Josmer Altidore

Subjected myself to the first 15 and last 30 minutes :angry-banghead: of Sunderland's 1-0 FA Cup win v Kiddiminster (which is in the Conference aka the 5th tier of English football). Jozy in a word...dreadful. He had a chance in the first 45 seconds where an in form striker puts it away easily and he dang near whiffed it. His movement off the ball was that of a statue. The announcers obviously knew the broadcast was being shown here because they were crushing him. The crowd gave him a sarcastic cheer near the end of the match when he actually got his head on the ball. If Sunderland buys another striker, Jozy will find himself riding the pine. On a 'cause for concern scale of 1-10' for the USMNT team, with 10 being a full-blown crisis, I would say it's a 7.5 and the meter rising. Jurgen Klinnsman must be walking the sand in Manhatten Beach as I type this looking for a little tranquility after wanting to throw up watching Jozy play.

 

He looked a bit sloppy bringing balls under control and his distribution, while accurate, wasn't particularly effective. As you say, that's as much an indictment of the system, but to say he played well yesterday is a bit generous. He wasn't as bad as the announcers made him out to be either.

I agree on the concerns front though. He's not getting reps doing anything particularly useful or relevant to what we'll need from him in Brazil. And not scoring can't be good for his confidence.

 

I truly believe Jozy can play and score at the Premier League level, but I'm beginning to wonder if he believes it. I agree HD, he is big, strong, agile, and I would throw in he has pace, but none were on display against a Conference side. At times I thought he was marking the guys in purple and not trying to even find space.

 

I can't for the life of me understand why Sunderland persist in using him this way. Did they not see the goal rampage he went on for the USMNT this past summer? Still, as noted by many here, especially Sir Donald, he's performing admirably in the role they have him in. That bodes well for our Yanks this summer, because everything he does well adds to his, and our, arsenal in the round robin and, hopefully, beyond. I have no doubt that if he stays healthy, Monsieur Altidore is gonna give the Black Stars, the Germans and the Portuguese fits in Brah-ZEEL. If all Poyet can do is utilize him as a distributor, that's on him. Just keep him out there so Klinsi can use him properly to find the back of the net.

 

Sunderland have signed Argentine striker Ignacio Scocco. If Josy gets to play alongside him rather than behind him on the bench, this might help create more chances for Jozy and get him back to his goal scoring ways. Apparently Scocco is fast and likes to take on players down the wings. Combine that with the handful that is Jozy Altidore and they both might benefit.
http://www.safc.com/news/team-news/2014/january/striker-scocco-joins

 

OH! A beautiful backheel flick on leads to Sunderland's second goal against Newcastle. I think he's staying put!

 

Missed a golden opportunity to get around the keeper. He's got to do better with scoring goals.

 

Now that's how you have a very good performance as a striker without registering a goal or an assist. My concern with Jozy when I've seen him previously with Sunderland was that he appeared very rooted to a spot high in the box and looked a bit clumsy at times. He looked rather agile and spry today though and his passing was a surprise. Would still like to see him hold one up, turn his man and fire home like he did v Terry.

 

Via Greg Seltzer:

 

Well he was certainly mentioned a lot yesterday..

 

It seems pretty bloody obvious to anyone with a pulse and two working eyeballs that Sunderland has no friggin' clue about how best to utillize this young man's talents. It took a bit for him to get untracked, but he suddenly looks like the guy that went ape sh*t against Germany, Jamaica, Panama, Honduras and Bosnia last summer. Let's hope he gets back on that kind of roll for the next month in Bra-SEEL, and we make it out of the group and cause mayhem for the world's futbol powers in the knockout stage. Then let's hope those idiots at Sunderland have the good sense to either a) get him the damn ball like our lads seem capable of doing in dangerous spots or b) they send him along to someone who DOES know how to get him the damn ball in dangerous spots. DiCanio and Gus are fools for not making better use of this guy. And he's still ony 24 years old!

 

Opened the scoring yesterday in Sunderland's Capital One Cup loss to Stoke City. He received the ball right about the 18 with his back to the net. Took a touch to turn and then rifled a shot into the lower corner at the far post. It looked like the play of a confident striker. Now if it will only get him some starts in league matches.