This is ARIS! The Continuing Quest of Freddy Adu.

The Aris team and supporters have pumped Freddy up. I don't think he ever wrote "BELENENSES!!!!!"

 

Guys, about the online shop. I think you should contact them. I pretty sure if they see a couple emails (especially from the US) they'll do smth about it. You can contact them here : http://www.arisfc.gr/index.cfm?pid=92

or you can send an email at marketing@arisfc.gr or megastore@arisfc.gr (not sure which one is responsible for the e-shop).

 

You spoke a huge truth, my friend...

Until it gets better (soon I hope), you could ask from us to assist you in your purchases, concerning issues, such as language, prices, sizes etc

Whatever is that you need, don't hesitate to PM me

 

If they provide you their name, account number and credit card numbers will you deposit vast sums of money into their accounts?






















sits back and waits to see if Nigerian scam email humor translates into Greek.

 

I hope he didn't have to pay for that shirt. IIRC, he paid or offered to pay Askendarian (sp?) for giving up the number that Adu wanted when he first joined DC United.

 

No, why would he have to pay anyway. The number didn't belong to anyone, but if it did then he would be given another one.

 

Bingo. The thicker this kid continues to get the less playing time he has gotten.

Where did all the he needs to "bulk up" people go?

 

well that thicker kid is about to be playing pretty soon. if you didn't already see, adu and EJ tested very positive in terms of fat content, overall health, and conditioning. i wouldn't be surprised if he puts on a few more pounds. being 5'7"/5'8" he doesn't need to be 140-145lbs. that's too light. i don't think it's adu's game to be the fastest guy on the field. as long as he has a quick first step, quick lateral moves, and conditioning and willingness to press on defense, he will be fine being thicker.

perhaps adu is just going to be a stocky guy. lots of stocky guys who aren't the fastest have good conditioning and decent speed: kun aguero, tevez, messi, maradona. seems the latins have this market cornered. must be something in the water.

 

It's an American thing, I think...

Some players are very...um...choosy about their jersey number...to the point of being superstitious about it sometimes.

It's been known to happen that when a player joins a new club (not only in soccer, but especially in baseball and basketball, and occasionally American football) finds "his" number already in use, he will offer to buy it from the player who's using it.

It's also been known to happen that if the new player is a big enough name, management...um...strongly encourages the other player to accept the deal.

Don't even ask about retired numbers...

 

The payments (extortion) demanded can be expensive, even for professional athletes. John Kruk endeared himself to baseball fans everywhere when he sold his number to another player for a case of beer. I'm glad Freddy got the number he wanted. Anything to make him feel more comfortable. I hope this works out for him.

 

It was also probably the worst thing Freddy could have done when he joined DC. It was a sign of his immaturity that he didn't recognize how incredibly offensive that was to players like Eski or any of his other teammates with years of professional experience tthat were making fractions of what he was making.

Were I Eski, I would have beat the living shit out of him for even bringing it up. And I am SURE that that episode lead to a whole lot of resentment from both his teammates and the players in the rest of the league.

 

You're talking about a 14 year old kid for Christ's sake.

 

Oh...I understand. And that episode is a perfect example of why a 14 year old kid is neither mature nor emotionally developed enough to become a professional athlete.

I wouldn't expect any 14 year old to have understood that situation. I just don't think a 14 year old should have been in that situation in the first place.



edit: perhaps it was the beat the living shit out of him comment that you were reacting to? Ok...I would have contracted the ass whooping to my kid nephew or something

 

It seems to me that Messi can blow by people with the ball at his feet. His speed is more than decent.
I think Freddy can (will) do amazing things with the ball. Being thicker should help him hold onto the ball better. It should also make him more difficult to knock off the ball. I just want to see him on the field for more than 20 minutes every three months.

 

There are posters said that Freddy needs to improve his strength. Then you say those posters say he needs to "bulk up". Improving functional strength is not the same as "bulking up".

 

Actually, in my opinion the older players were the ones displaying a lack of maturity in that circumstance. I mean, really? You're gonna be pissed that a 14-year-old kid wants your number? Just say no, laugh it off and move on. They were the adults, they should have tried being adult about it.

 

Because beating the shit out of someone about a jersey number is sooo mature

IMO there is nothing more immature than not making allowances for immaturity in KIDS

 

There was a lot of immaturity shown by the older players throughout. Just because the PTB unwisely threw a child permanently into your midst, didn't mean you had to regress 10 years in maturity. Jealousy does ugly things to people sometimes.

And of course the league acted more irresponsibly than anybody. It's one of the reasons why I don't like it when everything is laid at the feet of Freddy: what he had to go through was absurd.

 

Your right. There were posters who believed he just needed to be stronger on the ball when he has it. But, there was also a good portion of posters who claimed over the past 2.5 years that he needed to "bulk up" to become a better player. As Adu gainned more weight his playing time started to decrease.

 

That's for sure. They started it off poorly and proceeded to get worse from there.

Like I said in an earlier thread: his development has been completely backwards: playing regularly against adults from 14-17 and then sitting on the bench from 18-20.

 

People like to tell other people how they should react about a situation. It is easier say that when you are not in the situation. You can think about it logical from afar. People are emotional. When put into a situation, they think with their emotions.

It is about pride. You are a man. You have 14 year old kid asking for your number. Here is a kid labeled "the chosen one" and making more money than you without proving it in the league first. You are going to think logically about it? I wouldn't.

 

I would (at least I hope I would). I'm hoping I'd even take the kid under my wing realizing what an impossible situation it must be for someone so young.

It's understandable that jealousy could cause people to act poorly, doesn't make it alright.

 

You don't know. Maybe your better nature comes through or maybe it does not. You will not know how you will act until you are put into that situation.

 

I just hope he is mature enough now to integrate Freddy ball into Aris ball, not the other way around. Learn what Aris expects and play up to those expectations, then start intelligently adding your own game to the system.

The number represents (at least) his foundation, his base, his comfort. It's possibly sentimental as well. As a young guy thrown to the wolves it's all you have. It represents your success, your ability. Without saying any more I've kinda been in this situation and understand it.

Freddy is still young but there is no more time to mess around. It's "everything you have" time for Freddy. If he can embrace a philosophy like this while keeping his personality I do believe he will succeed on a high level.

 

You're right, but I mean I'd like to think I'd be introspective enough to know that the kid just wants to be a soccer player and the circumstances are largely not his fault.

Either way, if I had behaved like they did, I would similarly not have an excuse for my actions. Understanding an action and excusing it are two different things.