Jozy Altidore is a wonderful soccer player from the neck down. Unfortunately, he is gaining a deserved reputation as a player with a million dollar body and a ten cent brain. Jozy needs to put away the twitter, stop with the silly antics on the field and become the outstanding professional he has the potential to be. Otherwise, he is destined to become another American journeyman player in Europe whose only honors will be the Clint-Mathis-Memorial-What-Could-Have-Been Award.
Case in point was today’s game between Hull City and Sunderland. Hull City is literally fighting for its survival, and if they had any chance of staying in the Premiership for next season, they needed to beat Sunderland at home today. Three points were absolutely mandatory. As Altidore took the pitch today, he knew that he needed to be sharp, poised and ready. Hull have failed to test opposing goal keepers for the past few weeks, and with the striking corps weakened by the injury to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Hull were relying on their young American to play a critical role in the attack.
Near the end of the first half with Hull down a goal, Altidore and Sunderland’s Alan Hutton were challenging for a ball in the air. As the ball was heading out of bounds, Altidore awkwardly jumped into Hutton and wound up on the turf. Hutton felt that Jozy was being a bit too aggressive on a ball that was heading out, picked up the ball and threw it into Altidore’s back.
At that point, Altidore had a few options:
- He could have gotten up, stared at Hutton with a “Give me a f*&%ing break,” expression, and calmly waited for the referee to run over and give Hutton the card he clearly deserved.
- If Altidore really wanted to directly confront Hutton he could have run over to him with his arms tightly clasped behind his own back so as to make sure that the referee saw he had no physical intent, and referred to Hutton’s mother in a particularly anti-social manner.
- Altidore could react like a complete loony and get himself sent off.
Altidore chose option three. He went straight at Hutton and head-butted him, earning for himself a straight red and insuring that, with two games left in the campaign, Jozy’s season and likely his career at Hull are over.
The shame of it all is that, despite his one meager goal this season, Altidore’s play has improved tremendously. He is holding the ball up much better than he ever has, and has become a far more difficult player to defend against. His passing, control and hold-up play have all improved, and he is such a physical presence that, with his new-found skills, he is drawing a lot of fouls including creating several penalties for Hull.
However, all those skills are useless unless he can mature as a professional. The USMNT’s last World Cup campaign was completely derailed by two red cards against Italy and a penalty call against Ghana. International referees hand out cards at a higher rate than they do in England, and if the United States picks up cards this summer the way they did in last year’s Confederations Cup and 2006’s World Cup, they will be doomed. Playing mature, intelligent soccer and avoiding cards goes hand-in-hand. The US needs Altidore on the field and scoring goals, but cannot afford his unprofessional nonsense in South Africa.
Now that Hull is essentially relegated, the odds that they will buy Altidore’s contract from Villarreal are slight. Instead, unless Altidore has a lights-out run in South Africa, Villarreal will struggle to sell Altidore or find a spot for him in their 2010/11 plans. Altidore’s career looks set to hit a serious speed bump as he searches for a new team for next season. He is being labeled the most dreaded of things – a “project.” For Altidore to reach his potential, he needs to build up the muscle between his ears. He has all the tools to be an outstanding player – but first he needs to work on becoming an outstanding professional.
UPDATE – Jozy has copped to losing the plot. “I’m so sorry about yesterday. Made a stupid, immature and costly mistake. I apologize to Hull City and the fans who I let down. I let my emotions get the best of me and lost my composure. Believe it or not this year playing for Hull was to date the best trip I’ve ever been on.”
As idiotic as Krishnaiyer’s post way back that said Jozy and Davies should be dropped because they sound unprofessional on Twitter. Then again Krishnaiyer hated MLS but considered Bob Bradley a great coach. So that shows his agenda. Blame the kids for being immature and MLS for failing in development when Bunker Bob fails with our best team ever.
This column is awful, and should be removed.
Jozy barely touched him and you can’t even say he intentionally headbutted him. The dude dives after Jozy gets in his face. What a joke.
