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Klinsmann, USMNT looking for answers after latest Altidore injury blow

Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI — Heading into the upcoming Copa America, the U.S. Men’s National Team will once again be without Jozy Altidore. In the wake of yet another setback, Jurgen Klinsmann and company will look for someone to step up while continuing to support the 26-year-old striker.

Toronto FC announced on Monday that Altidore would all but certainly miss the Copa America with yet another hamstring issue. The injury is just the latest in a long line of physical woes for the striker, who was hampered at the 2014 World Cup and last summer’s Gold Cup with a similar ailment.

Just one day after hearing the news, Klinsmann is still coping with the latest setback to his star striker. Now, it’s about avoiding a repeat going forward as Klinsmann hopes that this summer is the last in which the USMNT will be without Altidore’s services.

“It’s definitely an issue that follows him for quite awhile, and it’s something that we are all working hard on to get to the bottom of it, to find the cause of these hamstring injuries,” Klinsmann said. “Where does this really come from? Is it training-related? Is it environmentally-related? Is it lifestyle-related or a medical issue? Where does this come from? Hopefully, the people work with him find the cause because that is the most important thing because, otherwise, he’s always questioning himself. He always thinks, ‘what if something happens next time?’ Hopefully, we find that cause, find that problem sooner or later, hopefully sooner, and help him.

“It’s a huge bummer for all of us, especially for Jozy, because he had so much drive and ambition going towards the Copa America,” Klinsmann added. “He was preparing himself for the entire year, starting in January and he hoped to really peak in June for this special tournament. Now, that message, I told him ‘you have  to put it behind you and keep going and stay positive. The next tournament is waiting for you’. Obviously it’s a big blow for us and him personally, but there’s nothing you can do, unfortunately.”

Altidore’s longtime teammate Alejandro Bedoya heard the news late Monday night upon arrival in Miami for USMNT camp. As expected, the veteran midfielder was shocked by the news as the U.S. is forced to navigate its first injury crisis before a Copa America ball is even kicked.

The USMNT began training on Tuesday, and Bedoya says he expects some players to step up and seize the opportunity Altidore’s injury will make available.

“It’s a blow of course,” Bedoya said. “He’s one of our key players and one of our best strikers. With ever team, injuries happen. They’re part of the game. We’re just going to have to deal with it and move on. It’s an opportunity for other players to step in and prove their worth and help us out.

“Losing Jozy, not just as a team, but as a friend, it’s a big one.”

Comments

    • Until Sept. 2 when the qualifiers begin again and Jozy should be back on the pitch, or the hex begins the first week in November.

      Reply
  1. I think perhaps we are underestimating that Plan B was the formation from Columbus. While we may find it hard to pressure so hard against better opponents its a viable option, Doesn’t a Wood-Dempsey-Zardes/Pulisic sound better than a Dempsey-Sapong combo with Bradley underneath.

    If this was the Gold Cup I would have liked to see Sapong, but finding your international leagues against the higher quality competition would be a difficult ask (or Bruin for that matter).

    Reply
    • Bruin does mediocre holdup work and wasteful finishing at the club level, much less internationally. I am comfortable with the CA callups save Wondo. Wondo’s Belgium game tells you that you could hand him a silver platter job in a big game and you can throw out all those MLS Golden Boots because he would miss it. That one I’d churn the pool on. But otherwise I feel like he has a lot of the candidates for the rest of the cycle in the CA provo list.

      The defense? Less so. That is recycling. And the midfield he’s not making enough effort to replace the DMs who are getting old.

      Reply
      • Sapong and Bruin would be other options for hold up play, since none of the CA roster would be traditional hold up play forwards. I don’t actually think that’s a very good strategy for the US anyway regardless of who is at striker.

      • JR: as a Dynamo fan I am just going to say on certain social media Bruin’s nickname is Stumbledore. In other words people compare his feet and touch and holdup play to the failures of the man you want him to replace.

        I think Dempsey has even more touch and is tough enough to handle the beating as well. People seem to have forgotten the period where we used him and Landon as 2 forwards.

