How Will Altidore Perform in the EPL?
Following a hugely successful 2012-13 campaign in which he scored 31 goals across all competitions, Jozy Altidore secured a transfer to Sunderland of the English Premier League. It's a big step up to a tougher league...and potentially a step down to a squad not known for its scoring prowess. How will Altidore do this season? Graph your position below and add comments. To read what others have to say, click on any shaded cell.
Posted
July 11, 2013 8:00 AM
July 11, 2013 8:00 AM
It's a Good Move
It's a Bad Move
Jozy Will Thrive in the EPL
Jozy Will Struggle This Season
Jozy is the type of player we need , I'm a sunderland fan and I know he will thrive even if he doesn't score much hell hold the ball up for the likes of fletcher, sessegnon, Johnson and giaccherini all whom score plenty goals
—
Gud canio
It's a great move. He'll play right away, and I see him netting 15-18 goals this season. This is a dream scenario for USMNT. Love the fact that our #1 striker will be playing in the EPL the year before the World Cup. It will be great preparation for him. Go on, Jozy!
—
Kevin T.
.
—
.
He's becoming the greatest. matured so much. cant wait to see him destroy the EPL
—
Josiah
Not a bad move for Jozy. As a team that struggled for goals last season, Jozy's goal scoring ability will be highly regarded, rendering him an important player to the team. Should be a good stepping stone to what can allow for a move to a bigger club in about two years. Congrats, Mr. Altidore!
—
PC
I have faith! Feed. The. Jozy!
With SAFC's new additions, Jozy WILL get service!
This moves benefits the USMNT in a big way... I hope.
Very pleased to see Giacherini in the red and white too
—
R. Niles
Think it's a great move but I think he won't be the best
—
Swag
Jozy Gonna Thrive
—
Nathan
Great move for Jozy's career. He will struggle to adapt initially, but after a couple months should become more comfortable.
—
creweXI
He'll do just fine.
—
Piaggio
He can't be expected to put up another 30 goals, but he'll do better than he did at Hull.
—
Ryan
he should do okay.
—
James
Jozy will struggle against tougher opponents at first, but will eventually figure it out. Glad to have our top striker in the EPL getting experience against higher quality defenders.
—
Jason Bogle
will be good move - time will tell if it will be a thriving move.
—
Jake
FTM
—
TM
He needed to move up to a league that plays better defense, but it's hard to imagine Altidore scoring 15 goals in 2013-14, let alone 31. He will grow as a player, for sure, but I also think he will struggle a great deal early on.
—
JHG
It's a great move, but I'm not sure how much success he will have being on a weak squad.
—
Brandon
PDC rewards hard working players and Jozy was known at AZ for his ethic. Cats - and Jozy - struggle early, but he'll get it rolling by the second half.
—
Dan
Great move to the EPL. Maximum exposure and a high level of competition. Sunderland seem to be re-building the squad around Jozy. It will be intriguing to see how Jozy has matured since his last stint in the EPL.
—
DaRelle (Juice)
Right time in his career and in the WC cycle to make this move. It'll be good for Jozy and the MNT. I think he'll struggle some adjusting to the quality of the defenders, and while Sunderland's new players gel. But ultimately, he'll do fine (better than ok, less than stellar).
—
John R
15 Goals minimum!!!
—
Chris Wade
He is not the same guy who played at Hull City. He will be one of the top goal scorers in the EPL within 2 years.
—
Ken
Good move, could work out incredibly well
—
Rotocamel
Paolo Di Canio is leading a revolution at Sunderland and has chosen Jozy as his front man. This can be nothing but great news. Jozy will thrive at SAFC and become a top player in England after once failing miserably there.
—
Rob Usry
So much will rest on his relationship with DiCanio & what the other forwards are up to. We'll see.
—
Mark F
It needed to happen but it's not going to be pretty. Double digit goals would be a win for Altidore this season
—
Kyle S
definitely a good move...will push him even more. might struggle a bit though
—
matt
He'll get some goals. A couple will be big. May take him a while to get into the swing of things, though.