I was going to write this article earlier…then I decided not to.
I agree 100% with it. Jozy Altidore is a joke, and shouldn’t be included in the USMNT. Find a different striker who isn’t going to lose his temper over something so quickly.
Altidore was lucky that Hutton got red carded with him.
Jozy made a mistake and made it at the worst time possible for Hull City. That does not make him a joke nor should he be excluded from the USMNT for it. He does need to learn to play and behave professionally and hopefully he does so in the next 2 months.
It was hilarious to see Hutton take a second to realize what Altidore did. Then he went down like he had been shot.
He’ll learn from this, I’m not worried about it. Maybe he’s frustrated because no one can pass him the ball at Hull. At least he won’t have to worry about that anymore. And I won’t have to make myself watch this wretched excuse for a team anymore either.
Jozy was perfectly justified in what he did after the English guy slammed the ball at him. Thanks god he is done with Hull, now he can go to a real team or come home to MLS. Hull would not even escape the basement in MLS, for all those EPL lovers out there. If this had been an English player we’d hear about how he fought and showed spirit and pride in the shirt.
Just to clarify – Alan Hutton is Scottish, not English and has been in enough fights during his career. He doesn’t tend to go down for nothing. It did look soft in viewing but he apparently has a chipped tooth, a broken nose and a cut over his eye.
Putting aside the issue of whether he was “justified” in the sense that he should be out there seeking justice, if you intentionally head butt someone, you get a straight red and are suspended for three games. Given Hull’s precarious (and now doomed) position, is getting that red a smart thing? If Ashley Cole throws the ball at Jozy in South Africa, Jozy retaliates and gets sent off and America loses, is he still justified? Jozy’s athletic gifts are a blessing to the US team, but I fear that his brain will be a curse.
this is crap! absolute crap! for you to come in and say that, that was a head-butt! you’ve got to be kidding me, a head butt? that was no head butt! this kind of thing happens all of the time, and now just because jozy is twenty years old, he’s immature and needs to grow up, i don’t think. I’d like to see you tell zidane to grow up. come up with some better stuff, this is ridiculous
Definite headbutt. No question about it.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
I don’t care how many fights Hutton has been in before, this little flop makes him a complete scottish NANCY in my opinion. Flops like that keep typical Americans from respecting the game, and that is a shame. I hate having to argue that soccer players are just as tough as american football players when highlights like this one show up. Show us that you have a pair, Hutton, and at least back it up if you’re gonna throw the ball at someone.
Jozy had a pretty subpar season with Hull, but he is still only 20. He’ll develop better with a team that has more chemistry. Just watching Hull this season, I could tell that this is not the right environment for a potentially solid young EPL striker to grow. He may need another year in the MLS to build confidence, but getting out of Hull is the best thing for him. His future is bigger and more important than Hull, and he knows it. Let’s hope he tallys a couple of goals in the WC, and gets signed by a better club. If he can learn how to make the runs and find some space, his ability to hold the ball and strike with power will get him goals in the future.
One more thing–this article totally sucks. Who else are we gonna put at forward? Altidore is the most consistent (sadly) healthy striker USA has. Why don’t you get informed before you post some crap like this……..
I think this headbutt is a culmination of frustration with his situation at Hull. The rest of the players there suck and don’t give him service, Phil Brown was retarded and Ian Dowie isn’t much better, and they’re on the verge of relegation. But I don’t think he would do anything like that at the WC, it’s a completely different stage and he’s not surrounded by crappy players and an idiot manager. At least he doesn’t risk getting injured and won’t be playing for such a crappy team ever again.
Maybe Jozy should spend a season in the 2nd division in England (a team other than Hull), the caliber of competition there might help him develop and get confidence. That seemed to help some players with Newcastle United find condifence they did not have a year before.
As for USA forwards..how about Buddle and H.Gomez
It was not a headbutt in the fashion of Zissou, but when a player makes any sort of contact you have to expect the opponent to go down like Hutton did.
