Gus Poyet knows American striker Jozy Altidore did not have a good season at Sunderland. He isnโt going to shy away from that, nor could he with the 24-year-old scoring exactly one Premier League goal and two in all competitions for the Northeast England club.
But in an interview on SiriusXMโs โThe Football Show,โ Poyet insists heโs โone of the fewโ who is relaxed when it comes to Altidore.
He loves the Yankโs shot, attitude and effort, and canโt explain why Altidore is having more success for the United States than his club team.
Someย Poyet quotes, courtesy ofย MLSSoccer.comโs Andrew Wiebe:
โI donโt know if itโs when you feel that you are a main player. I donโt know if the pace of the game with the national team is different than England,โ Poyet said. โI donโt, I donโt know. Something is, of course, not working for us with Jozy.โ
โEvery game he came on, he gave us a hand โ at Stamford Bridge is an example. He was always trying his best,โ Poyet said. โUnfortunately, the goals didnโt come for him. But I am relaxed because if you see the power heโs got, if you see the shot โ he can shoot, I can tell you that, because I see him every day. Itโs just that momentum, that click that is going to be for him so important.
โBut Iโm quite relaxed with Jozy, to be honest. Iโm one of the few. I know itโs difficult for a striker when he doesnโt score, but I like him. I like him. I like him as a boy and I like him as a player. He just couldnโt find the net. Sometimes it happens. You change clubs, and you cannot do it at one club for whatever reason.โ
Of course, the reasons โ or excuses, for naysayers โ are plentiful. Altidore joined a newer league where itโs harder to score than the goal-happy Eredivisie. Itโs also likely that itโs easier to score in CONCACAF than it is in the Premier League as well.
But itโs good to hear that Poyet isnโt having massive doubts about Altidore, especially when a strong World Cup can buoy the forward, well, forward. If the striker can come back to the Stadium of Light in fine form, it sounds like Poyet wonโt be hesitant to deploy his American target man.
