Exaclty. What was Freddy supposed to do? Wear a tuxedo and serve the other players appetizers? The guy is a professional athlete who's been busting his ass with his teammates for weeks. He's been spending everyday with them at practice and likely afterhours bonding with them. all i saw was a teammate out there having a laugh with the guys like teammates do when they have a comfortable lead. they were all having a good time and they deserved to.
I basically agree with you, but I'm a little more pessimistic about Freddy's chances. MLS doesn't start until April. Even if Freddy is "on fire" and MLS player of the month, is this enough to make the WC roster if he hasn't played in any of the February or March friendlies? The May friendlies will be soley for WC preparation and only players who'll make the roster will play. Will Arena select someone for the WC who hasn't played more than a few minutes in one friendly? If he does, it will go completely against his past practices. I just don't see anyway Freddy makes the WC roster barring multiple injuries to our center mids.
Im tellin ya!! NONE OF YOU CLOWNS KNOW WHAT FREDDY DID OR DID NOT SAY ON THE BENCH. Eddie was right beside him laughing it up just as much, and I saw others laughing too. If you know he was acting like a clown please tell us non-knowers what exactly Freddy said verbatim. How stupid do you lot sound? BigSoccer at its worst.
I'm pretty sure your sarcasm meter failed to go off on the Asprilla post...the first one seemed serious, but...
the match was well past serious competition when the 1st view of adu yucking it up with gam.... and then the pope goal, and another shot.... enxt time, dempsey is there, at the end of the bench, doing his best NOT to smile that much... adu is 16...and was acting like a kid.... give him a break
Freddy's time in the USA camp did something far more important than giving Arena an extended look-see at the budding superstar. His short stint in the Canada match prevents him from deciding to play for Ghana in senior international matches. Until Adu played for USA, he was free to play for his birth nation at the senior level. My feeling is that this was exactly what Team USA honchos wanted in calling Freddy into camp. Get him into a match and lock him up for the future. He got his first cap in the Canada match, remained around for training, didn't dress for Norway and -- surprise, surprise -- gets cut just as DC United's camp is opening. Freddy is not ready for the senior team -- unless the supply of midfielders is seriously depleted by injuries. If he were ready, he would burning up MLS and forcing his way into the senior squad. If he were ready, he would have forced his way into starting the Canada and Norway matches. He has superior ball skills, but he is a player for future world cups, not this year's. Kudos to Arena et al for insuring that he will play for USA, not Ghana, down the road. It was a very smart move.
OK, youre the shoeshine boy, gofer, cone fetcher --- Are you going to act like a complete,clown, encouraging others to do the same?, maybe if you're Freddy Adu. IMO it shows Adu's immaturity as well his cocky (I signed a million dollar Nike sponsorship contract at the age of 14 or was it 15?) attitude. IMO that attitude won't fly with Arena. When you're the 2nd highest paid player on the domestic squad (assuming Donovan makes more, but hard to say when combining marketing $$$) and truly believe you have the talent to play at the highest level the US has to offer, there's going to be some friction with those in charge of making that decision, and I think thats pretty evident given Adu's alleged past run-ins at DC. Arena is dead serious about improving upon the US's 2002 WC performance, and thats (I think everyone on this board, for once can agree upon something) going to be a very difficult objective to achieve. The last thing Arena needs is some egotistical hotshot, that should be showing extreme gratitude for even being invited to camp, to be acting unsportsmanlike on the sideline. And, yes Adu was hamming it up a bit too much while encouraging others (Johnson, Dempsey) to do the same, I have it on Tivo, not just making this up. Conversely, Twellman, after having scored a hat-trick, was a complete class act. He gave the old "awe shucks, just went out there did what I should be doing, in fact I should have had one more. I owe it to my teammates for serving up the nice feeds". Now that scores points not only with your teammates, but with the coach and fans alike. Twellman is a true professional, his maturity and modest disposition shine through, and I'm sure that's what Arena is looking for. McBride is also cut from the same cloth (never once heard the guy pat himself on the back).
so Nowak would say he talked with Arena -- FABRICATE that he talked to Arena -- when he really didn't ... all just for PR???? that seems a bit rich... I highly doubt an MLS head coach would say he talked with Bruce Arena if he truly did not.
Yes, it did. Reference my posts on this thread, which cite the relevant FIFA statutes. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294696
I really fail to see why people are upset that adu was joking around on the sidelines. I fail to see how it was in any way unsportsmanlike immature or unprofessional. Seriously, all this "egotistical hot shot" stuff. Adu has always come off as humble and down to earth in interviews. I don't know why people categorize him as being egocentric.
This is the same way that I read the quote. That probably should have been worded: “Considering the World Cup is coming, he’s going to want to play there again (Nats camp) because he knows that it is going to help him be in the World Cup squad. If this team (DC United) plays good, and he’s a member of this team, and part of this team, then he’ll go (to another Nats camp). People are making much too much of this without even knowing what Nowak meant by "then he'll go". It sounds more like he's talking about another Nats camp then the World Cup. Saying he will make the final 23 squad on one camp and an insignificant cap is a stretch.
How was Adu acting "like a complete clown," "acting unsportsmanlike" or "hamming it up?" Seriously, was he making faces, mooning the Norwegians, doing handstands? Give us specifics. Also, please explain how you know that Adu encouraged others instead of being encouraged. I only saw him laughing with his teammates near the end of a blowout and having a good time. I see similar behavior on the bench of winning teams in blow outs from pee wee to pro, and see nothing wrong with it either.
You guys keep forgetting that what Bruce did to Freddy, he basically did the exact same thing to Bobby Convey last year. Both were released back to their teams so that they could be in on pre-season training from the get-go; so they would have the utmost opportunity to compete and win a starting position on their club teams... it's worked pretty well for Bobby so far, let's hope it works as well for Freddy. Bruce has done this before... so now he's done it again.
i just said i was surprised Adu felt comfortable with those guys to act like that. i mean, he's brand new, has only been a part of that team for a couple of weeks. i was just surprised that he felt at ease enough to give a guy like Eddie Pope sh1t about his goal. i used the word inappropriate, that's extreme. i do think Arena noticed it though. now, whether or not he cared ... i can't say. i cannot proclaim to be Arena's homunculus, unlike many on here. because they know him, silly Drsmoo!!! the only people that make broad, definitive comments are the people that grew up on his street and have known Freddy personally since he came over from from Ghana 8 years ago. no one would be ignorant enough to make broad, widesweeping comments about Freddy's personality just based on a couple 10 second sound bytes and newspaper articles. what do you think this is Drsmoo???
Btw I also disagree with the "edits" or what was put in the parentheses. Given that Nowak was talking about wanting to "play there again" I imagine that Nowak meant that if Freddy plays well, he'll get another Cap or get to go to another Camp.