Still, this column is very reactionary, which is not surprising since many of the articles and posts here are very reactionary (just look at the Davies thread, for instance). Did Jozy make a mistake? Yes, he did. Does one red card in the EPL mean he should be droppped from the USMNT? Of course not. When Terry got carded a week or two ago did anyone in the UK suggest that he shouldn’t be going to South Africa? Of course not.
What many fans on this sight seem not to appreciate is that players occasionally have the red mist descend. Does it sometimes ruin World Cups? Yes, just as England. At the same time, managers know better than to avoid picking their best players simply because of a single lapse in discipline, especially when the World Cup is at stake. The US didn’t get to the finals of the Confederations Cup by playing barely known MLS or Mexican league players. They’re not going to succeed in the World Cup by playing a bunch of mediocre no-names over their best players, regardless of an EPL red card.
I “thumb-downed” a lot of comments on this thread, from both sides of this recent Altidore “issue.”
This comment is reasonable and pretty much sums up my feelings.
I just want to add that I get really tired of people telling him he needs to “drop the twitter.” So he likes to post on twitter, so what? Lots of athletes do, and he doesn’t really do anything controversial on it, so who cares?
This is racist.
Rhett,
Are you serious that Hull would be in the basement of the MLS??? The standard of MLS is equivalent to the lower end of the English Championship division, AT BEST! For example, look at how Danny Alsopp has gone from being out of his depth in the English 3rd division 6 years ago, to suddenly winding up at DC United. Or how a mediocre journeyman like Darren Huckerby was the big star of MLS.
As for Altidore, he’s a decent player, but he’s inconsistent, and probably not premier-league standard (or at least not yet). His hold-up play has improved, but his first touch is often dire, he often screws up the simple parts of the game like flick-ons and easy passes, he tries to pull off silly tricks that wouldn’t even fool a kid, and his finishing is generally terrible. Supposedly Villareal were willing to sell him for 6million pounds, but there’s no way anyone in a top league would pay more than about 2m. If Villareal would agree to that, maybe he could find himself a job as third-choice striker at some mid-table team while he learns the ropes some more. He’s still young. Unfortunately, I don’t think his ego will allow that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends the next few years bouncing around different teams like Freddy Adu.
Not to mention that Chris Birchall was released by a low end League Two team and ended up months later playing in MLS Cup.
I always felt bad for Krishnaiyer and now Eric. The IQ of some of these MLS lovers posts is very low indeed. I mean sometimes Krishnaiyer was overboard, but he wasn’t the one who started the stupid comparisons. Anytime he’d try and correct the record and give an objective opinion he’d be flamed.
Personally, I think MLS is League One level with the exception of like 1-2 guys a team. The league Krishnaiyer now runs would be League 2/Conference in England.
As for Altidore he needs to grow up. I want to see Bradley pick Hercules Gomez and Eddie Johnson. Forget Altidore and Davies this cycle.
its the structure man. mls just keeps on being the soccer mom, single entity, parity bitches they are (management that is, i love mls but dislike garber, his lies and the structure)
Give me A F%($(% Break Eric. that guy was being a total pussy. the only real way to get respect is to show the guy that he’s not one to be messed with. that doesnt mean throwing punches at anyone who touches you but keep up a front and push back. basically you’re saying that all american soccer players with tremendous bodies should stoop down to the nancy english players level of handling a simple nudge. im tired of seeing these floppers in football.
Brighton Hove & Albion was League One, not League Two. He also had spells in the Scottish Premier League and Championship.
Err Danny Alsopp played at Hull City in the bottom divisions of the English League. He left and went back to Australia cos he couldn’t get a game at Hull. Now he is playing at DC United. Makes you think about the relative strength of the MLS v European leagues doesn’t it?
Agreed about Danny Alsopp. See my post above. Maybe DC United should sign Big Ben Burgess to reform their partnership.
Agreed.
RELATIVE MANLINESS:
Hutton < Prepubescent Girl
Good article. I love Jozy but he needs to grow up.