      • That’s my point people want to criticize JK for not having a hold up Plan B in case Jozy got hurt. Well there really isn’t a good plan B so Clint, Wood, or Morris can be a better plan 1A than any Plan B.

  2. also, since jozy got past puyol and casillas, that means he was a world-class striker at 19 years old. weird.

    Reply
    • Altidore couldn’t get passed the retiree’s at the bingo club right up my road. The man cannot even shine in MLS…like really? I think this hammy was a blessing in disguise because he was heading for another near “Sunderland clean sheet” season (with no excuses, till now).

      Reply
      • Right, people are like, why talk about Jozy, well, this is a perfect opportunity to explore our other options, and at least one aspect of that is to sort out how much deference Jozy should get when he returns. My point is, if someone(s) show up at CA, move on to them and bring Jozy to tournaments as a bench player.

    • I don’t know if I’d hold up Confed Cup as representative of a top flight competition played at full speed. I am glad we progressed there, but be real, we lucked into advancement and had one good game against Spain where we played hellacious defense.

      We then went to SA and he did zilch. So which should I pay more attention to? The test tournament or the real thing?

      Reply
      • that was simply a (misplaced) reply to bizzy’s hilarious comment that since jozy couldn’t get past zach lloyd (or bizzy’s octogenarian acquaintances, in an odd tangent), he therefore would never be able to get past a better defender.

  3. I am so tired of reading all the pros and cons of this guy. Those that dont like him still dont like him and those that do still do. The bottom line is JK needs a backup plan and like at the WC, he still doesnt. So here we are again. Going into a tournament with no plan B and that’s JKs fault, He has always put all his eggs into his Jozy basket and once again… there’s a problem. Even in meaningless friendlies he has given the lions share of minutes to Jozy and even with all that… he really hasn’t improved. His fans will throw stats at me but for me, the bottom line is are we better when he is on the field or when he’s off? Im sure his club fans have an answer to that question. He came off hurt and they scored 3 goals after that. To me, that screams that he’s really not important to that team. I submit hes not that important to the NATs either

    Reply
    • It’s easy to point out that Jozy is not a great striker. However at some point you have to deal with the reality of our striker pool, and the fact is we don’t have a great striker. Hopefully Wood continues his progress, but after that we have a few decent MLS guys.

      Wood, Zardes and Morris all can play as a lone striker more so then anyone we had in Brazil, like Wondo or Johannsson playing on one leg. Not really sure who he Klinsmann was suppose to bring as a plan B, Sapong or something?

      Reply
  4. glad it happend now – not 17 minutes into the first game…

    step (limp) aside Jozy – it is BOBBY WOOD’s position now.

    ——Dempsey—-Wood——Johnson——
    —–Jones———Bradley—-Bedoya——–
    -Castillo—-Brooks—-Cameron–Yedlin—
    ———————Guzan————————-
    subs:
    Bingham, Rimando
    Besler, Birnbaum, FB?
    Beckerman, Williams, Nagbe, Zardes, Nguyen
    Zusi, Morris, Pulisic

    Reply
  5. “Klinsmann, USMNT looking for answers after latest Altidore injury blow”….blow? How is that possible when his latest contribution on the field will be the same as his contribution off the field.
    ZERO goals before injury + Zero goals because of injury = Zero goals (0 + 0 = 0)

    This headline should read:
    “Klinsmann, USMNT looking for answers after latest Altidore injury doesn’t change anything”

    …All said and done “GET WELL SOON MAN”

    Reply
    • “ZERO goals before injury”

      what are you talking about? jozy’s already scored 3 for us this year (2 more than anyone else); hell, he scored in our *last game*.

