By IVES GALARCEP
With a month left in the English Premier League season, the final verdict on Jozy Altidore’s first (and potentially only) season at Sunderland can be issued.
Even if he somehow climbs out of Gus Poyet’s doghouse, and earns some playing time, and even finds a goal for the first time in 2014, Altidore will find it difficult to avoid his first season at Sunderland being called anything but a failure.
Poyet’s latest benching of Altidore, which even included him getting a run-out in a Sunderland U-21 match, made it clear the U.S. Men’s National Team striker is not in his plans. With relegation looking unavoidable for the Black Cats, Altidore finds himself facing the very real prospect that he will be joining a new club this summer.
In my latest Goal.com column, I take a look at Altidore’s Sunderland saga, and what could lie ahead in the coming months for the beleaguered striker.
What do you see being next for Altidore? Think there’s any way Altidore stays at Sunderland? What league would you like to see him go to if he leaves? See a return to the Dutch League making sense? Think he should come to MLS?
Give my Altidore column a read and let us know where you think Altidore should go next, and how you see him doing at the World Cup, in the comments section.
Share your thoughts below.
http://i.imgur.com/lpd8nQQ.gif
picture me troIIin’
It appears as if Out the Door is Out the Door once more
Sunderland should loan Jozy out to DC United for the remainder of the EPL season.
Jozy is not a great player, and he is only occasionally good. He does not and never will have the mentality of a great footballer. I watched a lot of him and Sunderland this year it was disappointing. He was consistently out played by defenders. He, playing as a target forward, was a poor target. His positioning and strength were poor. He was even poor at one of his strong suits, drawing fouls. You can not blame Sunderland for his lack of form, and those who do are diluting themselves. I don’t blame Despicable Me Gus for benching him.
Jozy should not be starting for the USMNT this summer without a doubt. He’s still young but I don’t have much hopre for him. I’d like to seem him come back to the MLS to NYC or something and carve out a career in the states.
Then who should be starting?
You most certainly can, and should blame, the middfield on Sunderland.
They provide no service to any forward on the team. Does not matter if it is Jozy, of Fletcher, or Borini, or Wickham, or Scocco.
As Ives has said multiple times, if he was missing lots of chances you would blame him. If he is not getting chances you blan=me the team.
All that REALLY matters is that if chances are created in Brazil, he puts them away. Period.
Sure, Sunderland blows but it’s not like Jozy covered himself in glory there. Between his missed sitters and lack of effort it’s now pretty clear he just doesn’t belong in the EPL.
We can blame lack of service all day but that doesn’t account for his lack of basic soccer skills. He’s just not that good at football.
NOTE: Altidore high scoring in AZ = USNT scoring streak. Altidore joins Sunderland and Altidore stop scoring for USNT.
Altidore should know his value gone way down, Altidore can’t demand same salary like EPL.
He needs to head to the Australian A-league to learn at the feet of the Original Emile Ivanhoe Heskey
LMFAO
Wake up people… Altadore is totally overrated. This has been his history almost everywhere he’s gone. The fact of the matter is he’s simply not that good. End of story It’s not a matter of confidence… its a matter of skill and in that department, he’s lacking
Funny cause the people who are paid money to scout and do research on players seem to think differently.
Do they?
Because given that he was just demoted to the youth team, you seem to contradict yourself.
i think he was referring to jozy’s entire career, not just in the last couple of weeks.
Duke,
You are overstating the case.
1.) Jozy may yet get back for a game or two at the end of the season.
2.) Giacherrini, late of Juve and Italy, has done even worse than Jozy but I doubt that anyone thinks that in one season his accomplishments in Italy were an illusion.
The point is Sunderland made an awful lot of otherwise well regarded individuals look pretty bad this season and vice versa.
3.) Jozy was a fine target man for most of the season, something he never was before he came to Sunderland. Worse center forwards than him have been kept around in the EPL before. There will be teams who will look at the overall picture. Keep an eye on Fletcher and see what happens to him and how much he sells for. His valuation was about 2 miilion more than Jozy’s. Jozy’s accomplishments in Holland will serve him well.
4.) Unlike most of the rest of the Sunderland squad, Jozy will have the World Cup to make his case to the potential buyers.. Assuming JK does not cut him, Jozy could not possibly have more motivation to do well in Brazil.
“Jozy was a fine target man for most of the season, something he never was before he came to Sunderland.”
and *that* is why i don’t think his time at sunderland has been a complete waste. while i still don’t consider it a strength of his, he’s certainly improved his holdup play this season.
Mr. Dollars,
In case you missed it, you be interested:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/apr/08/sunderland-fulham-managerial-changes-premier-league-relegation-ellis-short-steve-mcclaren
I wonder if everyone who thinks Altidore’s career is over feels the same way about Roberto Soldado..
His stat line for the EPL (26games played, 6 goals, 5 assists), and several of Soldado’s goals (4 I believe) were from penalties.
I completely agree that Altidore has had an atrocious season, but it’s not as if good players always immediately adjust and play well. Also, Soldado has had a much, much better team around him (even if it’s not as good as I thought it could be at the beginning of the year).
more like SLOWdado, right? right?
He is a good striker…not great. I really feel that people need to temper their expectations. Hes simply not a world beater, he needs time and space to score, two luxuries a top class striker doesn’t need. Him struggling at Sunderland, or any top flight Premiership team, doesn’t surprise me in the least.
*scratch “top flight”
Not quite “bottom”. I predict he’s gonna have a better World Cup than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Petr Cech, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott COMBINED!
Sunderland = failure
This is just a case of guilt by association.
So where are all the Sunderland defenders now? Back when the move was first announced many of us decried it, but I do distinctly recall many on here saying it was a great chance for him, a good fit, etc… Sunderland avoided the drop by 3pts last year, 9 before that, 8 before that… not exactly a good club, barely even qualifies as a “mid-table” club as they were always in relegation danger. They had freaking Paolo Di Canio coaching them. I always thought the move was terrible and would have been happy to eat crow had it worked out.
So, what’s next? How about a team with a decent midfield? I don’t care where he goes as long as he is able to keep developing his game for the USMNT.
