Is Altidore The One???
Every once and awhile I like to step out of the college to pro mold around here, however this topic isn't too far from that formula. Today Doug McIntyre wrote a nice article on Jozy Altidore over at espn.com. I wanted to bring my reader's attention to the article and give people a place to talk about it. So here is the question...Is Altidore the American forward who will score 7 goals in a World Cup...Is Altidore the American forward who signs with Manchester United and leads the Premier League in scoring two consecutive seasons...Is Altidore the forward who brings respect to the American game?
McIntyre correctly points out that MLS put too much on the Freddy Adu show. You can never manufacture results from professional athletes and in all cases, the future will reveal itself. While Adu was a tremendous talent on the field with his piers, and boys a couple years older, he should never have been expected to perform on an adult stage. Let's hope Adu's early debut does not turn into a Britney Spears type situation. She's done at 25 folks, I think Adu should last longer since he got out of the limelight and moved to a real developmental team in Portugal.
Altidore's rise to prominence came a different direction. He started as a talented teen playing in Florida in the Spring of 2004 with the US U-17 squad after being discovered however young soccer talent is discovered in this messy youth soccer nation. After 3 semesters at Bradenton, Altidore entered the 2006 MLS draft and was selected 17th overall by New York. Many MLS fans had never heard of young Jozy and many wouldn't hear from him until late in the 2006 season because he started his MLS career in Florida finishing his high school studies.
Jozy Altidore snuck into MLS. He wasn't put on a pedestal and paraded around as the league's savior. Leave that work to David Beckham. Our young stars need appropriate time to grow.
McIntyre goes on to highlight one of Jozy's best qualities...his size. MLS is a physical league and only the best players are going to able to survive if they're under 5'-9" or so. Beasley did it but can you remember how often you saw him hammered to the ground by those beastly MLS defenders who defend based by shoving as opposed to stealing the ball? As a little guy, Adu belongs in a more finesse league while Altidore can hold up against anyone.
Jozy won't stay in MLS forever. The article talks about his agent already fielding questions from international clubs. However, MLS needs to use his presence in the league to help bring soccer fans through the gates. MLS' biggest issue over the years has been appealing to fans of the sport who live in the US. A certain portion of us have been able to overlook the lack of quality in exchange for live soccer. Now is the time for the league to capture the rest of the American soccer market. This is the type of quality MLS has been waiting for and it is in a 17 year old package. McIntyre is right...Altidore could be the one to bring success to American soccer.
In the future MLS should learn from this lesson. Make sure you hype the proven players as opposed to the untested youngsters.
McIntyre correctly points out that MLS put too much on the Freddy Adu show. You can never manufacture results from professional athletes and in all cases, the future will reveal itself. While Adu was a tremendous talent on the field with his piers, and boys a couple years older, he should never have been expected to perform on an adult stage. Let's hope Adu's early debut does not turn into a Britney Spears type situation. She's done at 25 folks, I think Adu should last longer since he got out of the limelight and moved to a real developmental team in Portugal.
Altidore's rise to prominence came a different direction. He started as a talented teen playing in Florida in the Spring of 2004 with the US U-17 squad after being discovered however young soccer talent is discovered in this messy youth soccer nation. After 3 semesters at Bradenton, Altidore entered the 2006 MLS draft and was selected 17th overall by New York. Many MLS fans had never heard of young Jozy and many wouldn't hear from him until late in the 2006 season because he started his MLS career in Florida finishing his high school studies.
Jozy Altidore snuck into MLS. He wasn't put on a pedestal and paraded around as the league's savior. Leave that work to David Beckham. Our young stars need appropriate time to grow.
McIntyre goes on to highlight one of Jozy's best qualities...his size. MLS is a physical league and only the best players are going to able to survive if they're under 5'-9" or so. Beasley did it but can you remember how often you saw him hammered to the ground by those beastly MLS defenders who defend based by shoving as opposed to stealing the ball? As a little guy, Adu belongs in a more finesse league while Altidore can hold up against anyone.
Jozy won't stay in MLS forever. The article talks about his agent already fielding questions from international clubs. However, MLS needs to use his presence in the league to help bring soccer fans through the gates. MLS' biggest issue over the years has been appealing to fans of the sport who live in the US. A certain portion of us have been able to overlook the lack of quality in exchange for live soccer. Now is the time for the league to capture the rest of the American soccer market. This is the type of quality MLS has been waiting for and it is in a 17 year old package. McIntyre is right...Altidore could be the one to bring success to American soccer.
In the future MLS should learn from this lesson. Make sure you hype the proven players as opposed to the untested youngsters.
posted by Bonji at
1:24 PM
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