TORONTO—It’s been a tale of two seasons for Jozy Altidore.

After sitting out the first two games of the Major League Soccer campaign due to an ongoing hamstring issue, the Toronto FC forward went goal-less in each of his first eight matches before suffering another hamstring injury on May 14.

A lengthy layoff followed as the American international sat out the Reds’ next nine games while he recuperated from his latest injury setback.

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Maybe the time off actually did Altidore some good, because at the moment he’s playing some of his best soccer for TFC, with three goals and an assist in his last four appearances. His hot run of form also coincides with with the team’s hot streak–Toronto is unbeaten in its last five matches, with four wins, and is a point out of first place in the Eastern Conference.

On Sunday, he made his first start since mid-May, playing 71 minutes in the Reds’ 1–1 draw with the Houston Dynamo. Altidore put in a man-of-the-match performance, scoring a spectacular equalizer, carving out other chances for himself, and making a goal-line clearance that helped Toronto earn a valuable point on the road.

More than anything, the incremental increase in his playing time over the five games he’s featured in since coming back has played a big part in his recent run of good form.

“I’m just trying to get back to fitness, to be honest with you. I believe in my abilities; I don’t think there’s an issue for me there. It’s just about getting fit again and finding a rhythm, because the season has been a lot of stop-and-start for me,” Altidore said.

Coach Greg Vanney described Altidore’s recent play as “fantastic,” and said he “couldn’t have asked for more from Jozy.”

“He’s shown a hunger to score goals. He’s getting himself in front of the goal. On crosses, he’s holding up balls for us and bringing people into the action. I think he’s doing a wonderful job of connecting things [in the attack] and then getting himself back into goal-scoring positions, which is big for us,” Vanney explained.

He later added: “It’s great to see him being ‘goal dangerous’ in addition to all the other things he brings to the equation for us.”

One of the “other things” Altidore does is act as TFC’s first line of defence. He routinely harries and tries to close down opposing defenders when they try to bring the ball out from the back, giving his defence more time to reset after Toronto loses possession. His tireless efforts on the defensive end haven’t gone unnoticed by Vanney.

“He does an incredible amount of unselfish work defensively. At times, we don’t necessarily look at forwards in that way, but he’s done a huge amount of work and contributed a ton in terms of our overall defensive [posture] from the forward position,” Vanney stated.

Even during his scoring dry spell earlier in the season, Altidore was still contributing to the TFC cause through his defensive work, and using his size and physicality to hold up the ball and bring teammates into the play.

Forwards are ultimately judged, some would say unfairly, by the amount of goals they score, and Altidore certainly received his fair share of criticism earlier in the year. But his overall game, including the things he did off the ball, was somewhat underappreciated—maybe more so because teammate Sebastian Giovinco was scoring with such regularity.

“It’s hard. It’s also hard when you play next to Seba. He’s a special player and everybody thinks that everybody has to be special like Seba. He is a very unique player,” Altidore said.

“People tend to overlook [a forward’s overall game]. That’s sports, though. That’s life. As professionals, you just have to go about your business and keep doing your job.”

Altidore was on the pitch for 70 minutes before being subbed out in Houston, his longest stretch of playing time since coming back from injury. Vanney has taken a very cautious approach with the American forward, slowly integrating him back into the lineup as he works his way back to full match fitness.

“We’re playing the long game here; we’re not playing the short game when it comes to Jozy,” Vanney offered.

Is he close to going a full 90 minutes?

“I would like to think so. I feel like I could have against Houston. I felt fine. Hopefully, against Philadelphia [this weekend], if I get a chance to play again, I can go the distance,” Altidore said.

During his lengthy absence, and even in recent weeks when TFC lost other key players to injury, a number of the team’s young players have stepped up in a big way to fill the void. Midfielders Jay Chapman and Marky Delgado, in particular, have distinguished themselves with their poised play and maturity.

Altidore feels TFC’s commitment to developing young talent has paid off for the club during what has been an injury-filled campaign.

“If anything it shows what’s being done in terms of building for the future,” Altidore said. “If you look at the guys who maybe wouldn’t have gotten minutes if other guys weren’t injured and look at how they performed, I think it says a lot about the youth development here, and the rookies and the young guys we have here. They’ve played a huge role for us.”

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