CNBC's Rovell: Adu is a failure

Darren Rovell has a strange definition of "first."

 

Also, that story is profoundly stupid.

 

Any article on Adu is bound to be foolish.

 

I must admit, I am disappointed in Adu. I think he can still have that breakout year and live up to his promise. But at this point he's been a bust. He is hardly the only athlete to be dubbed the next big thing and fail to live up to it. But for every Freddy Adu there's a Jozy Altidore. Also, part of his problem might be mental. He's been hyped since he was, what, 13 years old, as the savior of American soccer, as the next Pele, and on and on, and that's bound to get to the kid's head. I hope to see him become that great player we all thought he would be, but it may not happen.

 

Freddy is like Iraq in that the original definition for success was unrealistic and set up the public for disapointment. Freddy still has a chance to avoid failure and I'd bet on him narrowly doing that. In my mind that means making the 2010 world cup roster as a first team guy, he may not start every game but he'll play in them all. With the U-20's, playing at a CONCACAF level, he is a difference maker who when the team plays through him can make an offense work.

 

Not trying to be a douche but, thats what you call the us nat spazzo affect. I hope alot of the nat fans learn not to hype every lil thing and over exaggerate everything. You live in learn

 

I feel like I have been preaching Freddy all weekend for some reason. MLS is not the challenge for him, in Europe his game will improve more rapidly and it will be visible. He needs a bigger challenge, ever wonder why he always plays his ass off in those friendlies against big clubs or on national tv.

 

I've read a thousand times people mock the fact that Adu was supposed to be the "next Pele". The problem is, I really don't recall anyone seriously making this claim.

Two things basically justified the Adu hype. He was the youngest player to play in a US professional sports league since the late 19th century. There's no way that's not a big story.

Also, for the first time ever, rightly or wrongly, the person who was arguably the most sought after soccer player in his age group in the world was an American. That has never happened before. Either one of these are big story. Put them together, you have a huge story. And remember, it's not as if Freddy adu was the top story on Sportscenter for weeks.

Did MLS overstate his greatness? Well, yeah, but did anyone not get that from the beginning? I mean, when someone's selling you a product, don't you assume as much?

 

Too overhyped too soon. He can rebound, but he needs to re-program his mind a bit.

 

All the Adu apologist cannot accept that he is a failure.! He has been terrible... A total bust. Adu was the best 13 year old but at 18 he just don't belong in MLS. Adu was a big 13 year old and an under size 18 year old. Too bad for him his body never develop. Adu is just not strong or physical enough to compete every week in the style of soccer played in MLS. Perhaps in another league that is more finesse he can be successful? Undersize successful athletes are rare and Adu size will be a big deterent to his success. Yes, Pele and Maradona were undersize but those are an exceptions and not a norm.

 

Freddy's biggest problem is size and strength. His technical ability is fine. One of the reasons Altidore has made such a great impact is because he can compete physically with anyone at age 17. Just see his goal Saturday night when he had the strength to hold off one of the most physical players in the league in Eddie Robinson. I think the book is out on Adu. If you play him physically you can take him off his game. At age 18 he probably won't grow in height anymore but he should really try to put on muscle through intense weight training.

 

i think we may have different definitions of the word 'terrible'.

Thor Lee, Juan Berthy Suarez, David Stokes, Kris Kelderman, Orlando Perez ... these are people I would characterize as being terrible. You may be disappointed in Adu, but he hasn't been terrible.

 

I don't even know from where the disappointment stems. I get that non-soccer fans may be disappointed, but they don't watch soccer to care in the first place. And anyone here or anyone who watches soccer regularly who bought the hype deserves to get a slap upside the head.

So really, failure shouldn't be the word on anyone's lips. Mediocre, underwhelming, sure. Failure, not so much.

 

All I gotta say is its 3 weeks into the season. Maybe he`s on a slump, but you don`t know until its all said and done.

 

Was he really 13 at all. Here it is 4 years later and he looks the same as when he came in!! Teenage years is when you have growth spurts, etc and he just MLS. They have to stopped hyping players .. for what reason?? It gives mls a bad name .. Players should have to earn the hyped. MLS gave him all that money for nothing...

 

here's an interesting fact:

The best players in the world usually arrive as star players in their late teens and early twenties. Adu was a great player in his early teens but his stature and his ability can easily be matched by a player that is 18.

Theres so much parity in between players in between the ages of 18-20, so the cream of the crop usually arises from there.

 

Now there's a wise business strategy. Or innovative, at least. MLS could become the first professional sports league to actively avoid hyping their players.

New MLS logo for 2008:

Major League Soccer: Embrace the Mediocrity!

 

Maybe you guys have forgotten that at 17 he started on one of the best teams in the league. He might not be what you guys thought he'd be, but he's certainly not a bust.

 

Adu at this point is an average MLS player. IF he keeps going at this rate, he will make the dringes of the US national team. Not really what people expected is it?

But to say he has been a bust for MLS??? He has made the league his salary back EASILY in his first season. Although I dont know if he is worth the DP in Salt Lake.

Also this a big year for Adu. His last chance to show his stuff on an inernational youth level. And he is finally the starter on an MLS team.

This year is probably the year that we will find out whether Adu will become a good player or staay fringe U.S. National Team level.

Disclaimer: The above is my opinion. It is not stated as fact.

 

You all gotta leave Freddy alone... In four years he'll still only be about the age of a graduating senior in the superdraft.

If players got discarded as a bust due to a lack of end product, Cristiano Ronaldo would have been dropped two years ago, but here he is at 22 and just won the Player of the Year award in arguably the world's best league.

Freddy might not be C. Ronaldo, but only a lower league scale, the comparison holds some weight. As recent as the World Cup last summer (at age 21), Ronaldo was blasted as an overrated player who had not achieved his potential because of a lack of end product despite his technical skills.

Adu is a 17 year old playing in a league that doesn't suit him at all, was a major contributor on the #1 team in the league for the entire season playing against guys 10 years older than him. I'm sorry if he doesn't score three goals a game and make Maradona 86 runs every 15 minutes... Watch any other league in the world and find me a 17 year old not named Alexandre Pato or Josmer Altidore that has such a dynamic impact. Sure there are a few... But not nearly many enough to simply dismiss Adu is mediocre or terrible.

 

Adu has a championship and a cup semi-final already, I'd say that's far from a failure.

But then again, I judge players on the field, not by how marketable they are.

 

Sierra Mist seems to think so...

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I don't take CNBC seriously as long as Jim Kramer is on the air.