      Reply
      • Scores when teams are structuring their formations and it doesn’t matter:
        USA vs Iceland Jan 31, 2016 (Friendly, of course)
        USA vs Canada Feb 5, 2016 (Friendly, of course)

        When goals matter:
        USA vs Guatemala Mar 29, 2016 (WC match, where 4 different people scored that day)

        “…his latest contribution on the field will be the same as his contribution off the field”…key word here “LATEST”. Recap:

        A – Colorado Apr 2, 2016 (Sub-On 59 min) – Goal by Benoît Cheyrou (13′)
        A – New England Apr 9, 2016 (Started) – Goal by Sebastian Giovinco (58′)
        A – DC United Apr 16, 2016 (Started) – Goal by Sebastian Giovinco (1′)
        A – Montreal Apr 23, 2016 (started) – Goals by of course Sebastian Giovinco (40′ PEN, 81′)
        A – Portland May 1, 2016 (Started) – goal by Will Johnson (40′)
        H – Dallas May 7, 2016 (Started) – Goal by Tsubasa Endoh (28′)
        H – Vancouver May 14, 2016 (Started) – Goals by Sebastian Giovinco (37′, 66′) and Drew Moor (80′).
        0 goals in the last 7 games
        If Altidore can’t get pass Steve Birnbaum, Nat Borchers, Pa Modou Kah, Zach Loyd or Andrew Farrell….how is it logically possible to get by Cristián Zapata, Pablo Armero, Gustavo Gómez or Miguel Samudio, Johnny Acosta or Óscar Duarte???

        Simple, he can’t…

      • DLOA no matter how you look at it Altidore sucks as a striker and the THE FACTS are clear to see. with his resume (or according to BB’s philosoply of playing time with your club warrants playing time with the national team) he shouldn’t even be called to camp for the USMNT

        “USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has preached patience for the 24-year-old striker…I told him, ‘You will score your goals sooner or later’ if you have that mentality that you develop now, if you have that drive to get through those periods where you haven’t scored”

        Nope, he sucked then and he sucks now (its bad when you can’t even shine in MLS!!!)

      • oh, you’re talking about his play for toronto (which i have a hard time caring about).

        are we really back to arguing that a player’s form for his club is necessarily his form for the national team? i thought jozy’s career, in particular, had disabused people of that notion. hell, his manager at sunderland even noted that the two don’t always jive (partly because that was *his* experience as a player as well).

      • Side note: Black and Red United reported a rumor that Borussia Dortmund is scouting Birnbaum this Summer for a possible transfer. Seems like more of a safety choice if others fall through to replace Hummels, but Borussiamerica or the United States of Dortmund (anyone want to weigh in a nickname) could be growing.

      • Nate: your abstract point about club vs country misses the reality that with Jozy you can track his strong periods with US to being at AZ or NYRB and his week periods to the whole Villareal/Hull/Sunderland saga where he disappointed and/or sat a lot.

        He has been headed back up for TFC, but may also be playing a different position. Interestingly, he seems to do better on teams either playing Eredivisie style or playing him as a wing. NYRB used to play him wide a lot. TFC is playing him out there. AZ was a typical all offense freewheeling Dutch side. But what he is not is the back to goal bruiser with soft feet every coach seems to want to make him.

      • “with Jozy you can track his strong periods with US to being at AZ or NYRB and his week periods to the whole Villareal/Hull/Sunderland saga where he disappointed and/or sat a lot.”

        that’s absolutely not true, and that was my entire point: jozy’s been consistent (for better or worse) for the usmnt whether he’s tearing it up–like at az–or freezing up–like at sunderland. it’s not like i’m pulling this out of thin air–his stats are online for anyone to see–and, as i said, it was even brought up by his manager at sunderland.

      • For the sake of accuracy, Jozy scored 8 goals in 19 matches with the National team during his time with Sunderland. Seven of those were in friendlies, but there were only 3 qualifiers and his 20 minutes in Brazil for competitions during that time. Bosnia 3, Nigeria 2, Jamaica, Honduras, and Colombia, seven goals against teams that played in the WC and perennial top 5 or 6 Concacaf team.

        NYRB 1 goal in 3 matches
        Villareal (loans to Hull & Buraspor) 11 goals in 36
        AZ 5 goals on 21 caps (4 after the end of his final match with AZ before sigining w/ Sunderland)
        Sunderland 8 goals in 19 matches
        Toronto 9 goals in 17 matches

        His best club time has been his worst Nat time and his worst club time has been his best Nat time.

