In younger and happier days, I liked watching Sesame Street. One of my favorite segments was the “One of These Things” segment. In that segment, the children were shown four items, three of which were similar and one that was different. For example, they’d put up three numbers and a triangle and the kids would have to figure out that the triangle was not like the numbers. It even had a happy-tuned theme song sung by Susan or Bob, the first verse of which went like this, “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things, doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others, by the time we finish our song?” I was awesome at that game, but truth be told, it was pretty obvious which one was not like the others. Would you like to try it with me today, kids? Of course, you would, so let’s get started!
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Teal Bunbury has three goals on the season, including two impressive strikes against Vancouver. Charlie Davies leads MLS with five goals in eight games for D.C. United and has been named Man of the Match three times. Juan Agudelo has scored twice for the New York Red Bulls, both times showing control, strength in the challenge and skill. Hercules Gomez has scored four in his last five games with Pachuca. Jozy Altidore has one goal in nine appearances for Bursaspor playing only twenty four minutes, one minute, and twenty-three minutes, respectively, in his last three games. “Did you guess which thing is not like the others? Did you guess real hard, with all your might?”
There has been a lot of positive news about USMNT forward candidates lately, but Jozy Altidore’s name has been conspicuously absent from the glad tidings. Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not an Altidore hater. He has frustrated me at times, for sure, but I am not flaming him on the internet as many do. I recognize that Altidore has made significant contributions to the USMNT. His Confederations Cup goal against Spain was big, he was the USMNT’s leading scorer in World Cup 2010 qualifying, he had a great assist on Michael Bradley’s game tying goal versus Slovenia in the World Cup and he sent in the ball that led to Landon Donovan’s late winner against Algeria. These were massive contributions. However, Jozy has been the starting forward by default for much of his time with the USMNT and now, there are guys out there showing that they want to compete for the forward spots at World Cup 2014. If Jozy is going to meet the challenge over the next three years, he’s going to have to stop looking so different from his competition in a few key areas.
Jozy is going to have start getting as much playing time as his competitors. Bunbury, Gomez and Davies are all starting, while Agudelo is earning minutes at NYRB and is clearly in the plans of Hans Backe. On the other hand, Jozy’s playing time has been sporadic since going to Europe in 2008. He is now at Bursaspor, his third loan in search of playing time. While he was getting 70+ minutes a game when he first arrived at Bursaspor, his minutes have dwindled recently. Whether this is due to the Turkish restrictions on the number of foreign players permitted on the field, Jozy not showing enough to deserve more minutes, or something else, I do not know. I assume that bringing in Kenny Miller and the failure of the Sercan Yildirim transfer to be completed are not making it any easier for Jozy to see the field right now. Regardless of the reason, the point is that Jozy has struggled to find consistent playing time for nearly three years now. Jozy cannot afford to continue this pattern and expect to maintain his place as an automatic starter for the USMNT. Gone are the days when the mere fact that an American was on a roster somewhere overseas guaranteed their inclusion in the USMNT’s first eleven. Jozy has got to get some consistent playing time to keep pace with his competition.
Jozy has to start developing as fast as his competition. As early as 2007, his then coach, Bruce Arena, was telling Sports Illustrated that Altidore needed to improve his first touch. Four years later, that remains a skill which needs more polish, in my opinion. I also think that Jozy needs work on his finishing, his 1-v-1 skills, his passing, his target play, and his positioning. While there is no question that Jozy has improved in these areas, Jozy has been a professional for five years now, having spent time during three of those years in La Liga, the Premier League and the Turkish Super Lig. I think it is reasonable to expect Jozy to be showing more improvement by now. Maybe it is the way he trains. There have been rumors about Jozy’s training habits since he became a professional. Both managers at Hull City publicly commented last year about the deficiencies in Jozy’s training habits. In fact, Ian Dowie said he had spoken to Jozy “a number of times” about it. Jozy was on loan to a Premier League team with an opportunity to shine and, perhaps, be purchased, yet both of his managers questioned his effort publicly? That’s a concern. On the other hand, we are not hearing anything but positives about the way Jozy’s competition trains. Sporting KC’s coach, Peter Vermes, told AOL’s FanHouse that Teal Bunbury, “. . . has a great work ethic. He comes to training every day to be the best, and it's just inside him. . . . You can talk about it and he'll pay attention. You can spend time after practice working on different aspects." Charlie Davies has gone from just trying to stand up for five minutes straight after the accident, to putting in 90 minutes a match. I do not think he is at 100% yet, and he may never be, but I have no doubt that he is going to continue to train like a monster every day. Agudelo has the benefit of training with Thierry Henry, who has said that Agudelo has the right attitude. Jozy needs to match his competition’s development and training efforts in order to keep pace.
Jozy also has to start putting out the same in-game effort as his competition. A common frustration for many USMNT fans is that they do not think Jozy consistently puts in maximum effort. During the Costa Rica game in October 2009, we saw the effort Jozy is capable of putting in for ninety minutes. He was going all out for every ball, even making a sliding tackle in Costa Rica’s end to set up a goal scoring opportunity. I do not think we see Jozy exerting that same level of energy every game, however. When he got his minutes for Villarreal early this season, I expected to see Jozy running around the field like a nut trying to show he wanted to be there. Instead, I thought he was very casual. Ian Dowie also stated last year that Jozy was very “laid back.” Maybe that's an issue. By way of contrast, Agudelo, Bunbury and Davies all appear to me to be giving maximum effort every time out. As an example, in the 87th minute of D.C. United being drummed 4-1 by Houston last Friday, Charlie Davies was tracking back pressuring the ball. Jozy needs to address the consistency of his in-game effort if he is going to stay ahead of his competition.Finally, Jozy needs to start scoring like his competition. Since going to Europe, Jozy has 6 goals in 59 appearances. To give some perspective, the much-maligned Freddy Adu has had 5 goals in fewer appearances during the same time period. Jozy has not been prolific with the USMNT, either, with just ten goals in thirty-four appearances, three coming in one game against Trinidad and Tobago two years ago. Jozy has had his chances to score, but he has not finished them often enough. It is just that simple.
Let's play one more round of “Which One of these Things.” Charlie Davies has stated that he does not believe his comeback from injury is complete until he gets back on the USMNT. Teal Bunbury said he switched from Canada to the U.S. because it gave him a better shot to play in a World Cup. Juan Agudelo told Goal.com, “For about two years I dreamed of being a professional player, and now I'm there. Now the time has come to chase new goals and work hard to make those dreams come true, because they don't come for free. . . I want to dedicate myself to playing my game, to improving and I won't stop doing the things that got me here.” Jozy Altidore told the New Jersey’s Star Ledger in 2011, “I’m happy to stay in contention with the national team . . . I’m still fairly young and I still have a lot of time.” Notice a difference? While Jozy seems to have bought in to the idea that he is still young and he has time to get better, his competition sounds hungry. If they really are, Jozy may not have as much time as he thinks.
To be fair, Agudelo, Bunbury, and Davies are not ready to start for the USMNT yet and there have been a lot of guys who started strong, but could not maintain it. I am not writing Jozy off by any means, I am only saying that Jozy has some competitors out there that seem intent on taking his spot. My hope is that over the next three years, Jozy is going to show us more than a huge upside and potential. My hope is that over the next three years, Jozy will show a response to his competition that will make it tougher for us, when going through this list, to tell which one is not like the others.
