Educate me--why do we think Freddy is DC United's? Not to single out DCAustinite--this quote is just one of many that are saying (hinting? hoping?) that we'll land Adu. Now maybe everyone thinks we'll stink up the league again and therefore get the first pick...but I dont think so. Is it his mother wanting him to stay close to home? Does Ray have some photos of Garber? Please educate this poor, hopeful, supplicant...give me some solid reason to rejoice...
Why? Because Freddy is very young and his mother is very protective. So the hunch is that if Freddy signs on with MLS it'll be on the condition that he stays close to home.
in my oppinion in my oppinion, it is not just DC united that wants addu, it is gonna be every team in MLS...however, whether he plays for DC united will depend on how old he is when he is drafted into MLS, if he is fairly young, he will proabably be given to DC united to be close to his home, but if he is drafted at say late teens, or early twenties, he will go to any MLS team.... i some how hope that for freddy's sake, he decides to go to college, hopefully on a free 4 year scholarship...and he can then go on to MLS...however, the chances for him going to college are slim, because the pros will proabably give him tons of money to play professionally... that is just my two cents sincerely, iowa007
Re: in my oppinion While this is a very noble thought, it simply won't happen.. Freddy wants to play pro ball, it's all he's dreamed about.. I'm sure there will be some back room shenanigans involved in where he eventually ends up.. If Adu ends up at United, we will pass over both the Galaxy and the Metroturds as the team that is "favored" by MLS. I can just hear the whining now....
### MODERATOR'S NOTE ### eric d - Troll elsewhere. I'm deleting your posts. ... Mike, let's see if we even have a team to dismantle first. And don't forget, we're gonna lose Marco at the end of this season. Adu would be a fitting replacement for this all-star player ...
No matter what team lands Adu, it won't be until the middle of the 04 season. He will have graduated from high school and turned 15. Unless, God forbid, he skips over the MLS and goes right to a big European club.
This raises an interesting question. If you were Mr. or Ms. Adu - parent of Freddy - what would you ask for on FA's behalf? We will assume that the Adus are reasonable people and responsible parents who simply want the best for FA's happiness. I would imagine that if FA continues his current trajectory, that almost anything would be on the table. Therefore, as Mr. Adu(not), I am asking for one of the following: 1 - I want the boy to have the least possible dislocation. My wife and I are happily employed. We have a network of family and friends in the area. We therefore look for MLS to commit to FA to the most local organization (DCU) to begin training under tight media security. We expect DCU to meet with the parents regularly to inform us of his health and progress, and what plans are being made for him, especially with respect to travel. (Segroves is right - MLS would have its pound of flesh, and you wouldn't like it.) 2 - We're not actually so tied to the area, and would consider moving if the conditions were right. We ask MLS to have each team make proposals as to how they will look after FA, and to the extent possible, insure his happiness and future success on the pitch. Since he is still a child, we will ask MLS to pay for us to relocate to the city of the club that makes us the best offer, and guarantee employment to at least one parent. We also want to have the same educational arrangement that Warner Bros. made for the children who star in the Harry Potter flicks. Just as they have private tutors who work around the childrens' film schedule, FA will have private tutors who work around FA's soccer schedule. Is this unreasonable? How much is he worth to AC Milan or Real Madrid now? How much might he be worth in 2 years? How much is a new house and moving expenses? (makes Kansas City look like a good option from the MLS point of view!) How much is a college age tutor or two?
Which is a very likely scenario. I don't know if they are accurate or not, but some of the millions of dollars that have been bandied about on Big Soccer (and other boards) would be very tempting. There is nothing anywhere that says absolutely, positively that FA will be DC United's, even IF he declares eligibility with MLS. And it would be totally presumptious of us to think otherwise. On the other hand, we can dream, can't we? Winoman
FIFA has rules about that. I don't have the regulation handy but a player that young can't go overseas to sign a contract (not speaking of youth teams and academies like man-u's or something) to play unless a parent comes along and the parent moved for a COMPELING employement reason or something of equal importance. As far as hoping he might go to college first. Well, you can get an college degree at a latter time and if the reason for a college degree is mainly to assure you have the ability to earn a good living, it kinda seems to me it doesn't apply. Some atheletes also take limited course even during their careers for credits that they continue when their playing days are over. An education is important but it is also something that is a lifetime thing and should not be limited to the "college years" anyway. Besides, if you can make millions in your youth it also increases your schooling choices quite a bit if you wish to persue a degree. I'd be willing to be my life Freddy will not play college soccer.