    • Iceland? Canada? Guatemala? My whole point is he disappears as the level rises. Not quite as bad as Wondo but shouldn’t we discount for the “Cuba Conundrum” in a similar manner, where a player shows against modest opposition but disappears in Hex level games or higher?

      But my grander point is that maybe we should find someone else to play central striker because his holdup play kills us, and he’s not effective enough a poacher to offset it. 34 goals, yes, but he’s also played 9 years with the senior team and appeared 93 times, which is like a once every 3 games strike rate.

      By comparison, Landon 57, Dempsey 49.

      Reply
      • “Iceland? Canada? Guatemala?”

        bosnia. spain. germany. colombia. chile. unless your complaint is that he should’ve scored against teams other than the ones we’ve played this year? doesn’t seem quite fair to him, but whatever.

        jozy’s goals per game rate is .37. landon’s is .36. dempsey’s is .40. not bad company.

        i do agree with you that he should not be played as a lone striker due to his poor holdup play, but i feel like that’s common knowledge at this point.

      • Altidore 34 Goals 93 Games a goal every 2.74 games
        Donovan 57 Goals 157 games a goal every 2.75 games
        Dempsey 49 goals 122 games a goal every 2.49 games

        Donovan and Dempsey’s international goal lists seem to be hard to find right now, but both scored a good deal of goals against Concacaf minnows as well, the big difference would be WC goals obviously, but Jozy essentially played in one at age 21, Dempsey and Donovan played in 3. 8 of Jozy’s goals have come in Hexagonal play.

      • JR: except the deal is that Dempsey is available now and still productive. I get your implication is his stats are similar, but you pointed out Dempsey is .3 G/g better and if they are fighting for one starting spot, hmmm, I know who I’d pick. Your point is only as valid as there are multiple forward spots.

      • JR/ND: there is no comparison. 3 goals in WC plus important hex goals (CR for example) versus a few hex goals, that one Spain goal, and a penchant for scoring on teams/in games that matter less.

        And my whole point is we need to be identifying and using forwards who can elevate to a WC level. The Jozy circle of pain is that someone like you will advocate him based on this second tier or friendly meaninglessness and then when he plays in the big tournament he disappears or gets hurt.

        I grant that he has some production, I would push him to the bench and/or out wide. But particularly if we have one spot available up top, I actually think he is the second choice there to Dempsey, on any metric: total goals, G/g, or big goals.

        I also think, as with some fans on social media re my favorite team, that some of you would (un?)consciously re-create the roster that causes us problems even with the benefit of hindsight. We’ve all watched sequences of games where he disappears or stumbles over the ball. We all know the recent big tournament history of disappointment and injuries. At minimum we should be going back to the place we were when Boyd was pushing him, where we evaluate if we can do better from the pool.

      • IV:
        I would also pick Clint now and in the past, and I think most would. I’m not arguing with you I am just helping you to get your facts straight. Your strongest and most accurate point is that he didn’t score in his WC games and he has been hurt or off form in the GC both true and valid. When you tried to bolster your argument with exaggerations about his club/national team rate or scoring rate you weakened your argument because they weren’t true. Also your weak competition argument is grasping at straws because Landon and Clint played the exact same type of competition with similar results, and our friendly opponents are much tougher than in previous manager regimes so friendly goals are better now than say 10 years ago. If friendly goals don’t count why do we keep score and stats for them.

  6. I feel bad for Altidore. As I have said before, I am not a massive fan of his (at least not since his combined play with CD9), but he does tend to score goals for the USMNT. However, his hamstring issues have been consistent and that is alarming. Although different from Holden in terms of type of injury, it almost seems that he is going down that oft-injured route with consistent hamstring issues that take him out for months at a time. That is a big issue for consistency up top for both his club team and the USMNT.

    On the other hand, this gives players opportunities, and while I don’t think there are many (if any) that have his particular skill set, there may be a silver lining. We have some talented players that can take over his position, but the way it is played will be more fluid and attacking. Hold up play will not really be our strong suit unless we can get Morris to use his frame in that manner, but that won’t be overnight. I’d say running Morris and Wood up top would be interesting to see if you use Dempsey right behind them, but JK will use 2 or 3 CDM’s, which means it will be Wood and Dempsey up top, with Wood being higher up the pitch.

