thompson posted:

http://jozyaltidore.com/

vaginal culture posted:

Freddy Adu was probably like 25 when he was banging JoJo

quote:

Look, Jozy is not a world-class player. He's a good player, but he has his limits. Mainly, a poor first touch and the infuriating propensity to loaf around and visibly show his frustration when things aren't going his way.

That said, I've watched almost all of Sunderland's games and I'll break it down for you. In the beginning they were terrible under Paolo Di Canio. I mean, truly terrible. They were as bad as you've ever seen any team play; no team chemistry, the inability to retain the ball for more than two passes, playing only hoof-ball to a lone striker.

During this period Altidore put in some good shifts, some bad ones. When he was on he held up the ball well, won headers, had good link-up play only to see his teammates not return the favor. When he was off he would go down too easily, lose headers, loaf, and turn over the ball. I would say his performances were split maybe 60 / 40 in favor of positive. Still, his play was much too inconsistent and you could literally watch the confidence drain out of him. Partially his own inconsistency, but mostly the fault of his abysmal team.

Paolo Di Canio was sacked and then Gus Poyet came in. Poyet immediately gave starting positions to two key playerss - CM Ki Sung Yeung and CB Wes Brown - and the team improved 100000x almost overnight. Wes Brown is a world-class defender who has been injury prone over the last five years and Ki is the most technical player of the side who can retain the ball ala Michael Bradley for the US. The two combined gave Sunderland what they were missing before: a spine to build on. The team has been improving every game since.

Unfortunately, Sunderland still has two major problems. First, they're still not producing enough goal scoring chances. The strikers aren't getting service, simple as that. Whether it's Jozy or Fletcher, each striker can expect to only get one or two good looks at goal all game, if that. Second, and more concerning imo, is the fact that Sunderland has the tendency to shoot itself in the foot. They constantly get red cards or give up own goals. It sucks, and has cost them who knows how many points. If they can fix both of these issues they will not be relegated this season. I believe Gus Poyet is the right man for the job and his performance so far has been incredible. Night and Day from Di Canio, really. It's just a matter of time to get his team to gel, and maybe bringing in one or two players in the Winter window. Hopefully one of them will be someone that can create chances on a regular basis.

Where does that leave Jozy? Well unfortunately his performances under Gus Poyet have been largely the same as under Di Canio. He's still wildly inconsistent, but when he's on he's among his team's best players. In the last four games he's had two clear cut chances and scuffed both of them. Not good. Jozy needs to stop whining and do the little things to help his team. He can immediately improve if he stopped going down for fouls and instead tried his best to stay up. I think he's got a rep among the refs in the BPL and as a result they're not giving him some of the more 50/50 calls.

So what's the silver lining? Well, target men from Jozy often take some time to adjust to the BPL. And while /r/soccer likes to stick it to Jozy simple because he's American, he's hardly been much worse than the other striker signings of other teams: Wilfred Bony, Ricky Vans Wolfswinkel, and Andreas Cornelius come to mind (yes I know Bony has five goals, but that's playing for an attacking side that creates chances against everyone they play. if you break down their film you'll see that he's actually been quite similar to Jozy in performance. swap teams and they swap stats, simple as that.) Sunderland is improving, and hopefully Jozy will improve along with the team. Also, it's important to note that Steven Fletcher has also been playing poor when given the opportunity. This indicates to me that the problem is a goal-creation one, not necessarily completely the fault of the strikers (though certainly they have to share in some of the responsibility). I still believe in Jozy and I think he just needs a good run and maybe a goal from open play to have something to build on. We'll see what happens in the second half of the season.

TL;DR - Yes, Jozy been bad, but Sunderland has been a black hole until recently. They still need to stop shooting themselves in the foot and create more chances, but the team now has a foundation on which to build on.

edit: whelp, Sunderland just gave up a goal in the 5th minute, so maybe they still suck.
edit edit: then again, notice how Wes Brown is not starting. Look how much pressure it puts on Diakite to distribute from the back, something he can't really do too well.

pissy smelliott posted:

KDdidit posted:

Mmmm, maybe, maybe not. My biggest worry is that he'll become the American Kenwyne Jones or Cameron Jerone who score 2 goals a year and keep getting EPL contracts. In my opinion, Jozy is miles better than both players combined. Hasn't had the chance to show it.

Jozy on Swansea? He'd get the same amount of goals as Bony.

Some Jozy supporter posted:

Every game he came on, he gave us a hand – at Stamford Bridge is an example. He was always trying his best," Poyet said. "Unfortunately, the goals didn’t come for him. But I am relaxed because if you see the power he’s got, if you see the shot – he can shoot, I can tell you that, because I see him every day. It’s just that momentum, that click that is going to be for him so important.

But I’m quite relaxed with Jozy, to be honest. I’m one of the few. I know it’s difficult for a striker when he doesn’t score, but I like him. I like him. I like him as a boy and I like him as a player. He just couldn’t find the net. Sometimes it happens. You change clubs, and you cannot do it at one club for whatever reason.

SuperHunBastard1690 posted:

Britbong

youtube posted:

Oh yea, I forgot about those bitter Mexicans. That could be it. I don't think they hate America but they definitely hate "gringos". Michael Bradley's beautiful passes make their head explode.

I'm a mexican and live in Mexico but I don't hate gringos, in fact, I admire the gringos very much. I hate when my own people, mexicans over there, hate them, but not me. You have courage and character to win. Mexicans sometimes hate too much and envy instead of doing their own business, their own stuff. I'm pretty sure the U.S team will get to finals. They deserve it!! 

vaginal culture posted:

Torn right labia and a strained vulva, he'll miss 6-9 games

vaginal culture posted:

In college I played pick up soccer and there was this black kid named keith I think who was really "athletic" and fast, He would always get picked first and people go out of their way to pass him the ball but he was real bad in reality. He finally had to say something to us that he wasn't good at soccer and to stop passing only to him. Well Jozy lacks the courage to speak out.