The red card is meh, but the real issue is that Jozy has been useless for Hull. I have a feeling he’ll be useless in the World Cup as well. With that said mostly all the American strikers abroad are useless. Hopefully Donovan and Dempsey can pick up the slack for them. If Bradley had half a brain he’d give some of the guys who are heating up in the MLS right now a chance. I’d sure as hell rather see us fail at the World Cup with some hard working MLS guys than fail with some 2nd and 3rd division European bench warmers.
Exception to useless strikers abroad would of course be Herc, though I’m not fully confident he’s the answer either.
Man, Jozy’s got an amazing head. He was able to break a nose, cut an eye and chip a tooth with one amazing headbutt. Pick one of the three and I might believe it. When Hutton blames the headbutt for all three, I call BS! Hutton a lying a**hole.
Jozy does have a lot to learn, but he still rates a spot on the Nats, IMHO.
Most of the above comments are complete rubbish, we (Americans) haven’t had a YOUNG, creative, big striker play in the EPL in a long time; if ever. Jozy is all alone at Hull, he has no midfield support, no management support, and no ownership support. Ownership has ruined this team, the club gained promotion quick and surprised almost everyone in the process. There is a clear and present dislike for Americans in any European league, not to mention African Americans. Americans (yes I’m generalizing) tend to forget that in England soccer is a gentleman’s game played by thugs. Look into the upbringings of the best players in the league, you’ll find a history of violence and hooliganism. You get one American who stands up for himself, stands his ground and suddenly he’s immature and violent.
To compare the service he gets at Hull to the service provided by Bradley, Holden, Landon, Clint, Edu, Davies, or anyone actually going to suit up for the Nats is appalling. Hell to compare Hull’s midfield to any European team is appalling.
Hull is a team fighting administration because of reckless and greedy ownership, it’s a hostile and toxic club right now. Nobody on Hull scored, nobody. Their top scorers for the season is what Hunt with maybe 6 and Bullard with around 4? How many goals did Bullard score from PK’s? How many of those PK’s were because Jozy was fouled? At least 2 comes to my mind, if Jozy was able to take the PK’s he earned, would Bullard be branded an “old man who’s game has left him?” Hell no, he’s English! Lay off the kid, he’s just trying to establish himself in European football as a dominant force who’s not to be fucked with. He has the size, talent, and heart.
This was a huge step for American soccer, we are starting to scare the world. Journalist all across Europe are printing stories to degrade our top striker. That wasn’t just a headbutt felt by fragile Alan Hutton, it was a headbutt felt by 31 teams across the world. Soon it will be England, Slovenia and Algeria who have chipped teeth, broken noses and other serious facial damage….figuratively of course.
That is the most deluded thing I’ve read in quite some time.
I’ll just cherry pick a couple points
Ownership support? What has that got to do with anything? Do you even know who owns Hull City? Or the fact that he earns 25k a week at a club that are 35m in debt because their wage bill is far too high. And that your man provided 1 league goal in return.
Maurice Edu is a terrible passer.
“Look into the upbringings of the best players in the league, you’ll find a history of violence and hooliganism. You get one American who stands up for himself, stands his ground and suddenly he’s immature and violent.”
Xenophobic at best, racist at worst. Oh, and Alan Hutton is scottish.
“That wasn’t just a headbutt felt by fragile Alan Hutton, it was a headbutt felt by 31 teams across the world.”
I’m pretty sure it was just Alan Hutton…I doubt Japan or Algeria felt anything
“There is a clear and present dislike for Americans in any European league, not to mention African Americans.”
You should make a trip to Everton. The love for Donovan and Howard over there trumps this comment. And Fulham love Dempsey. Maybe if we shipped players worth a damn then you’d feel the love.
“Hull City is literally fighting for its survival”-thanks for that Jamie Redknapp.
I remain baffled as to where the notion that Jozy Altidore is a brilliant footballer has come from. He’s essentially an American Micah Richards-great physical abilities, decent footballing abilities, thick as you like.