What does he have to do to prove to y’all that he sucks. He doesn’t score, even when he has chances, he looks lazy and disinterested on the pitch, and he has no touch. He sucks and bringing him (and fellow sucker J Jones) as automatic starters to the WC is such a dumb idea.
Especially when you have a guy who has done at least as much as Jozy ever did in AJ. And who has a much better touch and creativity with the ball.
Ok…how many caps, assists, and goals does AJ have? How many for Altidore? How many times has AJ faced Spain, England, Germany, etc,? How many for Altidore?
I get that we’re frustrated with Jozy’s crappy season on a crappy team, but here’s the uncomfortable truth: there is no one else with his skills and experience. Period. I’m not going to waste time poking holes in the next guys cuz they all have some upsides and we’ll need guys like AJ, EJ, and Wondo but an in-form Altidore gives the US another dimension, and one we have to have to get results in Brazil.
Jozy has one season at AZ, which AJ has basically equalled. His caps and “experience” playing big teams comes solely as a result of BB and Klinsi trying to force him to be something he is not. Maybe they see his size and want that dimension, but you cannot make him into a good player through force of will.
Saying that because he has sucked against Germany, Spain and England it gives him some kind of edge is naive. Time to give the next guy a chance rather than screw up the world cup trying to make this guy into something he’s proven he’s not.
Except of course that he didn’t suck vs. Germany, Spain OR England.
You want to screw up the World Cup? Then you throw out the rest of our strikers that have no size against that German backline and let me know how that works out. If we stand ANY chance at all, then we need Jozy somehow playing somewhat to his size.
I am sure that Jozy can suck equally against a big backline as he can against all the small backlines that he has been irrelevant against
Del Griffin, you’re wrong. First of all, Jozy had 2 seasons at AZ and scored 51 goals in 93 games (.548 goals/game). Johannsson has a season and a half at AZ and has 28 goals in 55 games (.509 goals/game). Jozy was also named to De Telegraaf’s Eredivisie Team of the Season.
Aron is very good and but he has not accomplished what Jozy has yet, but he is also 1 year younger and more versatile (can play on the wing).
I get that it’s really a popular sentiment amongst US fans that Jermaine Jones isn’t any good.. but the guy played (and was important) at a top German team for 5-6 years.. he is clearly one of the better players to ever suit up for the US team.
Thank you. People who paid well rate JJ highly and his play for a consistently top 4/6 in Germany proved it.
I hope that Altidore gets out of the EPL. It’s not a good league for his skillset and only bad teams who can’t pass will sign him there. Only three or four teams have any sort of control of their game and the rest play frenetically with a lot of wasted movement. Altidore is a guy who wants to make the run off a midfielder. He’s a natural at it on the National Team with Bradley and Beckerman/Jones.
As other commenters noted, the Bundesliga, Serie A, or MLS (if any team is willing to pay his salary) would be better fits. They’re all much more possession oriented leagues with better psychological tactics (MLS lags behind the other two but is better than the EPL outside the richest teams on that front).
The guy is 24 and this year has been a huge learning experience for him regarding signing with bad teams with poison locker rooms due to batsh*t crazy coaches. Hopefully this experience will help him spot the warning signs next time around. He’ll land somewhere else.
Is this a joke post?
I blame all of the talking heads hat said he needed to leave Holland. I also blame the talking heads who said Sunderland was a good fit.
AZ were going to sell him, no matter what.
Players could deny the transfer.
I said it before; “Ajax or PSV over Sunderland”!
There is no question Jozy is leaving at the end of the season. He should come back to MLS. I think the concept that one needs to play in Europe is becoming obsolete. Clearly, the European leagues are head and shoulders above MLS. However, I am starting to strongly believe that if our best USMNT players are playing domestically, it allows them to play a similar style of football. I think a good part of the reason Italy and Spain are traditionally superior is in part because their Nat player are at home playing a homogenous style of football.
“Clearly the European leagues are head and shoulders above MLS”
I wouldn’t be so sure at this point in time. Everything outside of the big four and the best 3 teams in France are comparable or lower than MLS. The lesser EPL teams are much worse than MLS, at least for young player development. Every MLS team looks to have runs off of midfield through balls whereas Sunderland didn’t really do that this season. The Bundesliga is a more technical league with more advanced in-game psychology. Serie A is actually less athletic than MLS but it requires very quick and sophisticated in-game decisions. Spain is a funny one because the top and middle are better than MLS but not so much on the bottom. Regardless, it’s closer to what works at the international level than the frantic out-of-control pace of most EPL teams.
No.
I watch a lot of soccer (pretty much the only sport I watch except for March Madness), and your analysis is WAY off base. You can argue the top team in MLS could be here or there, but in terms of average quality of the league, there are 7 or 8 better than MLS in Europe. Keep in mind, you have to play against lesser competition an d how much is one really improved by that.
Cavan,
“Everything outside of the big four and the best 3 teams in France are comparable or lower than MLS.”
I don’t see how you could possibly prove that.
Here is UEFA’s 2014 ranking of the countries by league in Europe
1 Spain
2 England
3 Germany
4 Italy
5 Portugal
6 France
7 Russia
8 Netherlands
9 Ukraine
10 Belgium
11 Turkey
Galatasary is from the 11th ranked league, Turkey ,and if there was blood and money on the line I’m pretty sure they can beat anyone MLS puts up.
Comparing MLS to the European leagues does not really work because they never play each other in circumstances where both teams are in mid-season form and the game actually counts for both sides.
This happens in the Champions’ league or the Europa league for example. American fans seem to be the only people who think friendlies are a valid way to make the comparison. The European teams simply don’t take them seriously. They are here for the revenue and to vacation.
There are lots of MLS players who could play in any number of European teams at any level. But you can say the same thing about a lot of South American, African and Asian nations. There are a lot of factors involved in making it with a big European team and talent is not always the leading factor.
That said, how many MLS players are bought by and then go on to be regulars in the Top four teams? Now compare that number to how many of those kind of players come from the Euro teams outside the top four ( and the big three in France) or from the rest of the world excluding MLS .
” Regardless, it’s closer to what works at the international level than the frantic out-of-control pace of most EPL teams.”
That depends on the individual player and the individual international team.
The style of any national team depends entirely on who is available to play for them.
