – Great Granny
??. Chingy
No disrespect! ;-]
Great news, keep it up! And if so, Ching can no longer be the starter.
USA chants were awesome. What a first touch from Joz. His first touch was superb all day, and that’s been his weakness so that’s good to see. His last touch is what let him down a bit, but that should simply be the result of rust. He def needs to get in shape. Every time I’ve seen him of late, he’s looked gassed after 20 minutes. It was cool to see a British broadcast focus on an American as the player to watch. I can’t wait to see what he does once he’s in form. That Hull team might be a lot better than the punters have been saying with the new additions all looking good.
Re: the Ching debate, he’s not as good as the Ching lovers say and certainly not as bad as the haters think. He’s a good, useful role player who holds up play tenaciously, is a good link-up player, and backtracks pretty well on D. Let’s face it, though, Isaac, he doesn’t have the size/speed/strength to bother the better Euro sides. He can draw fouls against smaller CONCACAF sides who struggle with his size, but he’s pretty easily handled by bigger Euros. We need Jozy and Charlie in form as our starting forwards next year in order to really have a shot.
The crowd was chanting:
USA!! USA!! USA!!
AWESOME!
@Adam M
That is exactly what Heskey does for England- hold up the ball for the more skillful players like Gerrard and Rooney, while rarely scoring himself. And it works well. Anyway, you asked for some “simple examples” where Ching was effective. Seeing as how the example Issac provided led to goals via his hold up play, I don’t see how you can disparage them- that is what he’s in the game for. You may not like him, but he is effective, particularly against smaller CONCACAF teams where he can physically dominate.
Adam.M, listen, the win against Spain was probably what you’re clinging to in terms of Davies and Altidore performance against top competition. However, what about the next match? You may think that the goal scoring is great and it is but what if we have a striker that can actually hold possession and is smart with the ball? Instead of trying to play the aggressive way, we should have been smarter and stayed back. Instead, we gave of up a two goal lead because we continued to try to play the kind of football that Davies and Altidore implement into a side. Ching’s soccer IQ is something none of our other strikers have. We had ONE win against a top side. ONE. We lost three others ok? don’t get in over your head and don’t flatter yourself because of the victory against Spain. It was well-fought and the USA deserve it, but we can’t apply the strategy we had against Spain to Brazil, or Italy. You may not think we score that goal against Brazil, and you may not think we have that first goal against Spain, but what does it matter if we CAN’T HOLD A LEAD? Davies may have had that goal against Egypt, yes but Ching would have done the same. Ching is just as strong, and twice as big and hustles just as much.
Isaac = Ching’s dad
Never under estimate the parental love for their children even if they can’t see how incredibly awful their child is on the pitch. Just smile and show compassion.
I will never thank Ching for what he has done to the Nats.
“the U.S players have been making an impact in their euro teams,.. sorry you can’t say that about any other player in a concacaf team. ”
Ummmm Wilson Palacios? Kenwyne Jones?
My excitement of seeing Jozy highlights this season is tempered by the fact that I’m going to have to listen to Phil Brown quotes to go with them. “I looked into the whites of his eyes…” Good grief.
I’m sorry Isaac, but your examples don’t do much for me. What you identify is a player who can (sometimes) pass the ball to another player. That is barely a “talent” at the international level, and its the only one he has. Any player, at any position, is supposed to be able to do that and there is no rationale for starting a striker who only can do that when you have players with far more varied and important abilities available. Ching fills a role on a team that cannot expect to meaningfully compete amongst the better international sides if their starting striker does what Ching does. I certainly cannot think of any top side that cedes a striker position to a guy who ocassionally lays off the ball and little else and I doubt any decent team would — hence my last question. Name a good side that would start Ching if they could?
Come on man, that flick pass in the T&T game is the nicest play this year from anyone on the Nats besides LD.
brian- perhaps he was gassed b/c he took a flight across the atlantic, took a helicopter ride up to the game and played 30 hard minutes??
I’m sorry I meant to say only the obvious ones have backing.
it was nice to hear the usa chants.
anyone know what wristband jozy is wearing in the game?
Adam M.,
Ching assists the goal against Trinidad and Tobago with the flick-on to Donovan
Ching assists Jozy’s goal against El Salvador by turning and finding Hejduk on the flank.
Ching backheels the pass to Holden who crossess to Cooper for the goal.
You’re just throwing random insults out there and only the obvious ones have no backing. Brian McBride wasn’t fast by any stretch of the imagination and yet he’s got thirty for the national team. How exactly did he have a terrible Gold Cup? He assisted a few goals and helped when called upon. He was also just off an injury. We don’t have a single other forward that can turn on the ball and lay off a pass like he did for Hejduk(other than maybe Casey and lo and behold, he went to the Confederations Cup). Ching may not be the one scoring the goals all the time, there’s a reason the USA scores more when he’s on the field. He’s normally involved in the build up to our goals, in large part or small part.
It’s only one game. Great chip but he missed two other chances. They won’t stand for that for long
Can a Ching supporter please give me at least 3 individual examples in the last six months when Ching was “effective” for the Nats at whatever he allegedly does? I’m not taking about games — I want simple moments in the game where Ching did something good that directly resulted in something good. My personal opinion is that Ching would not have scored any of the goals the Nats scored against Egypt, Spain, or Brazil because he does not have the talent on the ball, speed, or sense of position that resulted in those goals, and that he had a terrible Gold Cup against lesser talent. Considering this, would you now cede a striker spot to someone who does not have the talent to create goals against good talent at the international level when Jozy Altidore is available to you? I’d rather have EJ — at least he can run fast and open up the field. Finally, can any Ching supporter name one national side within 20 places of the U.S. that would start Ching given the chance?
Great job Jozy!
Anyone know how Charlie Davies played?
http://atdhe.net/8695/watch-dc-united-vs-la-galaxy
Wrote a piece a week ago about Jozy and his future at Hull:
http://onelovesoccer.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1568753-jozy-s-big-move-will-it-work-out-
One interesting tidbit that I’ve noticed is that Gooch seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle after Davies two-goal performance last week, Jozy’s exploits with Hull, and Donovan and his potential suitors.