We don't need another gyro: Freddy Adu's Greek Tragedy

Another report in German here. It says that Freddy arrive last night and will train with the team through Sunday. He got to play the entire second half. Benno Möhlmann is a decent coach, is patient and has the support of the FCI board. There is no pressure on him to stay in the 2.BL. The club knows they are rebuilding and that they may very well get relegated this year. This would be a great place for Feddy to "fly low" and rebuild himself.

 

From

http://www.fcingolstadt.de

regarding the 1-0 win against Belek:

"...Im zweiten Abschnitt ließ Möhlmann komplett durchwechseln und brachte auch Testspieler Freddy Adu (Foto) auf das Feld. Der US-Amerikaner war in der Vornacht in Belek angekommen und soll bis Sonntag bei der Mannschaft bleiben.
...Was Testspieler Adu betrifft, so meinte der 56-Jährige: „Wir wollen uns einen Eindruck von ihm machen und werden ihn noch die nächsten Tage beobachten.“

Basically says that Freddy came on in for the second half, that he had arrived the night before in Belek and will stay with the team until Sunday. The coach said about him: We want to get an impression of him and will observe him these next days.

 

On the plus side if he manages to get playing time and does really well then he could be a hero there by helping them stay up. They aren't too many points behind and there is a possibility only the last team will be relegated and the second last will face a playoff. This is due to the financial issues with 1860, unfortunately.

 

This article in Portuguese actually has an Adu quote - he looks forward to going in Turkey and showing Ingolstadt what he can do.

 

Two things...

1. Seeing Freddy in that Adidas kit, it is surprising Nike can't convince a team to take a chance on him for the marketing potential. 1.5 Million is nothing to Nike if they could leverage it. Of course, that might the biggest indictment of all regarding his talent.

2. He did have a great score rate at Benfica, but since he is small he can't be a center forward so he has to play some defense. I could see lots of coaches seeing his downside worse than his upside. Though he could be someone to throw on if you are losing to get the tie.

 

Marketing potential? It's Freddy Adu, man...he hasn't done a thing in like 3 years....what marketing angle do you Nike could benefit from? I'm pretty sure Adu's marketing value is around $0.00 right now.

 

We all have a new favorite club! This is the one, I can sense it.

 

Freddy must not have exerted too much energy, he just sent a pointless twitter post out 22 minutes ago (although the pointless part is not surprising as most all his posts seem pointless).

 

I thought ALL Twitter posts were pointless.

 

How is this a better situation than MLS? Ingolstadt see relegation as no real problem to the club, meanwhile Freddy will be playing in 3. Liga?

 

Some might say the same thing for Big Soccer posts.

 

Nah, only the ones in the YA forums...

 

he looks like an NFL RB.

 

You can only go where you're wanted.....................and Ingolstadt is the club that's interested. It's better for him to go to this trial than sit in a cafe reading the newspaper.

He's only there thru the weekend, and if he impresses I still think there are going to be significant financial hurdles to overcome. But hey, it can't hurt for him to get out on the field and get the work in..........whether Ingolstadt decides to grab him or not.

 

Here's some more information from the club about what they are looking for:
http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=7239
It seems like they want somebody who will make an immediate impact...not really sure if this will work for or against his favor.

 

I know everyone doubts Adu's popularity, but I think he still has a huge following in the US. Also, it would only grow if he could get some games. It is amazing that the best opportunity he can find is BL.2.

 

Given Benfica seems to have given up on him, and he did not impress in Switzerland, etc. Where else should he go? You expecting EPL or Serie A teams to come knocking?

 

Freddy's agent: "Hey Freddy the draft is coming up. Work on your fitness so you can show well and get drafted."

Freddy: "Ok...got it!"

Two months later...

Freddy's agent: "Sweet Jesus Freddy! You are yoked!"

Freddy: "Yeah I can bench 220 like 14 times...I should hit 20 times by April's draft..."

Freddy's agent: "April?!?! The MLS Superdraft is next week!"

Freddy: "MLS?!?"

 

Maybe you're both right. You both seem to suggest the focus should be on opinions based upon information, i.e., evidence.

Assessments of his future (opinion) should be tempered based on his inability to secure consistent playing time at a number of clubs (evidence). He's obviously not the next Pele. What does the evidence say regarding his time on the field at Benfica? When given playing time, he scored goals. A lot of folks act like that never happened. It did.

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Regarding this BL2 trial... For me, the pool of managers employing a system suited for him isn't as big as it is for more traditional players; and among managers that do, well, I just have a hard time envisioning them trusting him enough to hand over the car keys. Even in MLS. So he's got to do it somewhere lower first.

Personally, I'd be thrilled if he wins a starting spot as central attacker at any level, including BL2 or, heck, even BL3. If he grows into a reliable #10 in, say, BL3, maybe then a BL2 manager will trust him enough to hand over the car keys. And if he does ok there, maybe MLS or Greece or wherever (and then maybe a shot in a bigger league).

If he ever turns into an exciting #10 that's dominant in a lower level, non-elite league (I'm thinking MLS, Greece, etc.), and can bring some of that to our nat'l team to boot...well, I'll take that. (And if it's Greece or Norway, etc., I'll send Christmas cards to Johan every year.)

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Regarding his size, I felt the same way when I first saw him at Belem and then Aris. Thought he was fat. Then I saw that pic of him shirtless, and he was just ripped, a little Rambo. Maybe he's fat now. Or maybe he's listened to critics regarding his size and figured, well, I can't grow taller but I can get stronger.

(My concern there is that I'd hate for him to trade agility and/or endurance for bulk. At Belem, there were times where I'd be happy because he seemed strong on the ball and in tackles, but he didn't seem as nimble; later at Aris, though, he seemed to find a good happy medium. I was also impressed with his hustle and defense at Aris; no, he's not the next ABMOD, heh, but it was a good enough level for a 2nd forward wherever he might play next, imho.)

 

I think there are a few leagues between EPL and BL.2. I know his style might not work for every league, but you think he could at least play in the first division of a country. It just seems silly that his wages are going to be an issue so why trial for a team that can't afford him. Oh well, he just needs to come back to MLS and start over.

 

I would say he is extremely popular largely due to the failure of not having lived up to Nike's "Next Pele" title.

Are you actually telling me Adu is currently popular to kids in the US because of his on-the-field actions? Heck, when was the last time he played 90 minutes in two consecutive matches.

If he still has a following, it is from people like you, and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure most people would like to see him eventually do well, but he isn't, so I'm not sure what he is returning to all his "followers".

As far as I know, Nike already made their investment in him, it failed and they are moving on. It is up to Freddy to make the most out of every opportunity he gets.

 

He's already tried that, even in Greece - it didn't work, remember?

 

Hmm...I think I remember a few posts about that. But if the riches of Europe aren't available to him he should just come back to MLS and re-group. He should at least be able to get a fair shake in the US. Then it will be sink or swim for him.

 

As many people have commented, Freddy just needs a stable environment *anywhere.* Not on loan. You're a Dortmund supporter. Kagawa is scoring practically a goal every other game for the Bundesliga leaders, and most of the time since Freddy went to Benfica Kagawa was playing in the J league 2nd division.

They're the same age. Kagawa was cheap, Freddy is carrying his Benfica salary. It doesn't matter if Freddy goes to the J league 2nd division, it's possible to jump from there to the Bundesliga leaders.