The all-time classic example of that is Spain. Luis Aragonés saw what was happening at Barca. He knew Spain’s history of playing beautifully but he was tired of Spain being physically beaten up by other European and South American powers who were the physically superior and used his variation of tiki-taka to protect a defense that appeared suspect to maintain possession and dominate games. The rest is history.
The US’ big problem remains a limited talent pool. We need more quality competition at fullback, center back and the winger positions but it won’t happen before June.
The depth is far better than it was even under Bob Bradley but, and US fans really lose sight of this, the rest of the world is not exactly standing still either.
In the 2010 WC the US was arguably the least talented team in its group. At best it was even with Algeria and Slovenia.
In 2014 the US is absolutely the least talented team in its group.
More to the point in terms of talent the US is probably in the bottom third of the 32 teams in the 2014 World Cup.
The USMNT has always punched above its weight but having more and better talent would make life easier.
JK is out there turning over rocks for dual nationals for a reason.
Every Julian Green you add makes the bar higher for everyone else. Green will help upgrade the overall talent level of the USMNT players, present and future, if only for that reason.
Every single time this comes up all I can say is what I said originally: he should have never left AZ to go to a FAR worse team.
I get the allure of England but AZ are far superior to Sunderland, so much so that it’s laughable. He went from playing in Europe to not playing for one of the worst top tier clubs in any of the big European leagues. Awful, awful decision. Said it then and I’ll continue saying it.
as long as you continue saying it, someone else (me, in this case) will keep pointing out that AZ had decided to sell jozy, and replace him with aron. yes, he could’ve refused to go, but then he wouldn’t really be in a good situation there, either.
Thank you! I hate when people ask like the sale was him pushing it not AZ wanting to capitalize on his value.
Agree!
He obviously made the wrong decision in terms of what team he went to, but it’s not like he forced his way out of AZ — they were looking for a return and to sell when his value was highest.
Perhaps Altidore should’ve seen the writing on the all about Di Canio, but I’d say the Sunderland brass believed in him enough to back him well in the summer and Di Canio made it clear he wanted/valued Altidore. That feeling of being wanted, and the higher salary he makes, probably made it very tough to turn down Sunderland.
Have you ever been divorced? Even amicably? And then tried to live in the same house with your Ex?
Sometimes, things are just over.
AZ signed AJ before Jozy left and were clearly prepping him to succeed Jozy. Jozy never made a secret of being open to staying but that could well have been a negotiating ploy by AZ to up the price.
Just because the location he moved to wasn’t ideal, it doesn’t mean moving on was a bad idea. Unlike, you I don’t believe in staying where you are not really wanted.
Jozy is a better player today for having moved on.
Haven’t read most of the responses, so forgive me. Another PL move is out of the question, imo. 3 times the charm? No thanks.
I think he’s proved he’s a good player as far as the Eredivise goes… At this point I’d love to see him take a small step up and try Ligue 1 out. Does Jozy speak French at all?
Ligue 1 would be perfect, I think. It’s the 5th ranked league in the world. The top teams he will play against are truly world class. The style of play is much more progressive than the bottom half of EPL and a ton of great strikers that have similar tools and skills as Jozy have come through the league. His parents are Haitian and I know he has strong ties to the country, so he may speak French and there are prominent Haitian communities in many French cities. It seems like a no brainer to me.
“Altidore finds himself facing the very real prospect that he will be joining a new club this summer.”
THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST
From the start, the team didn’t play well, didn’t get any results. You could see the players were not making the extra pass. They would just shoot if they were within distance of hitting the goal. You can argue that Jozy wasn’t scoring so they didn’t make the extra pass, but I’d say they stopped making that pass right from the start, and so Jozy never had a chance.
ITA. You noticed it immediately in their first match against Fulham, just giving the ball away after 1 or 2 passes. He had a few half chances in that match, but no one else did much better. Johnson and Larson were content to shoot 40 yards from goal, probably because they knew they were never going to see the ball on that team.
Nurnberg in the Bundesliga. Low to mid-table club and Verbeek is the coach. Knows Jozy and his style and could get him on the cheap right now. Great place for him too I think. They have some decent attacking players there, and Verbeek has them playing well.
To my mind the big question is the World Cup. Can Jozy play well there?
Both he and Kevin Bacon scored lots of goals at AZ. Does JK try to mold the teams play to be similar to AZ’s style? It would fit his two top goal scorers preferred method of playing, rather than the 4 2 3 1 style that Jozy has not thrived in.
Is that why we saw the diamond 4 against Mexico? JK is trying to find a way to make his top strikers feel as comfortable as possible? Also did not MB score lots of goals in the Dutch league?
Sunderland is dreadful. I still like Jozy starting this summer, but in the 4-4-2 with Dempsey. Bradley as the 8.
The season at Sunderland is a lost cause. Jozy, forget about it when it is over and move on! The mids on the team suck, and there is no service to anyone playing forward, even the fan favorite Borini can do nothing up top.
It was interesting that he played with the under 21s. Did not score a goal but the team won 3-0. Wonder if he made the other players better. Perhaps he asked to play with them, since he was not going to play with the first team. He needs game time to keep up the fitness (for the WC) and sitting in the stands in street clothes like OShea or Giaccherini would not help.
Jozy makes like $3.5 million a season. Who is going to pay that amount for him? He may cut his wages but surely no more than 1.75 million.
I think MLS would definitely pay him $3.5M. Maybe more. NYCFC could sign him and loan him out for 6 months before they start 2015.
He should go to the Championship with Sunderland and reclaim his spot up top and get promoted next year.
Sunderland is a mess: (1) they are so poor that they WILL not get promoted next year. The top Championship teams are better. I get Bein Sports and watch some Championship games. They might be mid table (not because of talent but because of the way they play;
(2) the better players will leave Sunderland which will make them arguably worse; and (3) the DON’T play for Poyet (nor did they for DiCannio). There’s poision in that locker room.
The guy who signed him was sacked and the new manager doesn’t want to play him. This happens all the time to lots of players – it’s not a big deal. The player just moves on, which is what Jozy will do this summer.
Exactly. This is bradley at villa all over again. So many people thought bradley was doomed at that point.
It’s a hiccup in a long professional career.
