Questions about Freddy

[house]

O.K., DC fans, I would like to get your views on Adu's first pro season. I travel a lot during the summer and didn't get to keep up with MLS like I wanted to, so I want to read about how he's developed. I still view him as a possibility to make the 2006 World Cup roster.


If there's a link that's already adressed this, please let me know. If not, then let's start a discussion, so I have something other than labor wars to read about...

[jsantarita]

The Kid is no Pele. No Cristiano Ronaldo. No Beasley. Lots of MLSplayers better than him.
Slightly above average player. Over paid. over sold. Nice kid.

[SABuffalo786]

The Kid is no Pele. No Cristiano Ronaldo. No Beasley. Lots of MLSplayers better than him.
Slightly above average player. Over paid. over sold. Nice kid.



He's also 15.


Look, he's not the second coming of Christ (yet), but hey:

1 season
1 championship.

3rd highest goal scorer on the team.


That's all I'm saying.

[Detective40oz]

I just hope he grows physically, seems as he matured quicker than most of the kids in his age group which gave him a bigger advantage. Now playing against players obviously bigger/stronger than him you can tell that he still has a way to go physically, or this might be something that holds him back from being something great. I'd say he has done alright for himself and next season will be a much better indicator on whether he will continue to develop or just remain the same type of player he currently is.

[dale_wilster]

Yeah, Freddy's no Namoff.

[uniteo]

I thought he grew tremendously as a player, in his understanding of how to incorporate himself into a professional team.

And he will continue this season, to learn how to play better defense, to learn how to play better off the ball, and to learn when to pull something out of his Bag O' Tricks.

But the kids got something special. He can be electric on the ball. And that's a lot harder to teach than tactical responsibility.

[McOwen]

The kid may not be Pele but he showed more pure skill in one season then I have ever seen from any other US/DC United prospect.

The "great" Bobby Convey never showed the kind of talent that we saw glimpses of from Adu.

--He just needs to grow a few inches :D

[house]

I thought he grew tremendously as a player, in his understanding of how to incorporate himself into a professional team.

And he will continue this season, to learn how to play better defense, to learn how to play better off the ball, and to learn when to pull something out of his Bag O' Tricks.

But the kids got something special. He can be electric on the ball. And that's a lot harder to teach than tactical responsibility.



How's his vision once he has the ball? How does he react to contact? How did he adjust as the season went along?



If you had him, where would you play him? Would you put him on the wings until he gets more experience, or is he already a middle of the park player?


Did he ever show complacency?

[house]

The Kid is no Pele. No Cristiano Ronaldo. No Beasley. Lots of MLSplayers better than him.
Slightly above average player. Over paid. over sold. Nice kid.


Potentially, what player could he be compared to?


Overpaid? Weren't Euro teams interested in him? Didn't an Italian team offer him six figures to sign? There's a price to keep him...if he develops the way some people think, MLS may be able to wipe all debts off their ledgers with the transfer fee (just a joke).

[mtkstriker]

Potentially, what player could he be compared to?


Overpaid? Weren't Euro teams interested in him? Didn't an Italian team offer him six figures to sign? There's a price to keep him...if he develops the way some people think, MLS may be able to wipe all debts off their ledgers with the transfer fee (just a joke).


Well if he develops at the astounding rate that he has already growing at, there is no telling how good this kid can be.

I think he could potentially become one of the best players in the world someday, if not the best at some point.

He could become the sort of player Ryan Giggs is, but with more tricks which is saying a lot because Giggs is no slouch in that dept. either. He'll also be more a goal scorer than Ryan.

2005 season prediction-11 goals,10 assists, and he'll be only 15-16 years old.

[TEConnor]

Your questions are obviously sincere. However, I think you're getting all the lip because folks have discussed this topic to death. There are several good older threads (say from just towards or after the season) that address this exact same set of issues with Fred's development in the first season. I recommend you search this forum for "First season development Adu" or similar. Then again, you might find the 1000 post thread on the kegger he attended at UMD, but that's a different story.

For the money, Fred was worth every penny to DC and MLS. You could say that he's overpaid for his production for the season past, but then again, he likely brought in millions to MLS this season alone and he's making a paltry wage in comparison.

I was a rather repetitive complainer about Fred's early season showing, but I thought he turned a corner mid-way and finished the season as one of our better role players. That is a HUGE accomplishment, in my opinion and very surprising.

As for WC 2006. I sincerely doubt that he would be a significant factor in the national team pool in 1.5 year's time. Comparing him to where Beasley was at this stage prior to WC 2002, and I'm saying that Fred's got to have a stellar, remarkable season to get into the picture. His two-way game doesn't exist, whereas Beasley could always win a few balls regardless of his size.

Cheers,
Tim

[Allan Quatermain]

The Kid is no Pele. No Cristiano Ronaldo. No Beasley. Lots of MLSplayers better than him.
Slightly above average player. Over paid. over sold. Nice kid.


I like Beasley (and I assume we're talking DaMarcus and not Jamar), but I will take a 15 year old Freddy Adu over 22 year old DaMarcus Beasley every time.

