Salt Lake just sucked he was beyond everyone there. DC was just a bad situation, they never wanted anything to do with Adu in the first place. The coach didnt, and the players didnt. But RSL showed that it was useless to go to a bottom feeder too, he needed a middle table side at the time like Colorado, Chicago, Dallas, KC, someone of that nature. DC sure didnt do him any favors though, those were valuable years in development completely gone to waste.
Even ignoring the fact that it's not DCU's job to do Adu favors, WTF? Adu is a good player now. He was a good player in the Under 20s. I can't understand how MLS doesn't get credit for this, especially since he didn't go to Portugal until after the U20s. The main reason that Adu didn't dominate MLS is because it ain't that easy to dominate MLS.
apparently you did not get the memo: when a soccer player lands on European soil, he is automatically better.
Yes I'm sure learning from Nowak was a complete waste. Freddy did fine in DC. What did you expect from a 14 year old. 16 year old freddy adu was not better than Gomez, 18 year old freddy Adu is a different question altogether. Yes the playing system (3-5-2) was not good for adu but to call it a waste would be pretty ignorant. Nowak making Adu track back and play defense did make him a better player and not spoiling him and changing everything just for him helped him grow up faster.
Yep. I'd add to this that I thought I saw pretty steady improvement in Adu until he reached RSL, when I just didn't see much of him. The situation at DCU wasn't ideal for him, mind you, but how many players get ideal situations? Using Adu's success in Portugal to revise the past and trash MLS in the process doesn't make sense at all.
In Adu's case, is it defensable to say otherwise?? hes surrounded by better talent period. A club that wants him, players that want to play with him, and a coach that wants to play him. I dont think much has changed over the past few years in terms of skill, hes always had it, Benfica is just utilizing it as it was intended to be used. As opposed to a club whos players didnt want anything to do with him, and a coach that didnt want to play him, then being traded to a team that was too inept for his skill? I never said it was DC's obligation, in fact in another thread i just made i re-enforced the point. But he should have never been there in the first place. He should have been sent to a team that is willing to use their youth and didnt have the depth that DC had at the time like Chicago, KC, or Dallas. Nowak thought Adu was a scourge, and the way he treated him and the way he played them re-enforced the fact. MLS wouldnt have harmed him in the correct environment, with a team that needed an attacking central midfielder at the time; Dallas, KC, or Chicago... I know DC fans hate hearing it, but its true
yes, I can say it. Freddy was one of the best players at the U-20 when he had never played at Benfica. THAT is who Benfica bought.
DCU had no choice in the matter. Adu and his Mommy demanded that he play with DCU or he wasn't signing with MLS. Dallas had the first pick in that draft and were railroaded into giving it up to DCU so it would look legit for him to go there through the draft. Adu then felt a sense of entitlement because he saw how he was able to manipulate the league and thought he could do the same with DCU. Nowak and the rest of the team probably resented that fact. Freddy was never going to succeed in that situation, IMO.
DC didn't do anything Benfica's not doing...put Freddy in a spot where he plays in a clearly defined role that allows other, more experienced, players to have the responsibility for the control of the team and success of the club. Benfica has the luxury of keeping him on the bench for late-game offense in a fairly free role. DC could not keep a player with Freddy's talents off the field (fair marks to Freddy for forcing his way into the lineup) so put him in a position with limited responsibilities, but also limited freedom. Right or wrong? You'd have a hard time convincing me it was the wrong thing given his improvement over the years, his ability to stand apart among his peers, and an extraordinary amount of experience at a young age. Of course, I'd also say he moved to RSL and Benfica at the right time...just 'caues it's good for you for a time doesn't mean good for always (think strained carrots).
great post, completely forgot about that point . So I guess we can all agree, it was just a bad situation all around . its finally a relief to see him flourishing in Europe though. Perfect environment for him, really couldnt have gone any better when making the jump. Benfica make winners.