    What I think JK does for a while:

    —————-Wood—————–
    ————-Dempsey—————-
    Zardes–Bradley–Jones–Bedoya
    FJ—-Brooks—Cameron—Yedlin
    —————-Guzan——————

    What I want JK to do (with some potential swapping of Zardes, Jones, Bedoya, and Nagbe):

    ———Wood———-Morris———
    ————–Dempsey—————–
    Pulisic——————————-FJ
    —————-Bradley—————-
    Lichaj–Brooks–Cameron–Yedlin
    —————-Guzan——————

    or

    Pulisic——–Wood—————FJ
    ————–Dempsey—————
    ——Bradley———-Jones——–
    Lichaj–Brooks–Cameron–Yedlin
    —————-Guzan—————–

    Reply
    • He’s not quite Wondo bad but if you look at the games he scores in, 14 of his 33 are friendlies. Two Gold Cup goals against Canada and Guadeloupe. Quali goals against TnT, Cuba, ES, St. V. type teams. He had that one run of quali goals back in the AZ period (2014) and that one goal on Spain.

      Compare that to Dempsey and look at the level of games he has saved our tails in. It’s not even comparable. Hell, Wood or the Icelander might be more clutch than he is. Jozy gets by for lack of competition and the fact many of his challengers look suited to the role playing off a big lunk. But Jozy is actually a mediocre big lunk. Not bad, but effective at basically a semifinal round qualification or low Hex level. No goals in 4 World Cup appearances. Take the hint.

      Reply
      • those stats…aren’t bad.

        “14 of his 33 are friendlies”

        i think it’s closer to 17-18 friendly goals (34 total), but even so, that means his goals are divided pretty equally between friendlies and competitive matches. considering the number of friendlies vs competitive matches he’s played in is also pretty equal, that seems good to me.

        “Two Gold Cup goals against Canada and Guadeloupe. Quali goals against TnT, Cuba, ES, St. V. type teams.”

        yep, those are our regional opponents. he’s also scored against honduras and panama, so i think the only concacaf ‘powers’ he hasn’t yet scored against are costa rica and mexico (which is indeed unforgivable).

        “and that one goal on Spain.”

        you’re goddamn right.

        “Compare that to Dempsey and look at the level of games he has saved our tails in.”

        leaving aside that a goalscorer rarely wins games (or even scores goals) all by himself: yes, dempsey is a better goalscorer than jozy. but the fact is, it’s always been difficult for the usmnt to score goals against top teams. donovan was the best at it, and dempsey a close second, but the fact that jozy has scored so many (and found ways to contribute when not scoring)–*without* naturally being a great goalscorer–is exactly why it seems unlikely that someone will replace him anytime soon.

        “No goals in 4 World Cup appearances. Take the hint.”

        i’m not going to look this up, but i’d bet a dollar that there are a shitton of much better players than jozy who have gone 4 world cup games without a goal.

      • Nate, isn’t Clint and jozys scoring percentage per game better than Donovan’s for the USMNT.

      • Nate: Here’s a couple Rooney 9 games, Totti 7 games, Dos Santos 7 games. Sure there are some more, these are just some recent guys I could think of.

      • Yeah, pretty much my thoughts, but I think he deserves a tad more credit. Again, I am not a big fan of his (nor his particular style, considering he doesn’t put things together like a Lukaku or Carroll aka using his physical attributes in conjunction with movement/dribbling/touch), but in the right setup, can be invaluable. Problem is, we haven’t had the combo play of Jozy and CD9 like I and “the unmistakable ronaldinho” mentioned, but as “Nate Dollars” also stated, his overall statistics aren’t exactly alarming, while they may not exactly light the world on fire (depending on the competition). In any case, like you, I don’t want Wondo being our go-to guy, but I am sure we will see him at some point. Hopefully, we can use a formation that allows our players to use their skill set properly and in positions they are comfortable playing.

