By Michael Ramsay

THE last 18 months have been something of a nightmare for Jozy Altidore.

In 40 league games, he has found the back of the net just once - a defender would be disappointed with such a paltry tally, never mind a bustling centre-forward.

The only respite he has found from his struggles in front of goal have been when Gus Poyet has mercifully left him out of the firing line, away from the jibes of his critics.

Returning to the league where he cut his teeth originally having signed for Toronto FC as part of the deal for Jermain Defoe, he will be hoping to rediscover the goalscoring touch which persuaded Sunderland chiefs to part with such a large sum of money for his signature in July 2013.

The warning signs were there, but the powers-that-be that stumped up £7m for his signature chose to ignore them. The American powerhouse was no novice to the Premier League, having spent the 09/10 season struggling to make an impact on loan at Hull City.

His return of one goal in 28 league games should have been enough to set alarm bells ringing for any potential suitor.

To judge him purely on an ill-fated stint at the KC Stadium would be harsh, however. It was, after all, the former New York Red Bulls’ striker’s first foray into English football at just 19-years-old.

In the interim years, he had set about building a fearsome reputation in Holland at AZ Alkmaar. With a strike rate of 51 goals in 93 games, and a healthy international goalscoring record to boot, it was no wonder Roberto de Fanti decided to write the Hull City debacle off as a blip.

Where in the Eredivisie he was almost expected to find the back of the net every weekend, Altidore’s name on the scoresheet in Sunderland was a rarity. With a solitary league strike in 40 appearances for the Black Cats, his goalscoring prowess in the Eredivisie must seem a lifetime ago for the 25-year-old.

The American’s profligacy in front of goal has bordered on tragic for certain sections of the home support, as they frequently lamented their bustling centre-forward’s inability to do what he is paid to - score goals.

With the team having notched just 18 goals in 21 games so far this season, the patience has worn thin and Altidore has found himself to be the sacrificial lamb in the deal that brought Defoe to the club.

Altidore has amassed a collection of missed opportunities in front of goal throughout his Sunderland career, but if one summed up the complete lack of confidence and self-belief that he possesses, it was the open-goal gaffe against West Ham last month.

With his goal drought having just surpassed the unwanted landmark of a year the previous week, the American had a chance to make amends when Sebastian Larsson whipped a cross into the six-yard box. All alone with the goal at his mercy, the 6ft 1in target-man shrunk in stature and tripped over the ball from just three yards out. Poyet was perplexed, claiming that even after watching it back, he ‘still doesn’t know what happened’.

The Uruguayan went on to claim that his profligate American was ‘devastated’, and ‘needs a goal’. Sunderland didn’t win that game, and the former Brighton boss’ frustration was evident.

A goalscorer was needed, and Altidore clearly wasn’t it.

The deal makes sense. Having scored 25 goals for the national side since his induction in 2007, Altidore has remained a popular figure in his home country. A move to the Major League Soccer has worked wonders for those who have found the Premier League too taxing, such as ageing stars Tim Cahill, Robbie Keane and Nigel Reo-Coker.

The MLS’ inferior standard to the Premier League will be a sweet relief, but what separates it from the likes of the Scottish Premier League and other lesser leagues is the existence of top-class talent.

David Villa, Kaka and Steven Gerrard will be amongst the big fish patrolling the championship next season, so the competitive nature seems to be ever-growing.

But what is all bad? It would be so easy to focus on the negatives of Altidore’s spell on Wearside, and as he unpacks in Canada this weekend, those will probably be the only thoughts that will plague his mind.

However, it was his goal against a Capital One Cup encounter with MK Dons in September 2013 which kick-started a revival from 2-0 down to triumph 4-2. The close-range strike has been consigned to the archives, but the club would eventually reach the final.

His first Tyne-Wear derby produced no goals, but three points and a man-of-the-match award would surely have sent him home satisfied. Were it not for the combination of Eden Hazard’s genius and Sunderland’s own shambolic defending, his sole league strike in a 4-3 defeat against Chelsea 13 months ago might have actually meant something.

It could have worked. Possessing a bulking physique and deceptive pace, he should have been a nightmare for Premier League defences. However, the brutish boxer was allowed to be bullied by the majority of defenders, as his prolonged goal drought feasted on his confidence.

Could it simply have been the Eredivisie’s erratic product line masking yet another goalscorer? Lest we forget, Alfonso Alves was a menace in Holland.