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Soccer Tuesday: Your Running Commentary

Jozy Altidore 2 (Getty Images)

There are only two club matches of any consequence today, but since both will feature American players, it is worth having a running commentary for.

Brad Friedel and Aston Villa face Liverpool while Jozy Altidore and Hull City takes on Bolton in a relegation battle. Altidore earns another start for the Tigers.

If you are watching today's matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t help it. Hull is bad and Jozy is not ready to be a starter on a team in a top flight league. It’s just more of the fool’s gold for U.S. players. They think it’s the Premier League (or some other top flight league) so it HAS to be better for their career, but it usually turns out not to be. Jozy has potential, but he needs training and development that he has never had and likely will not get at a team in a top flight league. Even if he were to run his socks off for Hull, it does not appear he knows where to run to. In my opinion, Jozy could use a few weeks in the offseason living in Brian McBride’s basement. I’m just not seeing improvement in Jozy’s game. At best most fans are just hoping he knocks in a goal or two for Hull, gets some confidence and that magically leads to an improvement in his technical abilities and soccer IQ. Not likely. I think we should be seeing more improvement from Jozy by now and that’s the most frustrating thing for me about his career path. Hull is not a place for him to develop — how do you think Clint Dempsey would be faring were he at Hull instead of under Hodgson at Fulham? I hope Jozy gets to a place where he can play because that is the only way he’ll reach his maximum potential.

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  2. If you mean shift Clint there for a half like he did in the Confed Cup, that is okay But, for the USMNT, Jozy plays alone a lot of the time. Clint is not suited for that. Conor Casey and Ching, the antichrist duo for US fans, are. Also, give DMB a little more time before you start anointing him as a saviour.

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  3. And a good reason that there are some MLS teams that could certainly play in the epl if they had the depth of the Hull’s and Portsmouth’s of the world.

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  4. why does everyone think they can coach better than Phil Brown? Jozy simply needs to step it up. You don’t see other strikers bitching about the system the coaches are using. A lot of Italian teams tend to play difensively yet their strikers score goals…so…step it up Jozy and put in the work. If at the end of the game people have to drag you off the field, then you’ve played for your team. Jozy isn’t playing for Hull the way Torres, Gerrard and Kuyt play for Liverpool.

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  5. While it is within everyone’s right to think that Jozy wasn’t too bad today, a striker coming off in the 55th minute with his team down 2-0 probably means his manager thinks the performance was complete crap … or Jozy is hurt.

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  6. We can sit here and make excuses, but forwards who don’t score for teams battling relegation won’t be playing. Phil Brown isn’t going to save his job by developing Altidore’s talent.

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  7. I’ve been watching Hull for a while. At the stadium and on tv. Before Jozy came along and during. As far as creative and/or attacking players here is best to worse:

    Best:
    Bullard
    Hunt
    Geovanni
    Barmby

    Average to Good:
    Fagan
    Vennegoor of Hesselink
    Altidore
    Garcia

    Middling to Average:
    Ghilash
    Folan

    This isn’t exhaustive…just the blokes who come to mind. Y’all need to stop with the hero worship and support your guy Jozy but not be blind to the weaknesses in his game.

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  8. You and I must not have been watching the same match. Villa had a few quality chances but Liverpool dominated possession and were definitely in control of the match. Tough loss, but sometimes it all comes down to one chance.

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  9. Jozy is lazy and out of shape. It isn’t just with Hull City. If you watched the most recent set of friendlies, you can tell he is lacking in the fitness department. He is young, so try not to get too down on him, but he clearly needs to work harder on his own. You guys can bash HCAFC and blame the poor play of his teammates for his inability to produce, but a lot of it is his fault. V of H is mediocre and he offers Hull much more. Without Bullard, they are definitely in a tight spot, but they aren’t as bad as everyone is making them out to be. They certainly have their moments.

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  10. Anyone else notice that Jozy NEVER contests on headers inside or near the box? He always waits on the fringes, hoping ball will come to him off of someone else–which it never does. This drives me crazy. Maybe this makes sense from Landon, who is 5’9″ and skinny. But Jozy is a big dude and needs to be in there. If someone can motivate him he can really make a career in a top league–people complain about his touch, but it’s his lack of aggressiveness that holds him back. Echoes of Eddie Johnson but in a bigger body? I hope not.

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  11. DC?

    I’ll buy that Houston, LA, Salt Lake and last year’s Columbus team — possibly Seattle — could hang with Hull.

    But DC couldn’t even hang with MLS playoff teams last year.

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  12. So he cramps up like he did on Sunday after 60min… Jozy needs to get fit and practice harder so his legs last 90min. His fitness is a sad joke right now and everyone in the league knows it…Sadly, he doesn’t.

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  13. No, I’d say it wasn’t until they put in Geovanni that the Hull midfield stopped looking totally incompetent. But Jozy didn’t get to benefit from this…

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