—
Sean
My main concern is his new manager. Di Canio is pure fire. This can either inspire a player or cast him to the deep recesses of the bench. Jozy tends to slump his shoulders and pout when cold. That may not play well with Di Canio...
—
Patrick D
needs to challenge himself more after he reached the pinnacle in Ned
—
Derek
He will be very goog. Needs help can't be an one man band.
—
Frank
EPL is a much different stage.
—
R
It's the right move for his career, but the standard of opposition combined with Sunderland's knack for not creating a boatload of chances means that I think he'll do just alright in the EPL this time around.
—
Mike
Service please
—
Todd
HE WILL THRIVE, A TRUE #1STRIKER HASHTAG NUMBERONESTRIkERCAMP
—
DR JOE MACHNIK
As a Borussia Mönchengladbach fan, I know all too well the range of emotions accompanied by the ascertainment of a “30 plus goals in all competitions” striker from the Eredivisie (Luuk de Jong): the ecstatic joy you felt when you first got the news, followed by an underwhelming first half of the season, followed by the apathetic “yay” which accompanies the final tally of 8 goals in all competitions. While I hope for the best for Jozy, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him struggle to find his footing in his first season with Sunderland.
—
Tyrone
Good move.
—
L
I think that it is smart for him to join a EPL team. Even though Sunderland doesn't have the best record. I believe this will give Jozy and chance to grow and thrive in a tough league.
—
Anne
Opportunity is knocking, Jozy has shown he continues to grow and get better. This should allow him to blossom on the biggest stage.
—
glecko
Hes gotta get on the field.
—
Rigs
lezgo jozy
—
skeeter
Changes at Sunderland, good support added, everyone says 10 goals is a good number but I really think he'll be closer to 15 on account of the midfield changes, if he keeps up the hard work he learned to put in
—
Nick
He will find it more difficult and won't score as much, but he will still develop. That's what's important.
—
Cody
Jozy will continue to play and improve. He clearly has the mentality to become the consummate professional we all hoped he would become. Goals in 13-14 for Sunderland: 23 across all comps.
—
Maxwell
As long as Jozy trains hard and acts maturely, he'll be fine. But one mistake with Di Canio will set him back and derail his Sunderland career. I think he'll be fine though.
—
Kyle
Despite the fact that I think Sunderland are favorites to get relegated, I think its' a fantastic move. Jozy IS good enough to play at the highest level, and this season could be his chance to prove it. Who knows? Maybe it could result in a move to a top-6 team.
—
Sam
I think with the addition of Giaccherini, Jozy will have enough service to get double-digits worth of goals.
—
Kirun
There are no VVV Venlos in the EPL. Goals will be much harder to come by. Sunderland is far from the ideal landing spot for an attacking player. A lot of frustration seems likely. But it's still a good move. He needs to face this kind of competition.
—
Brian
Better more physical league, Jozy will adjust but goal output will be down significantly
—
Doug
The first season for a new club is always a challenge. I expect Jozy to struggle at first and then find his groove sometime before the next round of qualifiers. His goal should be to have at least 8 goals by Christmas.
—
Ed
EPL move is good.
SAFC midfield is pretty solid.
Sunderland as an organization is questionable.
—
Jon Gier
He has looked a more complete, mature player in the past year.
—
Mark B
Depends on a lot of factors still up in the air. How Sunderland's squad shapes up will have a huge impact on style of play and the service that Jozy gets. I do think that Di Canio (politics aside, obviously) could be good for him, as he seems to be a coach that, like Klinsmann and Verbeek, demands total commitment, effort, and discipline at all times. Hopefully that translates into goals--10+ would be a successful season, I think, assuming Sunderland isn't relegated.
—
Alex
It's about the move he deserved to take right now. Depending on expectations, he'll thrive. He's not gonna score 30 more goals, because Sunderland will only score like 50. But he'll get like 10 and get a lot better.