Not saying it was or wasn't a valid demand at 14 years of age. Sure the FO was happy to land him given the boost in revenue generated by attendance coming out to see him. Looking back on it though, Nowak wasn't happy about it and he seemed to go out of his way to single out Freddy time and time again. The final straw being when he pulled Freddy in the playoff game where they crashed out, when most everyone who watched that game felt Freddy was the best player on the field for DCU at the time and couldn't understand why he was pulled. Right team for a young player of 14. Wrong coach?
regardless of DCU/RSL situation... Freddy just might be the best $2m transfer of the 2007 summer window in the world.
You guys need to remember that Freddy was at DC BEFORE anyone ever heard of Christian Gomez. so mom and Freddy made a good decision at the time and then the club pulled the rug out from under them. Freddy expected to play and Nowak expected him to sit and learn. There was a fundamental difference in expectations that I don't think was communicated in the beginning of the boy's career there.
When Nowak asked Freddy to come off the bench, Freddy's response to the press (he decided to skip the step of talking to Nowak) was that he couldn't possibly get into the flow of the game toward the end of the match. He needed to play the entire match to be effective. I remember Ernie Stewart pulled him aside afterward and had a long talk with Freddy about how you never skip the coach or players and go straight to the press. Despite the talk, it wasn't the last time that Freddy had a problem with that issue. Now he comes in at the end of a match and changes the result consistently. I would submit that he does it now because his margin for error has shrunk. He knows that he has to or his career is in trouble, but he has the tools and the maturity to deal with the situation because of what he experienced with DC United. Let's face it - it is hard to grow up and make your mistakes in public. Nobody is going to claim that MLS is a technically or tactically advanced league, but the Freddy Adu that you see now is a much more mature player because of, to a large degree, lessons that he learned in MLS and Poitr Nowak taught him several of those lessons, even if he wasn't always smooth in the way that he did it. Nowak was a rookie coach and wasn't always the most cultured in how he dealt with Freddy, but I alway got the impression that he wanted Freddy to succeed. Heck, a lot of the things that Nowak got hammered for are contributing to Freddy's success now. The fact that Freddy very willingly comes off the bench and contributes now is just one example. In addition, Freddy was not always the easiest kid in the world to coach. The most brilliant players often can be the hardest to work with. I would chalk the whole experience up to a learning experience for both parties. The one thing that I will agree to is that Freddy was ready to leave MLS by the time that he got to Salt Lake. There was no way that he was going to improve his game playing the way that team had to play on an astroturf field with limited talent. This is nothing personal against Salt Lake which is a beautiful city (I wouldn't mind living there myself) with a great fan base and a very willing club, but Freddy's time there wasn't constructive. MLS in general was no longer a good fit for him and Salt Lake, as it was then, was a particularly poor choice. The fortunes of both have improved since Freddy split. It is possible to enjoy Freddy's success without blaming MLS or Nowak for all of Freddy's prior mistakes. If he hadn't have made any, he wouldn't be learning and getting better and clearly, just by the fact that he willingly comes off the bench now and contributes, he is learning and getting better.
I don't see how he could possibly feel that given that I don't see how a talented 18 year old could possibly be in danger of flaming out of the game. I think, as an aside, that regardless of Nowak's feelings about Adu as a player, he was always going to resent the situation. If you were the manager of a professional sporting team, how could you possibly feel good about the league dictating your personnel decisions to you?
So does anybody know the exact goals/minutes-played stat at this point? I tried scoping out the Benfica site, but it was all in Portuguese or something.
his stats http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j107/PortoManiac/adu1.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j107/PortoManiac/adu2.jpg He's leading the league in goals per minute with 1 goal every 25 minutes. At this rate he is a leader for rookie of the year I suppose.
no, actually the benfica site is in sweddish... never understood why. as for goals/minutes there is always google.
The fact of the matter was that Adu, despite being a prodigy, was not yet a full-fledged footballer. He's becoming one now. At DCU, there was no way that he could become the center of gravity for the team. He was simply too young, small and naive. He was second to Gomez and Moreno, not because their technical skills were better, but because they had all-around better/more complete and more productive games. Freddy's mind was dwelling on wish-fulfillment and had to be dragged back to reality. It's certainly easier to see and accept the Benfica reality after being faced with the Salt Lake disaster day after day.