Adu Gone? - Le Toux new no. 11

....where every forward makes his midnight run.

 

Hey, I cannot honestly blame him for leaving the Union if he is given the opportunity to play in the Turkish first. Even if its a lateral move. I just hope he read the fine print. Below is a summery copy that one of my secret disclosed sources gave me (do not want to hurt their credibility if its wrong).

I, Freddy Adu, will be offered $500K a season to start at CAM for Galatasaray reserve Team.

 

If he moves to Galatasaray, I'm happy for him. That would be great for his career. I just don't know why they would want him. None of that makes any sense.

 

I never said or implied either of these things. (Didn't mean to, anyway, hence the winky emoticon.) Clarification below:

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Re: Gala, my point was that he might be better off at a lower to mid-table team over there. While he has played well at a similar level club before (crazy high strike rate at Benfica before the new manager came him and had no use for him), Gala picking him up - if they actually are interested - and him getting regular minutes as their trequartista or fantasista are two entirely different things.

A lower level Superlig team would be a modest step up from a Turkey II team that was on the verge of promotion. And Turkish scouts *have* actually seen him in his preferred central playmaking role, where he - surprise! - looked a lot like he does when he wears the U.S. shirt, i.e., pretty good (albeit at one level below their top league). So maybe they'd actually give him minutes there. I'm advocating baby steps, i.e., consider a lower level team - if one's actually interested in you - rather than Gala.

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Just to be clear on the other front, I'll repeat something I've often said in the past: I've never said Freddy's "earned" anything and am not saying it now.

You don't play people because they "earn" playing time by working hard or what not; you play them because they'll help you win more than the next guy, either today or in the long run.

With the latter (the long run) in mind, why should the Union have considered "giving" Freddy playing time as a CAM that the offense runs through? For *their* benefit, not Freddy's. He's always been inconsistent in any other role. You pay low-DP money for him, yet you've never given him an extended shot in the one role he's good at (which begs the question: why did you ever buy him at all?). Anyway, once the playoffs were out of reach, why not give him this one shot so you can see if he's actually worth keeping around?

Or....if (as looks to be the case) you already know you want him gone, then put him in the shop window. Playing him in the one role he's typically performed well at seems to be a better way to move him than to bash him and sit him on the bench. Do this for the *Union's* benefit, not his. Why? So that you reduce the odds of having to eat $500k next year for a player you refuse to play.

Or do you guys actually like paying money to players like him and Bakary to *not* play? Who cares what *Freddy* wants or what he's "earned" or "not earned". Not having to pay players who don't play is good for *you*.

 

Cash moneys, bro. Adu brought name recognition at a crucial time for an infantile franchise. He came relatively cheap, and im sure he was brought in with the idea that "if you asked a random Delaware valley person to name ten soccer players, Adu would probably be one of them, and the cheapest."

Adu's time in that regard has came and went. Contribute or leave.

 

How so?

 

If that was truly the reason why, I've got no problem w/ the rationale. Makes sense to me. Ruiz, gone. Fan favorite Seba, run out of town by Sheriff Nowak. Who'll attract casual fans and parents with their kids (who also probably love stepovers)?

I've simply never thought that - on the field at least - Freddy would be worth DP money unless you: (a) played him in the only role he's ever exhibited any real consistency at, and (b) it turned out that he could keep it up at this level, in this league, w/ these teammates.

Lots of "ifs", but that, to me, was the only chance you had at him being worth his wages based on "on the field" play. Because he's simply not, to me, blessed w/ the kind of physical attributes that allow him to consistently shine otherwise. Imho, his upside is far higher than most players - and unlike many, I still think you'd be happy w/ him if you played to his strengths and had folks that could finish - but I also think his upside is far harder to actually realize than it is w/ most players.

Anyway, refuse to do (a) and you never find out about (b), meaning you get what you got, and it was a crazy buy to begin w/ (at those wages)...unless your theory is correct.

(Btw, I'm not claiming you should have done (a), at least not until the playoffs were out of reach. Heck, even Riquelme had to wait until he was, what, 26 before getting that shot? It's risky to build your team around a single, unproven player who hasn't exhibited consistency in other roles and might leave for the next shiny offer if he does play well. I was just saying that it didn't make sense to offer DP money unless you did plan on giving him that shot, and you also thought (b) might actually happen after you gave him that shot; otherwise, be like Chivas and pass. I wasn't accounting for off the field benefits, though. Freddy Adu Fathead Night, anyone? )

 

That is one thing I still have not been able to figure out. Why bring in Adu if you aren't going to play him in his best position? With Novak I have learned through last season that he was basically batshit crazy. Hack? I don't know why. Maybe he didn't want Adu? Maybe he thought Farfan was a better option at CAM? There is, as you say, a high but tough to reach potential for Freddy and how to get him there I have no idea.

To the age thing I can see it as a possibility in some situations but not so much with Hack because Farfan is the same age and notably less experience.

In my view Freddy was never a superstar for us but also wasn't Lopez. He has a certain skill set and trying to play him in positions that don't mesh with those skills makes Freddy look underwhelming. Also it did seem to me that both he and Farfan saw a fair amount of double teams simply because there was no fear by the opposition of our forwards. Could Freddy and Michael be more impressive if someone could put the ball in the net?