      • Seems rather pointless to argue about how good Jozy is since (1) he isn’t available and (2) we don’t have a lot of proven options for when he is available. Also, (3) we can’t count on Dempsey to go 90 minutes too much longer, certainly not for a lot of games in a short time as in a tournament. We’d better hope that Wood and Morris turn out to be the real deal and improve quickly, Jozy gets healthy and/or Johannsson gets healthy. We don’t have a lot of options and we still need to qualify for the Hex and then get a top 3 in the Hex. Or we could play with 6 midfielders like Spain did.

      • Nate, your argument is a red herring distracting from the facts. Dempsey scored twice at the last WC alone, during a tough group stage. Tournament before that, Dempsey had another goal and Bradley also (and Donovan, now retired, managed 2). I can go with “done it” or I can go with “maybe will do it.” I can go with fit over constantly hurt. Anyone with a brain should be pushing for actual history over optimism.

        FWIW, I could conversely point out Green and Brooks have managed to score at WCs while he hasn’t in 4 games. You point out better have done bad too and I’ll point out worse have done better. Frankly, so what? It’s hocus pocus to distract us from the fact he doesn’t score on the biggest stage. He’s a forward, it’s a production position. Anything other than that is excuses.

      • Gary Page, you start to say we have no options and then start rattling off names, Wood, Morris, AJ, I’d toss in Dempsey, Zardes, Green, Boyd, etc. Contrary to your implications, Dempsey had 9 last year, and several people off that list have scored in games either in the WC or quali/friendlies.

        I also don’t think it has to be either/or, I suggested Jozy could be more suitably used as a wing player. I just feel like he kills the offense playing holdup.

      • you were the one holding up jozy’s scoring stats as if they were some red flag; i merely pointed out that his stats aren’t bad for any international forward, and certainly not for a usmnt player.

        “He’s a forward, it’s a production position.”

        every position is a production position; the “goals scored” stat is just the easiest one for casual viewers to digest and argue over. but “wins” is always the most important stat, and i guarantee you that klinsmann couldn’t care less *who* scores, as long as the team he puts out is winning games.

        soccer is (decades) past the stage where individual positions are compartmentalized (forwards score! mids facilitate! defenders defend!); it’s all about systems and roles now, and i think even klinsmann gets that.

      • I probably shouldn’t waste my time arguing with you since you just twist my words and misrepresent what I say. Yes, I cite other names, but I my point was that they aren’t proven yet. Not the same as being viable options. As for Dempsey, he is still our best, wWhat I said was we count on him for long to be a 90 minute player. You might want to work on your reading comprehension.

    • Altidore’s skill set works much better with a guy like Davies than Dempsey. Jozy likes to drop 5-10 yards off the defense to get the ball and face up his defender. Partnering with a speedster like Davies forces the defense to drop slightly deeper and creates the space Jozy thrives in. Without the threat in behind defenders can stay right on his hip and keep him playing back to goal which we all know isn’t his game. Davies also did much more of the dirty work pressuring high up the field that Jozy and Dempsey could both work on. Jozy isn’t a great complete striker but he is the best we have when put in the right position to suit his game. He and Dempsey just don’t fit and Dempsey has been too good to leave out of the lineup.

      Reply
    • I would rather see this

      FJ————Dempsey———Pulisic
      ———Jones——–Bedoya——–
      —————-Bradley—————-
      Castillo–Brooks–Cameron–Yedlin

      Depending how camp goes you could swap Bedoya with Nagbe in the midfield. I feel like Bedoya and Nagbe could thrive in a 3 man central pairing with Jones and Bradley. It will give you a technical player with a bulldog and general.

      Also I wouldn’t mind swapping Castillo with Lichaj or Ream if they beat him out in camp. Although you have to admit at this juncture its Castillo’s until someone takes it from him. Worst case scenario you play FJ in the back and put Wood, Morris or Zardes out wide on the right and slide Pulisic to the left.

      In terms of the net you really have to go on who has the best camp in week 1 and go with that guy. Both are capable of playing great but its important that whomever you select has had time to gel with the first team back line before Colombia.

      Reply
    • FYI, when the U-23’s played in the Toulon Tournament last year Morris had sort of a hold up role. I don’t know if that was by design or just how it worked out because of the other players and how the team adapted to its opponents, but he showed that he could do that somewhat. I’m not sure that’s the best role for him since he has good speed, but it looks like he could have that capability.

