So basically you're saying he was a lazy arrogant bum even at the age of 12-14 so going to a European Academy would have not had any effect on his career regardless? That's fine to have your opinion but I have to disagree sir.
No - I wouldn't say "arrogant bum" but I would say he was confused about what makes a player great and that wouldn't have changed if he had gone to Europe. There's nothing (in my opinion) in MLS that actively prevents a player from becoming a great player, and while you can blame Freddy's career on getting too caught up in his own celebrity, I would disagree that's why his career didn't take off. If Freddy was truly motivated to become great, I think he might have had a chance, but he thought he already was great (that greatness was innate, not earned) - thus my comment about confusion about what makes a player great. MLS celebrity may not have helped, but I personally don't think it mattered nearly as much as Freddy's personality and devotion (or lack thereof) to improving his craft.
I think being with players just as equally young as talented in a competitive environment without all the pressure of being the US's soccer savior might have changed the outcome. But you feel as though he thought he was great even before all of the attention he was receiving. I disagree. It wasn't til the MLS where I felt he might have gotten ahead of himself, but I think that was all the doing of USSF.
Well this is the age old debate isn't it? Nature vs. nurture? I don't think you can convince a 13 year old to suddenly become an obsessive worker the way other greats have been. The MLS celebrity thing affected him because of who he was, not the other way around - in my opinion. I think part of Freddy's problem was that he is so gifted that he could do what other talented players could do with half the effort.
I guess it is a debate of Nature vs. Nurture. I understand what you're saying. If he had the desire to make it. His personality would've allowed to him to believe that he wasn't where he needed to be and therefore he would've put his head down and tried to work his darnest. But because he hasn't broken through, you believe it was always his nature that he would think he was better than he was. There is no right or wrong answer in a Nature or Nurture debate because there are good arguments to support both. I'm more on the side that situations develop a person moreso than people having a predestined personality.
You may be right - and I don't think it's an all or nothing. I just think at 13, if he wasn't already obsessed with working hard and being the best he could be, the cards were probably pretty stacked against him.
He was, what, 14 at the time? His family were immigrants from a relatively modest background. When faced with the chance to make very good money early on, it's not surprising they took it. I can't see the chance to develop in an academy somewhere for a few years (with no guaranty of a payday at the end of that time) competing with that option. Part of the problem was that MLS was looking for some good media attention, so having Adu play in the league, rather than training in an academy somewhere, worked for the league, too. If he had been a hot prospect somewere in Europe, his early career likely would have gone differently.
This is, by far, the most civil discussion of "Why didn't Freddy pan out?" that I have ever seen. Kudos.
It makes me very mad to say this, but this thread probably needs to be locked. I'm kinda siding with dark knight on this now. He has chances to play soccer, he just doesn't want to play unfortunately. When's the last time there was a news update on his situation? Such a shame that a person of his technical calibur can't even crack 18 man rosters of most of the squads he's been on of late. Just another World Cup passing him by now. I say this every time I post on the board and this thread in particular, the US is severely lacking a player of his creativity and his flair, and it's amazing a job that JK has done of getting mediocre MLS players to play above their level and play some good football. I don't think it translate much to the World Cup but positive signs overall. Such a sad thing really, we're all just left wondering what if...
I don't think it should be locked. Mostly because I'm sure the moderators like to keep all of the "crazy Freddy Adu" rants all in one place. Close this one and three would open tomorrow. When it comes to the USMNT..............Freddy Adu is almost irrelevant. He's had 5 caps since the end of the calendar year 2008. [2008 was the height of relevance to US programs with 9 or so USMNT caps as well as the Olympics. He played in WCQers in 2008, including scoring against Guatemala.] Logan Pause has had 6 caps since 2008, and Freddy Adu has had 5. That's his relevance level. I have no idea what the problem is with Freddy Adu. Whatever his faults, he did show in his time with the Union that he was capable of playing AT LEAST at the MLS level. Personally, I think its possible that Freddy Adu fell out of love with the sport a long time ago. Does he actually have the passion anymore to put the work in necessary to be a professional soccer player. I don't know. Does he want to be a successful soccer player as much as the people on these boards want him to be? Personally I think the guy is just burnt out. He's Jennifer Capriati without the mugshot. Jennifer managed to pull it together, re-locate love for her sport, and have a good finale to her career. Lets see if Freddy can re-find his passion for soccer.