Sorry but you are wrong-Gus has given Jozy more than enough opportunity to prove himself.More chance than O’Neill or Do Canio gave Connor Whickham.
MLS baby. The Miami Fusion
The people suggesting Everton need to seriously reevaluate their objectivity.
For one, Everton fans would riot at even an informal suggestion of bringing on a striker with one league goal in an entire season.
Two, they will have pickings of strikers far better than Altidore for equal or lesser wages and transfer outlay.
I do agree that it is highly unlikely he could land in Everton. However, the scenario I could see would be if Jozy has a great WC in Brazil and Everton makes champions league. They will need another striker or two at that point. I could foresee a loan deal and Jozy picking up scrap minutes. Also consider that Martinez knows Jozy well from covering USA World Cup for ESPN and I could imagine has kept an eye on a few American players more so than your average European manager.
He isn’t going to MLS
That is giving up. We need the best Yanks playing for good clubs in Europe. If we want them to collect $$$ send them to the Middle East or China where they throw $ millions at so-so foreign players for no reason. MLS needs true value for the performances.
Jozy needs to fight it out in Europe. A lot of more talented players flop in England. I would bet u the White House in 2016 that he’d be a star in Germany or France.
If he comes back to MLS I agree he would be giving up. I Hope he gets offers from portugal or spain
Coming back to MLS isn’t giving up. If you’re an American and you hate on MLS that’s just stomach turning to me. Nothing personal but I’m just sick of everyone thinking that playing in Europe is the end all and be all.
If you are choosing to go home over playing at your highest level possible, you are giving up
I like and follow MLS, and agree that it’s not a step-down if his other options are some lower level leagues like Norway or Austria or something..
But anyone who watches soccer can tell you that for someone at the start of their “prime” to head to MLS vs trying France, Netherlands, etc.. it is giving up.
Desmond,
You are overreacting. Jozy is only 24 and may want to see how far he can take it. Having had two goods years and a one bad year does not mean that he should give up his dream to play at the highest level possible, which to him means Europe.
He may have the World Cup to prove he is better than he has shown so far.
That he may be looking at things that way does not mean he hates MLS.
Why would he?
The MLS is giving up argument isn’t viable any more. And it especially isn’t “giving up” if the player is going to get a much higher salary like Bradley. These guys play for the money after all – and there’s nothing wrong with that since they are professional soccer players.
Not too many guys, and certainly not Jozy , are going to get Deuce and Bradley money.
FRENCH/GERMAN/ITALIAN leagues
He could find a mid-table club willing to give him a chance. He will have to cut his wages. I believe he makes like $3.5 million a year. Might have to take a 60-66% wage cut though
But if he scores some goals in BRazil, he will get this move
I’m guessing he’s going to any team, anywhere that will offer him even decent money. At this point its a gamble signing him for any amount. He has been good but he has also proved he cannot play in the EPL, so he will have to step down. Life’s tough but he should get credit him for coming back to the EPL after the Hull disaster and trying again. Good luck to him, I hope he has success wherever he lands.
I’d say the real question is does he make the trip to Brazil, for me it’s a no.
The problem is who else will you play at center forward.?
Altidore is not going to Mexico, Spain or Germany. He’s just not technical enough.
If MLS is good enough for Bradley then why not Altidore? Especially if they pay him 6 times his worth.
MLS, Scotland, or the Netherlands are the only viable options I see at this point. Altidore is a damaged brand outside the US and will need someone willing to buy low and take a risk on him.
To be fair, Eredivisie is also a technical league, and he did very well there, though I do think that he punched above his weight at AZ.
He’s a good fit for some teams in Germany and France. His style is not good fit for Scotland although he might do well there. Not a lot teams in EPL have a lot of build up play with wings which assist the striker. Those that do (Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool) are too good to look at him or would not look at him (Everton, Swansea).
Again, it is getting annoying when people start writing that MLS teams will pay for him when VERY few teams can afford 7-figure annual contracts and and fewer actually do it. For something to happen, you need product and a buyer. There are very few buyers who can afford this annual salary requirements. Jozy makes 7 figures and always has since being in Europe (in varying degrees). He can still get that and should not take 6 figures. Now if a team ( a la Portland) wants to pay him 2/3 million a season, why not. However, they can’t and won’t.
Well nobody is saying that new england is going to buy him. But Jozy is the most marketable usmnt player not already in mls. If he’s open to a return, the 3-4 mls teams that do pay those salaries should jump at the chance.
Why would he go to Scotland over MLS?
He is too sloppy to play La Liga. He is too sloppy to play high end EPL ball, they won’t want him. He is affordable to a lesser English side but not suited to playing back to goal hoofball and dependent on service. What he is actually suited to is coming at people like a freight train from the sides, and poaching at an OK clip in the box. He has shown he can do that in Holland and MLS. Go where he is suited. Someone will pay him reasonably and he will produce well or at least decent. He will be ready to go in the colors.
Or we can take the Adu/ Gooch route where eyes bigger than our stomach ruin our careers. He might even deserve better treatment and service, but you get paid to score and we benefit from a player scoring for his club, because he then seems to play well for country. In his particular case, a humble pie move benefits all concerned, and even the Big Club Obsessives must see by now he is a square peg in a round hole.
There are lots of players that fail in the EPL, but do well in other top leagues. I never thought he was a good fit for the style of the EPL. With the exception of a few teams, I am not a fan of it as well.
It’s the same catch 22 as for other USA players. The sort of teams where he would get more service and have better support can buy anyone they want. The teams lower in the EPL and eager for Jozy-types are often blunt instruments. Only certain players like Cameron who played for blunt instrument teams like the Dynamo are suited to that.
I think the creme of our crop can play anywhere but the second tier on down tend to be suited to particular leagues where their skills set versus minuses meshes. I always thought Jozy was better on the run even though he looks like a target guy (and isn’t…..like Kenny Cooper). I think he’s better off in a fast paced league with less stout defenses and emphasis on holdup play…..Holland. He’s clearly been a success in Holland before so that would offset his Sunderland year in terms of making the pitch.
Sunderland is a mess. Remember Giaccherini? This is a guy who played for Juventus and the Italian Nat’l team yet mostly can’t see the field with S’land. It’s like Poyet doesn’t want to use his best players in their best positions.