One thing that has been rumored is his disruptive presence in the locker room. While I don't deny it is possible I am still one to question it. Last year for the Olympic qualifying he seemed to be the main guy in that locker room from the different things shown. He was a captain for that squad and probably played some of the best soccer of his career. It could have been different when back with the U, but that is a Jekyll/Hyde situation if I ever saw one. Great leader one day and then mere months later is a problem child? If that is the case maybe he might want to speak to a professional or maybe just a sports psychologist.

If Freddy is not gone I hope he doesn't ride the bench because I think we can be better with him on the field and motivated. He would best be used in the center of the field either as a CAM in a 4-4-2 diamond or as a withdrawn forward in a 4-3-1-2.

 

Have we ever gotten official confirmation concerning Generation Adidas graduates? Usually they are released as part of the expansion draft but we aren't playing that game this year. Just curious if all 3 of our likely graduates did in fact graduate (Hackworth seemed to want to argue in favor of keeping MacMath in the program and seemed to believe that an exception was possible. He conceded Okugo as the most likely graduate, and Jack also probable after that.)

Add this to the idea that we just propositioned a 39 yr old recently retired goalkeeper for north of $100K. Not sure if we could be so lucky, but Hack may have gotten Zack another year.

Also curious to see how we manage the cap situation this year. Added 2 presumably 200K+ forwards and a 200K+ centerback about evens out what we recouped from Gomez, Lopez, and Martinez. Adu's salary is probably the biggest question mark at this point - hard to make any splashy improvements without moving his DP contract.

 

I was surprised Nowak signed Freddy and acted like the offense would be built around him. I was then surprised when I saw the Union play: w/ 2 destroyers on a physical team that had grit but couldn't string passes together to save their lives. Freddy's good at tiki-taka where he's the focal point, not in systems prioritizing grit, hustle, etc. (He's also probably better in technical leagues where you get more time on the ball and where refs protect you; Turkey II fans often said he'd do better in Turkey I for this reason.)

Anyway, Hack took over and, wow, for a spell the Union played nice, flowing soccer. Don't know why it didn't last. Maybe young teams are simply wildly inconsistent?

Re: age. I just meant that it takes a long time, sometimes, for players like this to find managers willing to build around them. All eggs in one basket. If that player has an off day, gets hurt, or leaves... And he'd *better* dominate or his teammates will resent him. It's simply a risky thing to do. Especially in a day and age where fantasista type #10s are hardly used (though they may be coming back, to some degree).

And w/ Hack, he may want a pure, balanced team-approach, as opposed to building around 1 focal player. Freddy, meanwhile, has been told he has to dominate games and take them over in order to impress JK (who may not rate him at all any more or, for all we know, might instead love him enough to give him the 'Djorkaeff' treatment). Freddy thinks of JK's demands and sees Nowak's promise flittering away, while Hack thinks he's selfish for wanting this promise to be made good; all he wants is a chance, yet asking for it comes across like he's asking for special treatment.

In the GC, though, Freddy *wasn't* this focal guy the team was built around; and he played just fine w/ Landon and Clint and MB. So maybe he can do the same here and make Hack happy?

I do think Freddy and Marfan - heck, everyone else too - will look better w/ forwards that can hold the ball, pass, and score, i.e., it's as you say, they'll have more room and more outlets (and thus more assists). And, yeah, I like Freddy in the same roles you do (top of a narrow diamond w/ fullbacks providing width, withdrawn FW, or even - not as ideal as the first two roles, but still ok - as an inverted outside FW in a 4-3-3, as long he plays centrally when we've got the ball.)

 

I was under the impression that we offered that GK a contract, but he WANTED >100k...doesn't sound like we were offering that.

 

My Turkish is a little rusty, but I believe the one tweet says, "Freddy, I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you, but you were born to rub me first."

 

That's correct. Freddy's reluctance to rub them first, I believe, was what made him want to come back to MLS.

 

I didn't know Aduesque could speak Turkish.

Somebody get Freddy a restraining order against that guy. He might want to tone it down a bit.

 

LOL!!!!!!!! his club does say galatasaray. I guess he is not a Rayo Vallecano fan like it was before.

 

I guess it's tough rooting for a traveling circus, unless you travel to the next town the circus visits. I wonder if he'll be a fan of the old age home that Freddy will be in one day.

 

maybe there is an opening as a roadie/entourage member. Maybe we can develop a board game.

 

A nice shout out to the immortal Ty Webb! Repped! After all, who does not love this guy?

 

I think this aduesque is just pulling everyone's leg......but sadly I think that drippingmilk is for real!! And that's scary.....

You do realise that that is 2 whole people......

 

just like here. coincidence?

 

Nov 28th..... I wonder if their site crashed that day?

 

An AM has always been a gaping whole on this squad--it's not new and management has time and time again failed to address it. I've been calling for one ever since this club formed. This team is fairly listless going forward in the attack from the midfield. Freddy, at least, gave us something at times going forward with vision.