Slightly above average? That's a silly statement. Any time he was on the field he was among the best players out there. Whatever limitations he had this season stemmed from his size, and his age and lack of maturity (he started the season as a 14-year-old, for Pete's sake).

For better or for worse (probably for the better, but only because of the maturity/age factor), Nowak only played him about half the minutes he was eligible for. And he still scored a very good number of goals, and was instrumental in making quite a few others happen.

Plus, he basically was the reason we won that key playoff game against the Metrostars.

A slightly above average player? Nat Borchers is a slightly above average player. Briam Kamler is a slightly above average player. Ronald Cerritos is a slightly above average player. Freddy Adu is a helluva lot better than any of those guys, and he's the age of a high school sophomore. The only effective method for stopping Adu this year came when defenders beat the crap out of him. And then, they couldn't always do that. Just ask the entire LA Galaxy defense, who were burned for one of the best goals we have ever seen in an MLS game.

[SABuffalo786]

one of the best goals we have ever seen in an MLS game.



Or some of the worst defending. :D

[Diceson]

The second season is almost always more important to young player's development than the first. I think PN & Co. will give Adu a greater role on the team, particularly because Stewart's move back to Holland opens the starting role that much more. If he can keep similar scoring numbers that would be a big positive.

Unless he totally breaks out, Arena won't call him into the National Team. He might get a call into a camp to further his development, but no permanent role until after 2006 if he deserves it.

[gocaps]

How's his vision once he has the ball? How does he react to contact? How did he adjust as the season went along?
Started weakly on both these fronts - as might be expected from a 15 year old who had always been "The Man" on every team he'd played on - but improved dramatically on both, particularly vision. As he learns the game, his vision will get better. He's big for his age but very very small for MLS, and physical defending is still the best way to stop him. He doesn't shy away from the contact, though, and doesn't get rattled by it at all. This is the positive flipside of always having been "The Man" - he's used to physical play because he's been fouled repeatedly at every level he's played at.
If you had him, where would you play him? Would you put him on the wings until he gets more experience, or is he already a middle of the park player?
Right now, wing (providing a solid, stay-at-home wing defender plays behind him). It will keep him away from the contact and maximize the use of his speed and energy.

Eventually, he's going to be one hell of a forward.
Did he ever show complacency?
There were reports midseason that he was frustrated, but that certainly seemed to dissipate if it ever existed. The kid was a valuable reserve by the end of the year, and I would imagine that he's going to force his way into the DC starting lineup sooner rather than later. The only question is who he will replace. It won't be Moreno, Esky, or Gomez. Gros? Dema? This is a problem that most coaches would dream of having...

And kill the talk of the '06 World Cup team. The kid still isn't ready to start in MLS...

[dawgpound2]

Because I hate United, this is what I would consider a very unbiased opinion:

Freddy Adu is already the most talented player in MLS. He is magical on the ball. But, like so many have said, he's got a lot of work to do. Doesn't mean he isn't special. He's the best 15 year old I've ever seen.


Positives:
forces defenders on their heels
unreal first touch
good passing ability (needs some work)
can finish

[uniteo]

How's his vision once he has the ball? How does he react to contact? How did he adjust as the season went along?

If you had him, where would you play him? Would you put him on the wings until he gets more experience, or is he already a middle of the park player?

Did he ever show complacency?

Very good vision on the ball but he still looks to do too much 1 v. 1, sometimes from 40 yards out. He's tough about contact, sure, he learned a lot as the season went on (especially not to stand around too much with the ball - cause whether you see 'em or not, a defender is coming) but goes down a little too easy sometimes, and the refs seem intent on teaching him not to dive so to these DCU fan eyes a lot of legitimate fouls go uncalled.

I really like him in the middle, or more appropriately, in a free role with a similar player...I think he started working really well with Moreno where both could drop back for the ball or look for soft spots up high. He's certainly a threat on the wing, but a bit too much of a defensive liability (for my tastes) to play 90 on the wing.

Complacency? I don't think so. Especially earlier in the year he sometimes looked lost on the field...out of ideas about what he needed to do at that moment...both offensively and defensively. I guess if you were inclined to slag on Adu you could say he looked complacent and didn't care to get involved, but that was never the impression I got. And at the end of the season he seemed to really buy into the team concept and accept his role (I thank Nowak for that and hope that it is a lesson he remembers).

[doctorjim]

Excellent pace. Remarkable acceleration with and without the ball. Rather small and not terribly strong for his size. Quick feet. Excellent individual ball skills. Excellent passing and above average feel for the game.

During the season not always on the same page as his teammates -- a result partly of his lack of experience and partly of his teammates lack of familiarity with him and, perhaps, teammates' lesser feel for the game.

Defensive technique less than average, but improved over the season.

Work rate good, but could be better. Will probably improve as he developes better understandings with his teammates. He will know when to make his runs and so on.

Physically tough, despite small size. Absorbed considerable punishment from experienced players but was not intimidated. Got little or no protection from referees.

Most likely limitation on his future will be his overall stature. If he continues to grow and fill out, without losing quickness or speed, he will be a superlative player. If not, he will be merely a much better than average player.

Will probably not reach his full potential until and unless he plays in a more competitive league than MLS. Barring injury or other mishap, llok for him to leave MLS at the end of his five year contract.