Jozy to Liga MX. The competition is good, and the defenders are more relaxed. A good league for attacking players.
I would love him to go to play in Liga MX. Wont pay as much as MLS but stronger competition. And i would enjoy watching more mexican football
Are you saying LigaMX won’t overpay millions of dollars for Jozy?
They might, but i think MLS would overpay more
Sunderland is crap but Jozy hasn’t exactly looked like he belongs in a better team.
He should just thank Sunderland for the opportunity and give some of the money back on his way out. MLS is waiting with open arms and a bigger contract that he’d get anywhere else.
People keep repeating this nonsensical retort WITHOUT doing any research of thinking. Very few teams pay 6 figure annual contracts, approximately 4/5. Unless other teams change their pay structures and loose their DPs, the major MLS options are not there. This Perhaps when the new teams enter, but NYCFC doesn’t start play until 2015. Jozy will not drop to 6 figures, he’s definitely a 7 figure striker, and if you don’t see that…well… that’s on you.
Anthony, you do know that NYRB currently has a DP slot open, right? Also, Alsonso is barely a DP, so something can be worked out. Also, who knows what happens to OmarG after WC. And finally, a team like KC can step up as apparently they were willing to pay Bradley as much as TFC did. So, if tomorrow Altidore makes himself available to MLS for a transfer fee of $5mm and salary of $2.5mm, I would expect NYRB, NYCFC, KC, Chicago, Montreal, LAG to be a taker for sure and potentially also Seattle, Portland, Orlando, Dallas and Houston. That’s enough interest. It’s true that he may not want to come back yet or his $ demands are higher, but this outcome cannot be ruled out at all
ok…I stand corrected
if only people would do their research before stating meaningless facts. Eh.
I’ll swallow my crow, but I was under the impression that NYRB was not reality since Henry and Jozy play the same position and I did not think Henry was retiring next season.
I’d bet most MLS teams would figure out a way to make room for Jozy if he became available. He would likely have his choice of destination
I posted this a couple of days ago…very late into a conversation about JA and Sunderland. Reposting for feedback and beat down. At the end of the day, i agree, JA needs to move on…probably out of PL.
I did a little research on who is scoring goals at Sunderland. The complaint has been that he’s not scoring..with the excuse that he gets no service. Seems there’s some accuracy to the forwards getting no service.
The production of the “other strikers” is not THAT telling.The two other strikers with goals have a combined 6 goals (3 each to JA’s 1). And 2 of those six goals are PKs. so the other two strikers have scored two each from the run of play. The team has scored only 21 goals ..less than a goal a game. The bulk of the goals (18) came from Midfielders (8 from one guy). The other 3 goals came from defenders. What’s it all mean? Partially means that service does suck…the other two strikers aren’t scoring either. Goals are being scored by MFs after the ball is lumped up front to single forwards hoping to control the ball and invite others to play.
Seems Dunderland is hapless with or without JA…. Perhaps the only difference btw him and other strikers is what Sunderland agreed to pay him. And his salary does not match his production.
This. Poyet’s system kills strikers, it’s not like Fletcher or Borini (as a striker, not on the wing) or Wickham or Poyet’s toy Scocco have been lighting it up either. Poyet wants strikers to occupy the CBs and lay off the ball to midfielders, who then shoot from 35 yards out.
Doesn’t matter anyway, Dunderland is going down and Poyet can take his tactical genius either to the Championship or to a beach somewhere after he gets sacked.
Its interesting that your thoughtful analysis of the numbers does indeed prove that the problem is, Jozy is not scoring.
True, and neither is anyone else at Sunderland.
These are the variables that teams looking to BUY will consider.
Dude, props on this research. Super interesting.
Excellent research. Intriguing to say the least. Having watched around 15 Sunderland games this year I have to agree with you. Additionally, iirc, a few of those other striker goals were shot from outside the box as well…which is something jozy is not interested in doing for whatever reason on this team.
+1, well done
The numbers don’t completely let Jozy off the hook though. Sunderland’s attack is terrible. Everyone knows this. That point has been beaten to death. I don’t think the majority of people are saying Jozy is a bad player all the sudden. However, despite the lack of support he gets, he really hasn’t been playing well. He is a part of the problem at Sunderland. He is not a player doing all the right things despite the hapless players around him. He looks like a player who has truly given up. His movement is lazy. He just floats around central areas hoping the ball comes to him. There is no hunger to get involved. No purpose in his runs. Generally, he only has scraps to deal with, but he doesn’t seem like he wants to fight for everything he can get. With such poor support around him, he should be fighting for everything. Making darting runs towards goal or checking to the ball. He has to make his own luck. He hasn’t done that. Like I said, he has become part of the problem instead of a potential solution for them.
Agree
I say go to Rangers … yes, they’ll “only” be in the 2nd level of Scottish football next year. However, he would obviously get to start game-in and game-out and work on his finishing touch. Then, in just a year and a half, they’ll be back in the Scottish Prem. League and fighting for a UEFA Champions League spot. He’s still definitely young enough for this to be a viable option. He can also try to move to yet another EPL team that’ll be fighting to avoid relegation.
I had not thought if this until you mentioned it, but it does seem like a viable option. Altidore is a damaged brand at this point in time. A club that is in a lower division, but will undoubtedly rise in the next few years, and has a history with signing US players makes a lot if sense. The Rangers could take a buy low risk on Altidore and have it make sense, in my opinion.
If he survives a year and half in the Scottish 2nd division. It’s a no autopsy no foul league for sure.
Haha, that’s funny.
Idk the Guatamalan or Romanian leagues sound better than the Scottish Second… NASL probably pays the same too.
Yes, a nightmare of a season for Jozy and a shame that his agent was stupid enough to line up the deal and that Jozy was not wise enough to nix it. That said, I think a majority of the blame for his awful season can be blamed on 1) the rotten and dysfuntional (un-)team that Sunderland is 2) and probably a clash of personalities with Poyet, who seems at this point to have followed in Di Canio’s footsteps and lost the locker room. I said back in November or whenever Di Canio was fired that I would have kept Kevin Ball as coach. He seemed like a class the guy and team actually appeared to have comaraderie and actually looked decent, but no, Sunderland management in its infinite wisdom had to bring in an outsider. Would love to see Jozy go to the Bundesliga.
