Photo by Andrew Mills/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
By SBI SOCCER
Juan Carlos Osorio’s appointment as Mexico manager appears to be imminent, and one of his future rivals is full of praise about the move.
U.S. Men’s National Team forward Jozy Altidore has a familiarity with Osorio after playing under him as a member of the New York Red Bulls from 2007-08, and has nothing but good things to say about the impending hire. In fact, Altidore, who is with the U.S. preparing for Saturday’s CONCACAF Cup clash with Mexico, looks back on his time playing for Osorio positively.
“To be honest, I was excited for him,” Altidore told Goal USA. “I have no bad blood with him. He’s a great guy and I hope he can do great things for them because, I’ve said it before, when Mexico does good, it’s better for us and when we do good, it’s better for them.”
“I remember him being a guy that paid attention to detail,” Altidore added. “He was a good guy. He was always looking to help me, especially at a young age at that time. He was really approachable, and he always looked for the team first. He always made changes that would benefit the team. I hope he’s a good appointment for Mexico, and I hope he makes them a strong team.”
Fellow USMNT regulars DaMarcus Beasley and Tim Howard have also previously worked with Osorio. Beasley played under the 54-year-old Osorio at Liga MX club Puebla, while Howard’s time with the New York MetroStars coincided with Osorio’s tenure as assistant coach.
Altidore might the player whois most familiar with the head coach’s style, which involves plenty of tinkering and is something that the star forward believes will work well with Mexico’s pool of players.
“He does tinker,” Altidore joked. “I think it’s tough because at that time we were a Red Bulls team, we weren’t the sharpest. We weren’t the best team at the minute, so we had to try and figure out what was our best lineup.
“I think maybe in Mexico he’ll have more of a luxury of having some quality players to choose from, so hopefully he can find what works for him and sticks with it.”
the metro stars had tim howard??? MAN were they lucky!!!
Also had Michael Bradley.
He has 12 goals this year for TFC with 2 injury spells and time away for the Gold Cup. 4 goals for the USMNT this year.
He is coming back into form and could see a big day tomorrow. Go USA and go Jozy!
interesting too that he had more goals than Defoe did at TFC and both missed time with injuries. Jozy haters aren’t quick to bring THAT up tho…
Go USA!!! Fuq Jozy.
Gabe you are so, so, so, so, so, lame. Bottlcaps makes several good points, and you go school teacher on him. Make your comments on point. Or just stay home with your English Grammar Primer.
His comment was directed to the original poster (who thoroughly deserved the comment).
Notice that gabe’s post was made before bottlcaps.
Altidore should sit down and never play for USMNT again. He is a plodding lazy forward with little ball skills and a lousy shooter, who chokes under pressure. Zardes should start instead.
I agree with your comments about JA, but Zardes and JA do not play the same role. Zardes is (much) better out wide – he doesn’t play the role of the lone striker very well.
In the very few times that Bruce Arena has used Zardes a a lone center-forward he has performed very well, capturing the ball and holding it up nicely for the other Galaxy attackers. Zardes is actually bigger than Altidore at 6’2″, compared to Altidore’s 6′. Both are 175 lbs. ZArdes is also faster, has a good touch, but not excitingly better than Altidore’s, but Zardes has better passing in tight spaces.
The big difference? It’s what this board points out, time and again. Zardes is extremely fit, RUNS the whole 90, plays defense deep (but not as good as he can be) and can play a lone center-forward or a paired forward, a withdrawn forward and on the left and right wing (right preferred) To be fair to Altidore, Klinsmann has consistently called him to the USMNT when he was hurt or recovering and not in good shape. It’s Klinsmann fault for calling him up under those circumstance, but Altidore’s fault for trying to be accommodating to the USMNT when he should be training.
All those times JK called in Altidore when you claim he should not have, who else would have done better?
I don’t remember a lot of great alternatives the last few years.
“Who else would have done better?” That’s exactly the point, we would never know because it was Lazydore and Wondo ad nauseam by your god Klinsi.
That’s not an answer EC
If you are going to criticize a manger for playing Jozy , you have to explain that the manager had a better alternative such as EJ, Boyd, Agudelo ,Gomez or Will Bruin.
If you don’t offer a viable alternative then you are just being a turd.
Be that as it may, the faster we replace the #9 the better. JA, who runs hot and cold, and generally stands around, kills offense, and gets his goals in streaks, needs to be replaced by someone who works harder every night, maintains possession, and is productive. JA himself could probably be nearly as productive subbing in, and would be given more incentive to run.
The problem is the replacement. Gordon isn’t good enough. Bruin isn’t good enough. Boyd was fashionable for a while and had the build (and some touch) but kept getting hurt and has kind of disappeared. A lot of the forwards, as you suggest, are not really central striker 9s but rather speed types to either play off the striker or out wide.
I feel like Morris is being groomed for the role eventually, he has a tank build, is productive already, and has some touch. I don’t know if he deserves all the time he’s getting but I think it reflects we see him trending towards bumping JA out.
I would also like to see a more thoroughgoing look through MLS and elsewhere to see if there is some less known 9s we can work on in long camps (January, Copa America, Gold Cup) and see if we can make themm into something. Instead of just call up Gordon and be underwhelmed (ditto Wondo).
Altidore’s difficulties pale in comparison to your own grammatical troubles.
lol!
Your commentary is cute, in a two year-old saying something incoherent kind of way. Altidore has his faults, but shooting? That has never been a problem. He can rip it.
Well, thanks, Coach Dan. Sharing your deep knowledge with us is greatly appreciated.
And who applauds Mexico’s coach hirings. I want Mexico coached by a Zacatecas bean farmer who fields 11 goalies. I want their crane style to be no match for our kung fu, as has been the case for 4 years now.