This tennis junkie and incorrigible pedant would just point out that Capriati was a fairly consistent top-10 player and performed consistently well against established WTA adults before burning out and taking a break. I don't think it's a great analogy.
And by all accounts, being way too driven by a parent wasn't really Freddy's problem so much as enjoying himself a little too much without more parental guidance.
Never seen evidence that Freddy was a "party animal." Lazy, yeah. A bit of a homebody, actually. The kind who stays there watching TV, playing video games, listening to music, chatting on the web, etc. But nothing like going out there and clubbing every weekend and getting drunk. Compared to most young English players, Freddy is very straight edge. The one "incident" was his smoking of the hookah, but at the time hookah smoking was more a hipster thing than a vice thing. All college kids were doing it.
I guesse you missed the reports of guys seeing him out at clubs in Greece when his PT started deminishing, so did his discipline. Same thing at Monaco, at one point bragging about how he was going to try and hit on Hayden Panetierre(SP?) at a party he was at. Essentially the tweet that ended him being 'real' on twitter lol. With that said--I don't think he's as bad as he's portrated to be, but he wasn't well disciplined enough in the beginning which has messed up his reputation going forward.
I sometimes wonder what might have happened to Freddy's career if the US had made the Olympics in 2012. Probably nothing, but it couldn't have hurt. Too bad Brek Shea couldn't merely kick the ball down the field against El Salvador on the final play, and Sean Johnson couldn't manage a save that a young teenager should make.
If the speculation is true and maybe he simply doesn't have the passion for the game, did he make THAT much money in the last 10 years to live comfortably for the foreseeable future? Maybe I'm underestimating the value of his endorsements, but between his lifestyle and supporting his family, seems like money could still be a motivating factor. Maybe he's set. I don't know.
Besides Capriati was a super athletic while Freddy is short, slow, and weak. This "athletic" combination is completely negates whatever skills he has and makes him an average player who is also getting old prematurely. So I don't think that he underachieved on the field. He just overachieved financially. Good for him.
Being short in soccer is not an issue at all (Messi, Maradona, Donovan, etc.) Being weak isn't that big of an issue if your ball control and shielding is good enough. And I would call Freddy's speed average, and he is quick in tight spaces, so I wouldn't classify him as slow. If played centrally I think his athleticism is fine - on the wing it's somewhat of an issue. I honestly think its half an attitude/entitlement/ego problem in that everyone told him he was great early on and he bought into the hype. He thought he already was good and didn't need to get better so he didn't focus or try hard in training. And while he has been trying harder in recent years, what he thinks is "trying hard" doesn't come close to Bradley's or Dempsey's definition of "trying hard". The other half of the problem is that coaches aren't comfortable playing him in his natural position (as a 10) because he doesn't make the "correct" pass. He does what he wants and makes risky passes that look great when they work out but can also leave you shaking your head if it doesn't. I'm sure it's extremely frustrating for a coach to see his team get possession back and two passes later give the ball away on an extremely speculative and risky pass. So coaches put him on the wing because of this lack of trust. On the wing he doesn't get the ball as much and can't use his vision to full effect and his lack of speed really hinders him here. This is why he's only ever mediocre on the wing. It also doesn't help that he looks lackadaisical on defense. As of right now it looks like Freddy's career may be over. But if he ever catches fire and falls in love with soccer again and puts in the effort, the opportunity is still there. Go to the Atlanta Silverbacks w/ Wynalda for a year or 2 and develop the tactics he should have learned a decade ago and he would probably get another look in the MLS at the right price. A good season in MLS puts him back on the Nats radar. Again it doesn't look likely, but Eddie Johnson making the World Cup in 2014 look extremely unlikely at one point too.