My gut feeling is that Jozy is going to come out of the World Cup gates full force with a huge chip on his shoulder and prove to the world how good he is. And if he doesn’t and he flops, we have a great back-up striker whose name is Chris WondoWloswski and I think is going to be one of the surprises of WC 2014,either as a starter or a sub.
You have to put some of the blame on Jozy as well. He has missed more than a handful of chances he should have put away. It is definitely not all his fault, but he is partly responsible for his poor form. His attitude has been in question all season on the pitch. He is constantly throwing his arms up, yelling at his teammates, and losing balls when he should be winning him. It shows he is still a bit immature, and the benching at AZ seem more warranted now. But, he is also on a team that can’t create well either. I say he goes to a low level French team, or the MLS.
And How many valuable minutes are we going to give him against Ghana?
The guy is obviously not in form. he has no confidence in front of goal whatsoever.
Are we resting the hopes of a nation on a guy who just has not performed at all at the club level? This could be a very painful lesson for Klinsmann and USA fans. I personally would rather give the minutes to guys who are fighting and succeeding at the club level rolling into the cup rather than a guy who has just been demoted to the U-21 squad of a miserable team.
I agree, that if the SS USMNT appears to be sinking in the WC waters that Jozy will have be thrown overboard. And, yes, that is a valid point that starting a Jozy who can’t put the ball in the net in must-win game like Ghana would be massive mistake. But Klinsmann has the three friendlies to make a judgement on Jozy’s form. We will see. But it could be that when Jozy gets back in the loving and nurturing atmosphere of the USMNT that he come out of his depressed form, sort of like electro shock. But, as I said, if not we have Wondow and Eddie and Bacon, who I am still skeptical if he can transform his Dutch league form to the international level. I’m not sure he can.
Just so you all remember, these things were being said of him, before he scored three for the USMNT, against Bosnia. Then all was well until he went back to crappy Sunderland . I believe he will thrive this summer and have an outstanding WC.
True, but he was in form and playing consistently with AZ. In some of the interviews after he went on his tear with the usmnt he was always asked if it was a confidence issue that had been lacking…which he kinda downplayed.. I think a lot of people disagree..
The hope is he’s self aware and hungry enough to get into camp like a QB who just threw a lot of picks…. with a short memory
Fair question. JK has a camp and 3 games to make that call.
If he does show enough to earn the start against Ghana, I’d bet he’s on a short leash as this is a 1000% must win.
If not, I’d expect to see JK playing some form of a 2 man front… we’ll see how many times he tinkers with the formation in the 3 send off games
I don’t think that club form necessarily translates to the NT. Even when he was scoring for AZ, he went on a near 2 year drought for the US. I’m not saying his time at Sunderland has a zero percent chance of effecting his WC play, but I don’t think that it’s a surefire thing either. I have a feeling he’s going to score in Brazil.
Credit to Wondolowski for scoring against Mexico, but I’m skeptical that he can play well consistently against high-quality opposition. Most of his goals in a U.S. shirt have been against teams like Cuba & Guatemala, who of course will not be in Brazil this summer.
This is such a tiresome talking point.
Wondo gave John Terry nightmeres in an ASG, enough so that Terry gave him high marks for his cleverness in the box and ability to cause problems for a back line. I am sure Terry knows a thing or two about someone who has quality.
Am I saying he’s an instant starter or world class? No. But stop with the “he only scores in CONCACAF” talk. IN a big game mabe he doesn’t score but having that ability to pester and upset a central paircould do wonders for his strike partner or a MF coming in late on the attack.
Wondo needs to be on the 23 man roster..tactically sound and will sacrifice any body part to put the ball on frame..while these two players are miles apart on accomplishments, Wondo is a similar style player to Klose and I like that..Wondo works so hard and JK sees that…
+1 Kosh
Wondo is the guy that you want in the 6 yard box if the ball is bouncing around in there. Doesnt create chances too many chances for himself, but a goal is a goal.
I am absolutely, 100% convinced that Wondo is going to come on for us as a sub in a key game and score a key goal to help us secure a spot in the knockout round.
Also, I am convinced that in addition to Wondo Klinsy is going to take Brek Shea and Beckermann with him to Brazil. Shea starting to look like the only shock out of that group of 3 though now.
would sure be nice if Shea started getting minutes with Stoke. He does have the potential to be a super sub game changer and no doubt in my mind that at the current time he a much better choice then Julian Green.
All due respect but Poyet is a quality manager. He won League 1 with Brighton, and 2 years later had them in the Championship promotion semis. This year they have slipped back down to 8th. Poyet then took over a winless EPL side and has gotten 6 wins and 6 draws plus a cup final out of the squad. Something has gone awry since February, but his performance this year reminds me of Martinez at Wigan, who took some stick for that relegation but also had them in a cup final, and look what he’s done at Everton. I think it serves some people to blame the managers for Jozy’s performance, but at what point do they acknowledge he has 1 league goal in 27 appearances? I don’t think you can blame the manager for that kind of production…..they may be a struggling side but there are plenty of players with more goals and one guy with 8. They all have the same coaches…..
“at what point do they acknowledge he has 1 league goal in 27 appearances? I don’t think you can blame the manager for that kind of production…..they may be a struggling side but there are plenty of players with more goals and one guy with 8. They all have the same coaches”
i haven’t seen anybody deny jozy’s goalscoring record. what i have seen are arguments pointing out that yes, there are other players with more goals, but not when they’re playing as striker. if *none* of the players up top are scoring goals–including your goalscoring winger (borini) when you move him up top–it’s time to look at the system, and by extension, the manager.
and i disagree: i don’t think poyet is a quality manager. i think he’s a capable manager for a lower league side that works within his system. but i do think he’s an improvement over di canio, if that was your argument.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/apr/08/sunderland-fulham-managerial-changes-premier-league-relegation-ellis-short-steve-mcclaren
Mr Dollars,
You and the IV might want to read this article about Poyet concerning his Sunderland tenure.
good article. the guardian and i at least agree that poyet is well-suited for the championship.
He just isn’t that good.
