Born on this day is Sunderland flop and USA international Jozy Altidore. The American striker arrived on Wearside to high expectations, but scored a solitary Premier League goal.
Altidore made his name as a youngster in the MLS, showing great potential playing up front for New York Red Bulls. He signed for Spanish side Villareal in 2008 for roughly $10 million. It was the highest fee paid for any MLS player at the time, hugely exceeding Clint Dempsey’s $4 million move to Fulham.
Still very young, Altidore was sent on loan to several clubs to cut his teeth - one of them being Hull City of the Premier League. His first goal for the Tigers came in a 3-1 win over Southend in the League Cup. His work ethic and attitude made him popular among Hull fans, although poor finishing meant he often didn’t reap the rewards of his tireless running. For Hull, he scored just one Premier League goal which was in a 2-1 win over Man City.
Altidore was sent off against his future employers Sunderland for a headbutt on our fan favourite Alan Hutton, who was also sent off in the scuffle for throwing the ball at Altidore! It would be his last appearance for Hull, whose relegation was confirmed a few games later.
In 2011, after a loan spell in Turkey, Altidore was sold permanently to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. He scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute, netting in the 80th minute in a 3-1 win over PSV. The big striker scored very regularly in the Netherlands, with 16 league goals and four in the Europa League in his first season at the club.
Jozy continued his fine form in his second season, as he netted another 31 in all competitions. And then... Sunderland came along.
The transfer fee was rumoured to be around £9 million, which of course turned out to be a total waste of money. The striker signed in July, and scored his first goal for Paolo Di Canio’s men in a 4-2 League Cup win over MK Dons. That goal turned out to be extremely crucial, as we reached the final that year under Gus Poyet.
It’s fair to say that Altidore struggled to acclimatise with English football, failing to register a single goal contribution in his first eight Premier League appearances- all of which, Sunderland also failed to win. However, his first assist came at an important time, setting up Fabio Borini to score an absolute screamer against the Mags. Well, Borini pretty much tackled Altidore and took control of the ball after a heavy touch from the American. Altidore actually played well in that match though, and was awarded Man of the Match!
Despite the lack of goals, Altidore worked tirelessly to harass and press opposition defenders. However, that work ethic seemed to decrease with every game he went without scoring - he cut an ever-increasingly frustrated figure on the pitch as nothing went his way.
Altidore’s one and only Premier League goal for Sunderland came at the Stadium of Light, in a 4-3 loss to Chelsea. He showed great strength and technical ability to hold off his man, turn with the ball at his feet and produce an expert finish past Petr Cech.
We saw less and less of Jozy, who was made to play under-21 football at times to keep his fitness up. In his second season at the club, he’d made just six appearances by October and became unsettled on Wearside. His time at Sunderland was clearly up, and he was available to leave in January.
Altidore was part of one of the smartest pieces of business in the club’s history, when he was swapped for free with a certain Jermain Defoe of Toronto. Both strikers thrived at their new clubs, with Altidore scoring regularly in the MLS for the rest of his career. He's now in his mid-thirties and without a club. He won't look back at his time at Sunderland fondly, but at least he seemed like a genuine guy who did try his very best for the club. Sadly, the fact of the matter is that Sunderland was not a good environment during that time period and Jozy really couldn't adapt to Premier League football.
