Adu (EJ injured): Olympiakos - Aris (Playoffs) Sunday 5/16 12:00 EST

I know the Aris fans love Cuper, but they do alot of weird stuff that normally you would say comes down to the manager.

 

for Adu's benefits, i do hope Cuper stays there for at least another season.

a coaching change is probably pretty bad for him.

 

Dude, like I said, Cuper plays the guys he thinks gives him the best chance to win. At that time, Adu wasn't one of them.

 

He was the first player warming up, than events on the field forced Cuper to change his plans.

What bothers me is when posters who haven't been watching the matches insert snide remarks, for example about "low evaluations" and "Adu hasn't played"

Adu has been playing a lot for Aris recently. Clearly Cuper has a high evaluation of him, and in this instance he was being rested, and was the first player warming up.

 

Look, I am not invested in this either way. Adu has played some (certainly more than in past stints) but he has also been an unused substitute some. Maybe he really is first choice now and maybe the reason Cuper didn't think Adu could help him get a result was because of the need to rest him - a belief that a fresh player, even if slightly inferior on average, would perform better. Or it could be tactics. I readily admit that I don't know other than where I started, for whatever reason, Cuper decided Adu wasn't the best choice to get a reusult on this day. The only thing snide here is pointing out that this seems to happen to Adu alot, combined with BS posters coming up with a ridiculous volume of speculation and haf-logic to try and get away from the obvious reasons why Adu doesn't play.

 

You're stuck in the past. The fact is that Cuper is working him into a regular spot on the team unlike Monaco and Belenenses (he's been playing only a little less than Jozy did at Hull).

The other fact is that Freddy is playing differently, obviously because of Cuper's instructions. He tracks back, he tackles, he plays ultra-disciplined in terms of positioning, and he plays conservatively when he's on the ball. He's strong enough and fast enough and tall enough. And those are his weaknesses. I won't even go into his strengths. He's coming along nicely right now.

 

You say your not invested but your numerous post on the topic suggest otherwise. Even in the light of numerous examples provided to you demonstrating Cuper's habit of player rotation you seem stuck on presenting it as a failing for Adu. Campora, Calvo, Meriem, Javito all are in and out, it's just the way he does things, assign more to if if you choose. (which you obviously do)

 

Bolo - I don't want to get you all worked up because you are definitely invested in this. I don't know this rotation-mad Cuper (and I certainly don't recall this type of thing going on back in his hey-day with Valencia, but maybe I have a bad memory or Cuper has changed from his previous winning ways) that you all seem to be able to fully understand and past experience shows that claims why Adu's coaches don't play him have proven to be ... well BS.

As for my alleged vendetta against Adu, I think Bradley is making a mistake by not including Adu in the 30 for the pre-World Cup camp. Adu offers something different and playing fairly regularly for a team towards the top of a strong league ought to, based on my limited knowledge of the situation, have been enough for a look.

I just don't buy all the spinning and speculating that goes on when Cuper decides not to play Adu.

 

in other news!!!

Benfica, Adu's former team and current contract holder, is coming to the MLS.

You will find lots of familiar names on that roster.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/05/18/benfica.mls.ap/index.html

Is Aris next to journey across the great Atlantic?

 

Let's just make it simple for those who believe that Cuper doesn't like Adu. Adu have played as much as the other players on his position or more since he came. So does that mean that Cuper doesn't like anyone?

 

yes, that is true. we don't know what goes inside Cuper's head.

however, one thing that is CERTAIN:
between Calvo, Meriem, Javito, and Adu, they all have started a fair number of games between them.

Based on Cuper's lineups the past 2-3 months, there are no starters. each week, you almost see two different wingers. none of them start every week.

 

I think that Aris has 5 players to play on the wing, right? The typical MLS team has what? maybe 3 players to share the 2 wing spots?

It's different because of the money involved. It would be ironic if US investors came to Aris and elevated to team to the point that Freddy and EJ were out of their jobs....

 

I don't think you have a vendetta, I think you have chosen to read more into the situation than the obvious pattern *this year* warrants. I don't know enough about Cuper's history to intelligently comment on his current plan vs. Valencia and won't pretend I do.

All I can do is observe what I see now and that is Cuper seems to rotate his wings to an extreme at this point in time. It may be trying to find the right mix, it might be game by game tactical choices, it may be injuries, it may be he puts a very high premium on training performance, again I won't pretend to know. I'm just saying if you observation it that this is an Adu *issue* than the other wings seem to share in those same deficiency as they all get rotated out. I also believe ignoring the impact of 2x a week games for a month has on player rotation (especially midfield) ignores the realistic demands of the game.

In the end our difference of opinion boils down to a single point. I believe if a player does not start every game in the described situation, the manager has a rotation to maintain fitness during a grueling stretch and it's no big deal. You seem to believe if a player does not start every game in the same situation it must be some larger issue.

Example: Who will start in the midfield for Aris tomorrow? Your guess is as good as mine in all 4 positions.

We can agree to disagree.

 

Cuper doesn't rotate that much actually, it was just now during the playoffs cause they played twice a week and there were some injuried and suspended players.

 

Culper has really one invested interest and that is the success of Aris. He has numerous players to evaluate on a weekly bases and make decisions in the best interest of the team in both the short and long terms. Re: Freddy, it appears that Culper is giving him an opportunity to play and improve, a far better situation than Adu's last two teams. I think it's fair to say that Adu's future clearly rests in his own desire to make himself a better all around player.

I freely admit thatI I am not a big a fan of Adu . I would be surprised if he improves to the point where he becomes a regular fixture on the NT. But if he does then I would be more than happy to eat crow.

 

That was my point in the previous post, with 2 games a week it's silly to read too much into midfield rotation during this long period of playoffs.

 

Hey El Michael, its Cuper not Culper.

 

my bad thanks