Go back to AZ Alkmaar link up and solidify partnership/understanding with Aron Johannsson up top. Sunderland has no midfield to give him service up front and look extremely lost any time they take the field, and its hurting his game and value tremendously. LA Galaxy, RSL or Seattle is better than Sunderland at this point. I think playing up front and finding consistency with Aron at AZ and our two strikers getting to know each other technically is more beneficial for both him and the national team than staying in Sunderland.
Any evidence that AZ wants him back?
The team is different. The coach is gone and they sold some of his teammates who played with him.
I think he’s scored like 3 goals between his spell at hull and sunderland. No one in the premiership will want this guy.
Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. All he needs are some playmakers and he’ll be world class.
–jozy fanboyz
really? cause i’ve never heard anyone say that.
Jozy Jozy!! It’s time to men up and create your own opportunities. Jozy is not at 100% fault either. He doesn’t have help from the mid or upfront.. I would like to see Jozy in La Liga. (Atl. Madrid, Villareal or Sevilla..
He was already at Villarreal…they let him go and didn’t rate him.
Atletico Madrid? Where Falcao, Costa, Forlan, and Aguero were the stars? Lol no. I doubt altidore would fit in with one of the best teams in the world
Lol
funny that you mention forlan, since he was (at age 23) considered a flop in the premier league as well, scoring only 10 goals in two seasons with a much much better team.
As i recall most man U fans liked forlan. He scored really important goals. And he isnt like altidore who started most of his games, he was mostly a sub player. Not to mention he was always behind Nistlerooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Don’t forget Forlan had to spend 3 years at Villareal before moving to Atletico.
Everton? with Lukaku leaving, and no more Anichebe, it may be a good fit. They have the players to get him the ball, he just needs to take care of the rest.
But can they sell the signing to their fans, at any price? Would they want to even chance it? I don’t think Jozy has any credibility in the EPL. I suppose I can’t speak for everyone there (or Roberto Martinez), but he has not shown well to say the least. Holland, or maybe France. Don’t see MLS just yet, but with NYCFC… who knows.
Everton also is known for making shrewd signings instead of flashing the cash for big names. Would be great to see Jozy with actual good players who can feed him the ball and a competent coach for once.
Might be a tough sell, they’ve always been fiscally responsible, but Jozy’s lack of production in the EPL over two years is pretty telling.
On a positive note, with Barca’s transfer ban I’m sure Deulofeu will be back in Spain next year. Everton will need another cheap, dynamic youngster that won’t get much PT at a giant club….enter, Julian Green?
Seriously? He has much chance of signing with Bayern Munich as he does with Everton.
Sunderland can always loan him out to Everton, another EPL team, a Dutch team, or, even, an MLS team. If he plays better next season they won’t lose as much money on a transfer.
Everton? So he can’t even get in the 18 for the worst team in the league and a team that’s possibly champions league bound is going to sign him? Are you biff in disguise?
I doubt that he will brought in by Everton either (it’s a different regime – Martinez vs Moyes). However, the fact he is in the doghouse has more to do with his relations with Poyet than skill. The other other strikers have not scored more than 2 goals from open play. Jozy has 1 (or 2 if you count the goal taken back at Arsenal). He is also 2nd on the team in assist and actually top in penalties won.
I’d be frustrated and pissed off as well. He should leave.
i think the people dismissing everton (and dortmund, i guess) as an option are making the mistake of assuming that he’d go there as their top striker.
re: dortmund, biff has repeatedly said that he’d be replacing schieber (backup striker), not lewandowski.
i don’t know that it’s likely either team will take him, simply due to his current wages, but if he lowers his demands, i could see everton picking him up for depth in cup games.
Hey, Nate Dollars. That is not exactly what I said. I said I felt that he could function adequately within the Dortmund system and that he is most definitely better than Julian Schieber, who is one of the true major mistake transfers Klopp has made. Jozy’s touch is not bad like some (including the tr*lls) allege. Yes, it could be better. But his one-touch passing, I think, is very good and that is what Dortmund excels at.
But back to the point, the news that Dortmund signed Adrian Ramos changes the whole equation. He could end up being the back-up striker. Apparently, Dortmund has decided not to pay the kind of money it would take to get Dzeko. But there have been reports they are interested in Lukaku, and I can imagine that Jose Mourinho would love to see Dortmund muscled up to be more competitive with his number one enemy, the current coach of Bayern. And the other player Dortmund is really hot on is Nurnberg striker Josep Dermic, who has been the most important player for Nurnberg this season, well, except of course, for Timothy Chandler who had those two good games in January 🙂 And if Nurnbergs falls the 2. Bundesliga, Dermic has a release clause for a paltry 5 million and Dortmund is preparing to spring for him if Nurnberg goes down.
thanks for the clarification. i actually think ramos could fit in very well as the top striker at dortmund, but then, it’s not my team, so i’m sure i’m less demanding than a true fan.
lukaku to dortmund would be fun to watch, but maybe not so much for ramos.
If he plays in Brazil and scores a few goals he can go to many of the places mentioned. People will blame the Sunderland disaster and he will be sexy again.
If he doesn’t, he will be sold for $500k to Chicago Magic.
Simple enough?
Scores a few goals? He can’t buy a goal in the EPL al season he’s going to suddenly score a few in the group of death? He shouldn’t even start and it’s debatable if he should even be on the plane.
Then Chicago Magic it is. Unfortunately, he will probably have his career ended by a two footed lunge from my neighbor’s nephew.
on the plane? That is not debatable.
Wow! Glad you are not US Manager, we would likely be asked to leave by our own Federation after losing so severely against Ghana just to avoid embarassing ourselves any further… if you were deciding the squad…
The trouble is when Jozy gets the ball he doesn’t seem to know what to do with it. Believe me nobody wanted him to succeed more than me but when a striker is 2 foot from goal and puts the ball over the bar or past the post when its appears harder to miss than to score then there is a problem.He throws himself at players as if there is a barrier stopping him getting thru.. I know what I’m talking about I have seen every game Jozy has played for Sunderland. He does give the impression that he is lazy just jogging around and not making any attempt to win the ball. I would like to think we will get what we paid for him or maybe we should keep him- the championship might be his level.