Watching Hull play Burnley a couple of weeks ago, Altidore looked as though he’d never seen a football before. He’s a player that, when he can’t out muscle or out pace defenders, he looks bereft of ideas. He still can’t hold the ball up, make unintelligent runs, and disappears in games. If he were anything other than American nobody would have heard of him.
Jake C…I’m wondering what makes you think that “there is a clear and present dislike for Americans in any European league, not to mention African Americans”. I can’t speak for other European countries, but I know that this is certainly not the case in England. There have been numerous American players who have not only succeeded on the field in England, but also been popular with the fans… eg. Dempsey, McBride, Donovan (in his stint with Everton), Reyna. DMB was mediocre from what I remember, but there was certainly no particularly hostile “dislike” of him. As for playing the race card, black players from all over the world are readily accepted as heroes in the EPL, so I don’t see why it would be any different for Black Americans. Altidore certainly hasn’t been disliked in his time at Hull. Most fans have been screaming for the manager(s) to play him all season long.
Of course, all of the above is written on the assumption that you meant the fans dislike Americans…I realize it might be the case that you meant team management/ownership. But still, I don’t think your point holds true. Club managers/owners don’t care where a player is from, as long as you can do the business on the field. Hence, the success of McBride, Dempsey etc. And the same holds true of players from other countries that are not considered soccer-playing nations.
As for Bullard…most people who have followed him recently certainly would agree that he’s an old man who’s game (and legs) have deserted him. And that would be being generous. There’s no free pass just because he’s English.
In the meantime, I have softened my view on Altidore somewhat. To say he’s not premier-league standard was a bit harsh. In comparison to guys a similar age (Danny Wellbeck is 19, Fraizer Campbell is 22, F. Macheda is 18, Altidore is 20), he’s doing well to be getting so much playing time. That unfortunately is a symptom of how weak Hull City have been. I think if he was at a club like Sunderland, Everton, Fulham etc, he’d probably be a lot further down the roster, and would be used as an impact sub.
Let’s not be foolish, Jozy is going to South Africa. He’ll also be an outstanding example of how the old management cliche “we’ll pick guys based on form” is total horsesh*t.
2009-10
28 appearances, 1 goal, 0 league goals
Overall in Europe in two seasons across three leagues:
35 appearances, 2 goals, 0 league goals
Impact sub, I’ve watched him all season, live – not on TV, and that was the first impact he has made all season. He is quick over 5 yards – but he is not fit enough, is too weak physically, has no football brain, no left foot and can’t head a ball. No incisive runs off the ball. He hasn’t made a tackle or challenged for a header all season.
He has had a shot on target once every 3.5 games. Whereas Bullard scored 5 in 14, Hunt 4 in 27 – both midfield players – JA, main striker – 1 in 28. My wife is American so I can hardly be accused of bias. Fact is JA is a critical factor in the Tigers being relegated
Sorry guys JA is nowhere near good enough for the English Premier League or to play for Hull City. If he leads the US attack in SA you can expect the World Cup to be over pretty quick for the US!
Chelsea Tiger… I agree with a lot of your points, but I think it’s a bit harsh to say he’s not good enough for the premier league. If you compare him with MOST other twenty-year-olds, I think he’s done as well as you could expect given the team he’s been in. Ok, he’s not going to be Rooney/Ronaldo/Messi class, but few people are. But I think he could still be an OK-to-Good standard premier league striker. I think a lot of problems you mention will be coached out of him in time (assuming he gets to work with a better coach than Brown/Dowie). Just out of interest, I wonder how his shots-on-target:games ratio compares to JVoH’s?
The issue about his fitness is a worry though. I remember him cramping up after 55 mins a while back, which is a shocking indictment of either his attitude towards training, or Brown’s coaching, because there’s really no reason ANY professional should get a cramp before the 90th minute.