      Reply
      • I might be mistaken, but didn’t they try to use him as a hold up player against Colombia, especially after the early goal in Game 1.

      • Johnny, yeah, that’s what it looked like. Also, remember that in both games , especially in the first one, he ran out of gas early and had to be subbed out, so it might have been a function too of his lack of fitness. About the 60 or 65th minute mark he was standing around a lot.

  7. Striker position has been left begging for s o m e o n e to please, please step up and grab hold of an opportunity years running. Hamstring injuries do have a tendency to be an ongoing issue so safer to assume this will not completely resolve itself/that Jozy’s fitness may well be delicate here onward..

    Reply
    • I think this is the fairer defense of Jozy/lament, that we have struggled for striker options, eg, Boyd and the others who have come and gone. Anyone remember Boyd?

      But I think Dempsey is good enough. That being said tactically you need some big lunk option off the bench in tight games that can get headers and is naturally tall. JK has sometimes brought Gordon in for this job. Meh.

      Reply
    • The Guatemala game is illustrative, last cycle we had a game just like it against a Central American side and brought Jozy off the bench for 2 goals off headers late after starting down 2-0. This time we were bereft of bench options and the 2-0 simply played out as the result. A couple things we have are height and speed and it drives me nuts some of the “imitate Europe” bunch want to turn us into some slow mediocre finesse team and give away the physical advantages that have made us regionally dominant and internationally competitive.

      At least part of that is people in the manner of McBride and Ching who can actually play a striker role and head us goals regularly.

      Reply
  8. When someone has the same technique and position and physical issues repeatedly, it is kind of on you at some point for playing them out of position and selecting them despite hamstring health.

    Reply
    • I can’t make any sense out of your comment. Altidore always plays striker. I can’t think of any time he has played a different position. His last two injuries have come during his club team play. When he was selected before the WC and the Copa he wasn’t injured art the time of selection and with the Gold Cup there was some hope he could recover. This sounds like you are really reaching to blame this on Klinsmann, although the “you” isn’t clear since there is no antecedent. Sometimes bad stuff happens and there is no one at fault. An injury to a sports professional often falls into that category.

      Reply
      • I’ve seen TFC play with Giovinco striker and Altidore wide. I think this might actually be a better way to play Altidore, facing goal and running at it, rather than pretending he is the pivot he isn’t. He played there for NYRB. When used as a target striker he often flops like Cooper the big man who played small before him.

        How many actual World Cup games has he played? Scored in? At some point building him into the concept is dumb because he is not a striker, often injured, and not productive on the world level. You can try and finesse this as “bad luck” but repeated bad luck and perhaps I should be playing someone else who stays healthy and can play central striker and makes his darned goals in the toughest matches, ie, Dempsey and some others.

        As a reminder:
        2010 WC ineffective
        2011 GC injured hammy
        2014 WC injured hammy
        2016 GC injured hammy
        No goals in a WC. Only in quali.

      • At Hull, Sunderland and Alkmaar he always played striker and in England almost always a hold up target forward, often times as a lone forward. Really, you’re going to use his time in New York when he was 17? I haven’t seen him play much for TFC, so pardon my ignorance on that. I’m not debating or challenging his injury record, but saying he might just be injury prone, but you seem to want to blame someone for his injuries. Also, how can a coach be blamed for selecting a healthy striker who is one of the best we have (or did you prefer Wondo?) who then gets injured after his selection? Your original post still makes no coherent sense and then your response brings in a lot of things that are unrelated to what you said originally.

      • His time in England proves people like to use him as a striker doesn’t prove he can play it well. Az plays 433.

      • Losing the argument? Change the subject. Your original post was about playing him out of position and that was what I found to be unsupported by facts. You have little in the way of facts to support your original statement, so now you say he can’t play the position well. That wasn’t what I objected to in the original post. That is a matter of opinion and depends on how you define your terms. He played it well in Holland by almost any measure. I think his second year there he was only behind Bony in total goals scored.

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