Holland or MLS, leagues where his pluses are appreciated (and he is productive) and his minuses less obvious. Jozy has a long history of transfer flops so I never understood leaving AZ with the year before the World Cup under contract. Sunderland had just barely survived relegation so I think it was hubris to not see this as at least potentially Hull again. Nor do I think he is suited to the style of your average English hoofball side, as he looks like a target but is not one….which is only going to frustrate managers who think they’ve signed one.
AZ was going to sell him. The only issue was to where. They are a major selling club. They were selling every key player who had played with Jozy (Adam Maher). The only problem was the destination.
IDK about AZ selling him this year. They know he’s good for at least 25 goals this season. Keep him til after the WC. Imagine his selling price if he scores. And Altidore gets more choices. It’s a win win.
In my opinion, it’s Altidore’s fault for his piss poor season in Sunderland. I really really like like the guy as a player and a person. I think he has a very high ceiling but he really sucks at picking teams to play for.
Why would anybody pay top dollar for a guy that is not a scorer on the club level or with the Nats? Yes he had a good experience in Holland but that was it. I can’t see him having any real market value at this point. Not even with MLS
I see him coming back to the mls, if anyone could afford him…..
MLS seems to be affording any USMNT player it desires, so yes, that’s probably where’s he’s headed this August
It all depends how his World Cup goes. Bag a few against 3 quality opponents (or, hopefully more) and people will be knocking.
Sunderland’s enough of a joke that, if Jozy can score internationally, suitors will overlook that hiccup.
+1
+1 I don’t get the sense that Jozy wants to come back to MLS. That said, I didn’t expect Bradley back either.
I have wondered about this as well. His family is in Jersey, right? So maybe NYCFC will go after him. He would be expensive but they could, no doubt, afford him. Not sure it would be a great move for him, but I think it could happen.
Makes sense.
Wouldn’t be shocked if that happened, or even back to NYRB since Henry isn’t back next year?
They don’t start playing until 2015. And the rich teams who spend (7 figures) already have their 3 DPs. There just isn’t space unless he wants to drop to 6 figures which I would not do.
RBNY has an open DP spot and I think Altidore would be a good fit. A lot depends on what happens at the world cup but I think it’s a possibility.
If they do, he would have to displace Henry
Not necessarily. RBNY still have an open DP spot. He could play next to Henry until Henry leaves.
Yeah, he’d be with Henry this year and then I expect Henry will retire.
His family is in Boca Raton, FL. He will probably go to Miami
It’s a great question. But to answer the question, you have to ask whether Jozy’s awful season is on him, or is it the fact that he’s playing for one of the worst Premier League teams of the last few years? I have a hard time thinking that any striker could find success there.
Let’s triple down on a move to another English side then. Ignore the lessons of 2008-2011 and 2013-2014. How many years of his career are we going to burn this way?
The dominant attacking figures in 2010 were Bradley, Dempsey, and Donovan — all I remember is Altidore going 0-fer a tournament where we played 4 games — so the idea that he came out OK from the last slack period is overstated. IMO he plays well when he is in a productive place.
You’ve forgetten where he torched Carragher and had his shot tipped onto the post vs England. The final pass that led to the Dempsey chance/Donovan goal vs Algeria. His turn and lay off the Feilhaber which forced a great save vs Ghana. Only a couple moments off the top of my head but he had a solid WC even without the goals.
He may be on the worst team in the league, but he has only shown to be a part of the problem rather than any sort of silver lining. Its up to Jozy and his agent to find him a good home now. Hopefully they see a team fighting relegation probably isn’t the place for him…
Good performances against England and Algeria. Assist on Bradley’s goal against Slovenia.
Decent World Cup if you ask me
Also he was only 20 at the time.
That is the same thing I have been saying. They also forget that early on he drew a handful of penalties which resulted in goals. It just doesn’t show on his stats, which is a shame because he had a bigger impact on those goals than those who took it.
I agree and I’ve said it before. Switch Jozy to Everton and Lukaku to Sunderland and the results would show it. Jozy would get all the service and support he needed as Lukaku does and Lukaku would be starving for chances as Jozy is.
+1,000,000
Yup, Jozy has been on two historically bad EPL teams now. I hope he, at some point gets a shot on a good EPL team but at thispoint why would convince anyone to take that risk?
It would be nice to seem him finish strong if he is really on his way out of England. Unfortunately, right now he is on track to make one of those”Top Ten Rubbish Footballers” lists that the Sun//Mirror etc. throw together every few months, along with Marco Boogers, Bebe, Roque Junior, and Ali Dia.
There are no good BPL teams outside the top 5
To say Jozy is faultless in his failure at Sunderland is completely off the mark though. True, much of the problem is the lack of support he has gotten in the attack. However, Jozy hasn’t been a bright spot in a poor team. His performances have been really poor and lazy at times. If you’re trying to say Jozy is near the player of Lukaku you’ve really got your rose tinted glasses on. He is a much better player than he has shown this year, but Lukaku is on track to be one of the top strikers around.
Your on to something – and since Lukaku is not likely to be released by Chelsea (he’s on loan to Everton) – why not take Altidore on at Everton, ey Roberto? He would flourish at Everton.
All due respect but Lukaku has been loaned out twice to EPL sides and shone. I don’t understand why CFC may not keep him. The argument you’re making is like the Atlanta fans saying Seattle wasn’t well attended in the minors. We should assume the reversal of performance if the teams were switched. Massive assumption, begs the question. Basic evidence suggests otherwise.
Go back to the Dutch league. Rebuild your confidence. A striker needs to be scoring.
I agree…Sunderland is a shambles…take a player like Giaccherini that came off a good season with Juventus and a positive showing in the Confed Cup and now nothing…this was not all on Jozy…
Ive almost seen every Sunderland game this year, and to be honest, their team is $hit.. There is no service, and they defending for 85% of every game.. No one has scored for Sunderland.. if they get 2-3 chances a game, that is a lot… Altidore has not been great, but he does not deserve this treatment..
I agree with this also if you guys want we put a podcast talking about that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlIRil4RGbA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Getting ready to watch AZ and Johansson try to pull off a miracle in Lisbon…but will check out the podcast…have it bookmarked
brad, you’re a girlie man, plain and simple…
Would much rather see this guy back in MLS than Brooke Shea