—
Jacob
It's a move that will force him to get better as a player and get him used to a higher level of competition. If he scores double digit goals in league play, I would consider his season a success.
—
Dan
Jozy is at his best with a striking partner playing slightly underneath him. When isolated, he doesn't have the speed to threaten 2 defenders alone. If Sunderland push forward with their formation, he'll fare well.
—
cjgeissler
PDC seems to be bringing higher spending to Sunderland and he classified Jozy as the beginning if this trend as his first big signing. PDC rates him highly, he will play and Adam Johnson, Giacherrini, Seasegnon and Larssen will bring plenty of service.
—
Ethan
Great opportunity for him, SAFC is often used as a stepping stone to 1 of the Big 6 clubs ,so if he performs who knows where he could end up
—
Richie
Will be limited by being on a bottom-half club, but a step up in competition will be good for his development.
—
Adam
Not the best move but good comp. and clearly they expect him to be a big part spending over 8 million pounds on him.Hopeful for a 10 goal season, needs to at least get 7
—
RJ
Sunderland was almost relegated.
—
Taylor
tough to say yet if the move is good or bad, but he will do well this year
—
Mac
I picked a side!
Tough to change leagues, and he's moving to a team in flux to boot. He has the skills, but only time will tell if he'll get service.
—
Mitch
Jozy should have held out for a better team.
—
Keith
13-14 goals no European play
—
jcr737
Jozy has the talent to do alright but Sunderland isn't a good spot for him and the adjustment to Premier League football and much better defense will have some questioning his ability in this crucial season before the World Cup.
—
CJ
I don't think it was such a wise move. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see it working out
—
Mark
Moving to a team that finished 17th last season is not a good career move. Where will the service come from at Sunderland? The team will be pinned back all year long and Jozy needs the ball in the box to score. He just won't get that service at Sunderland.
—
Bill Anderson
He will have a tough time adjusting but will slowly overcome.
—
Kaninzussic
Should have stayed with AZ
—
JC
Altidore has learned how to leverage his size and strength, which will help in England, but it's an uninspiring side and he'll be squaring off against the Stokes and Hulls as much as the Chelseas and Man Citys. Would have liked to see him step up to a place where he could learn rather than getting ground down every week.
—
Mike O
I think that this move is more risky than bad. At AZ Joz' was a goal machine. However, in the Premier league there's a chance that Jozy could struggle again like he did at Hull. On the other hand, I don't think that he will struggle. I expect at least 15 goals out of him.
—
Christian
Another year in Holland with even better numbers would've sent his stock through the roof. Very little capital in EPL = very little room for error and inevitable adjustment to tougher competition.
—
Sean
Not the right team, but I feel he will score at least 10 goals!
—
Justin
All premier league defenders beware there's a new beast in town his name is jozy altidore one of the best young strikers in world football
—
Eddie Moore
I think Sunderland is a terrible team, but that Jozy should do fine.
—
Harrison
Meh. I think he's better off in a less physical/more technical league, but he'll still get his goals. He's got it all figured out.
—
Christopher
This moved forced. Moving to a club that has issues providing service and scoring goals is not ideal, even if its in the EPL. To top it off, the Di Canio is certifiably insane. Expect to see him elsewhere in 1-2 years.
—
JD
After such a successful season with AZ, Jozy will struggle to meet the high expectations of the media. With a generous amount of pitch time, the public will be impressed with jozy's transition into a top
league.
—
Matt
Jozy needed to capitalize on his good season with AZ. If he'd taken a step back, he'd be dismissed as a product of AZ's success rather than a reason for it. Unfortunately, though, Sunderland isn't the best fit for him. Manchester United's Danny Welbeck, a somewhat similar player, had a successful loan spell there, but there's a huge difference between a top English prospect and an American. If Jozy goes cold, he's not going to get much support from fans or front office.
—
Knabelism
I think Jozy will thrive in the EPL, but as a Newcastle fan I can't ever get behind anybody going to Sunderland
—
Michael