Dave, I’m sorry I should have clarified…I was talking about European Managers not necessarily the clubs fans. It can be no coincidence that Americans are continually brought into Fulham. Remember when Keller, McBride, Boca and Dempsey all played for them? Fulham even brought in Eddie Johnson around the same time, all around 2007 I think. They’ve had Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis back in 2000. Besides Clint, McBride, and Eddie Lewis none of them were that great anyway; but yet they all got contracts.
My point is that European clubs and managers don’t tend to offer Americans much of a chance. At 20 Jozy is already yards a head of any other American striker when they were at his age. The problem with Hull is that Jozy was probably your best talent, at least potentially. I don’t think he should be the top striker on any team, but he does deserve and is already talented enough to be on any European team.
Dave, I agree Big Ben Burgess would certainly do a job with Super Danny Alsopp, actually Gary Alexander is not getting many games with Millwall no, maybe he should be considered?
I am not sure I am being unfair to Jozy, when he arrived at City I was shocked at how unfit he was (as you said), his first touch has improved but is still not regularly up to PL standards. I think most people underestimate just how good the standard in the Prem is.
Let’s face it City have struggled this year, being kind we have had 4 or 5 players in the squad good enough for the Prem – Hunt, Bullard, Mouyokolo, Zayatte, Gardner and maybe Myhill. Others such as Dawson would maybe make lower level squads. But I don’t think Jozy would have had a regular gae at any other PL side.Certainly Jake C’s comment that he was probably our best talent is hopelessly wrong (sorry Jake), in the top ten potentially as a prospect.
Jozy needs a coupe of seasons where he can focus on getting some of his basic skills to a good level, he has to learn to use his left foot, head a ball, make runs off the ball and learn to tackle. I think he may also need to look at his weight, I am sure in early clips I saw he looked mobile but at the KC he demonstrates the turning circle of a tanker. At 18 he was 10.5 stone, I bet he’s 12.5 now.
I think Dave is right a good forward coach would help him with a lot of his game and his anticipation but he’s a long way short of being a Prem player at the moment.
Interestingly Dowie has made some similar comments in the press today – see link:
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/10/04/30/SOCCER_Hull_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=soccer
ChelseaTiger – cheers for the link. I’ve heard a lot of rumours that Jozy’s a few slices short of a loaf too, so I think that will probably hinder his development. Still, I think compared to most guys his age, he’s not done too bad a job.
Jake – I still disagree that their is any widespread discrimination against Americans in European leagues. You just provided a whole list of American’s who have done Ok over here, so you seem to disprove your own point. The bottom line is, managers will pick anyone if they’re good enough, regardless of national origin.
Also Jake, I think I would argue that, if anything, US players get MORE than the fair chance in Europe. Altidore is a perfect example. After a season of playing hardly ANY minutes for Villareal, and not even getting into the first-team at Xerez in the Spanish 2nd division, he gets a shot at the premier-league. How many English guys at age 20 do you think would get a chance of regular footy in the EPL after not even getting in their 2nd div starting team? Likewise, Freddy Adu has done nothing to justify his hype, but keeps getting yet another bite at the cherry.
If anything, I think a lot of club-owners (if not necessarily managers) would LOVE to have an American in their team, if only to boost shirt sales in the great untapped market of the US (just as they would like Chinese/Japanese/Koreans in the team too). Unfortunately, there’s just not that many footballers from those countries who are good enough to make the grade.
He laned one goal last season in the EPL, which is by far more top flight futbol then the MLS, where he’s a career 15/16 goal scored. Drogba (29), Rooney (26), Defoe (18), Fàbregas (15)… he’s, at best, the next Freddy Adu. Aside from how “awesome” people like Alexi Lalas and American fans (who really don’t know the sport anyway) think, Altidore is mediocre striker on a great day. Maybe if he moved to midfielder he could be decent?
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Now that Hull is essentially relegated, the odds that they will buy Altidore’s contract from Villarreal are slight. Instead, unless Altidore has a lights-out run in South Africa, Villarreal will struggle to sell Altidore or find a spot for him in their 2010/11 plans.
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