Conventional wisdom on Freddy on these boards has, halfway through the first season, become "He's hurting DC," "Not contributing," "Undeserving All-Star," and the like. Based on the stats of the first half of this year, none of this is truly unfair. Novak has given him a reasonable amount of playing time, and we've seen low points of some Freddy-sniping and the like. Why review this right now? Here's my reasoning - in the last couple of matches, Freddy has looked like the player of the U-17s and U-20s. In the Open Cup game against Richmond and the game against Dallas, Freddy was critical to creating any number of opportunities. He made a play against the Burn that was extremely comparable to his best moment of the year against LA, except that it didn't end in a goal. I saw teammates being deferential to him for free kicks, and looking to get him the ball to create something out of nothing. Partially, this reflects the absence of Convey, Kovalenko, and Olsen recently. However, I think it also reflects increasing confidence in Freddy from teammates. He was not far away at all on Saturday from having an amazing stat line for a severely outgunned team. The next wave of Adu-lation is coming ... but this time, it may actually be based on results. I'm predicting an eye-opening August. He's rounded into form.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Until he is better off the ball, I don't think it will be too difficult to contain him. He did show a couple of nice flashes against Dallas on Saturday, but he was invisible for the other 89 minutes. And I'm not certain giving him the ball more helps because if he is not trying to individually beat players on the ball he doesn't seem especially effective in generating an attack.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout I agree with Softtackle. His off the ball movements are horrendous. He needs to learn a lot from the man Moreno about an offensive-minded player hustling to help out on some defensive efforts. Moreno understands that everybody plays defense. I remember a few instances in the Dallas game where I wanted to reach thru the screen to pick Freddy up and move him into a defensive position. It's as if he thinks that, no matter where he is on the field in relation to the ball, if the other team has possesion it is up to his teammates to play defense and get him the ball. On the other hand, I have seen improvement recently. I think his choices with the ball are getting better, but still not great for a full professional game. Sometimes he needs to pass the ball sooner, sometimes he needs to hold the ball longer (although he doesn't seem to mind doing that), sometimes he needs to actually make a run. The runs are something that all strikers need to learn, and execute effectively. I am guessing that in the youth national team games his teammates usually gave him the ball at his feet and let him do his thing. Fine for that level. Won't work in the MLS, and certainly not in Europe. MAKE SOME RUNS, FREDDY!
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout I am sure all of our moves off the ball wouldnt be so hot if we were 18 and paying against guys in MLS. but the bottom line is the only goal they had againsta Dallas was because of Adu. I think the kid is gonna lite up this league eventually.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Very timely Casper. Freddy has made some big adjustments- he has figured out what works and what doesn't against these defenders. He has had a bunch of good games lately. He's special dribbling the ball and crossing, and taking corner kicks. I wouldn't rip the DC United fans who criticised Adu-mania- it's their team, they didn't want their team to be used as a Freddy vehicle for non-dc fans, many of whom are very young, or are mainstream sportswriters, both of whom are clueless to varying degrees. But I think the time has arrived for the Freddy show to proceed as planned. He has been DC's best attacker in terms of breaking down a tough defense, for the last few games.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout You may not have to wait until August... I'd look for Freddy to have a big game Saturday at the All-Star game... Why? Because it's an All-Star game...zero marking...
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Don't worry! He's just signed on to endorse Clearasil. No need to worry about our little cutie resembling a pizza anytime soon.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout I expect Adu to see the ball early and often. The question is of course...Will he start? I hope he lets one rip from 30 yards and beats whomever..
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout I've definitely noticed a real pick-up in Freddy's level of play the last few weeks. I was very critical of him early in the season, and I agree that he still has a lot to learn when he's off the ball, but I think he's shown some really nice flashes recently. I think the Nottingham Forest game was the first game where I first started to notice this... and it's continued since then. (Perhaps it was because he had a chance to play out wide on the left instead of up top.) His demeanor seems to be maturing as well. Less whining to officials, less pouting when things don't go his way, etc. I'd like to credit Nowak for this, but that's only speculation.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Basically the pattern I envisoned was a burst at the beginning, and dry period in the middle of season, and then Freddy figuring things out and improving into end of season. So far, so good. Next season, I think we'll see a big difference. We will still see some fits and starts, but less so. Physically much more capable, the entire media thing will be under control, and Freddy will have 5 months offseason to rest, grow, reflect, and mature. He'll be on a mission next year. It'll be (for the most part) his team, and it will show IMO. The first couple months MUSTA been a blur for this kid this year. By next year, the speed of the game will seem much slower to him, and he'll be running much more/better off the ball.... Sit back and enjoy...
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout There is no way what so ever this player should be anywhere near an all star game, let alone a competitive First Team Fixture. He needs to get out of the USA and to Europe ASAP. This way he can be brought through a proper youth system rather than face the fact his career could be over with injuries by the time he is 21. People are way to critical of him, and he is in the spotlight far to much. I think the Dutch have the best academy set ups in the world. I feel sorry for Freddy Adu.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Yeah getting rich for playing a game sucks ass. Man, I bet he's going to hate all the action he gets for the rest of his life too.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout That's impossible for 3 more years. FIFA has a rule against the international transfer of children.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout I would wait until you see how he does next season and not this season to start judging him.
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout Bump - the kid's got skilz. Some amazing passes tonite and a well finished goal.
Gaven blossomed last month of the season and been great this yr. I think we'll see similar path by Adu.
Just finished watching the game. Adu looked sick!!!! Absolutely sick!! He made the guys look stupid on about 10 occasions
To be fair though, it's not exactly hard to make the current Rapids squad look stupid. Now if he had done it against somebody better, like say the Boulder Rapids Reserves, that would mean something. Me bitter? No, why do you ask?
Re: The Impending Adu Breakout This should really be Bigsoccer's tagline. 50% of the people could read that, then leave without posting the identical post as uncountable others. As in: Welcome to Bigsoccer. FIFA has a rule against the international transfer of children.