Well actually because of the Donovan rule, there's an age limit on when a professional club can sign someone outside of their own country. I forget whether it's 17 or 18, but it's one or the other. So until that time Freddy cannot play professionally anywhere except in the US or Ghana, where he's a citizen. This rule is new, and I do not think it was in place when Inter made the 750k offer to Freddy, but it would likely make it much easier for MLS to compete financially at a minimum. Why DC? Here's why. The coach of the area team that eventually sent him to a tryout for Ellinger and the U-17 team is, guess what, a DC United Youth Team coach! Freddy is not only local, he was "discovered" (prior to Inter's offer) by DC United's extended family. His brother and friends are here. His mother and home are here. Great education of all types (high school, college and tutors) are here. A coach, staff, front office, team, and teammates that like him and he likes are here. Did I mention that his mom is here and she is the one that makes the decision for the minor? MLS has done a terrific job of getting US prodigies into comfortable situations. Donovan at San Jose (close to home), DaMarcus at Chicago, Johnson at Dallas, Santino at DC, Convey at DC, Gaven at NJ, Memo at LA, etc. While some are hometown guys, like Santino, most are at the clubs that are geographically closest to their home towns, or at a minimum relatively close. It doesn't work all the time, but for all of the major prospects they've ended up where their families wanted them. I have no doubt that Ms. Adu wants Freddy in DC, and Freddy already likes it here with DC United (having trained with the team several times). So if Freddy ends up in MLS sometime in the next two years, and if Ms. Adu is still here in the DC area, then Freddy will almost certainly be wearing the glorious black shirt of DC United. If Freddy is the highest rated prospect and DC United has the first draft pick, he'll be in the draft, but if DC doesn't have a high draft pick, it'll be done by lottery. No matter how it's done, Freddy should end up in DC. -Tron
Just another line of thought- 1. Washington DC isn't the safest place on the planet, take the big money and relocate. I could adapt to living in Milan on a mil or so a year without the benefit of a full time job. (Ok waxing the kid's Ferarri could be construed as full time employment) 2. Conditions are right? I could do the same in Madrid.
Re: Re: in my oppinion Carlos Hermosillo, Luis Hernandez, Jorge Campos, Lothar Matthaus, Roberto Donadoni, Nelson Akwari, DJ Countess, Alex Comas, Sasa Curcic, Alexi Lalas, Clint Mathis, Roy Myers, Alex Pineda Chacon - All examples of players that have been feed to LA and NY/NJ through questionable deals and weighted drafts United has gotten Ben Olsen and Roy Lassiter in deals were questions arose so I think United and the rest of MLS still have a few more tokens left to play before LA and the MEtros can begin to complain.
What are you talking about? Except for all the murders, DC is a very safe city. The city has cleaned up quite a bit. The mayor doesn't smoke crack anymore, he just committs election fraud and seems to be out of town whenever a major event happens.
Re: Re: Re: in my oppinion You know you paranoia is just silly. Please explain to me how the following were fed through questionable deals: Jorge Campos, Lothar, Donadoni, Comas, Curcic and Roy Myers Then explain Olsen, Albright, Lassiter.
Re: Re: Re: Re: in my oppinion Look, so many people ignore the third member of this player allocation triangle... 1 - the league 2 - the team 3 - the player And players, especially before they sign, and in signing, can have a lot of leverage with where they end up. And I don't think that is a bad thing. Anywhere else in the free world an unsigned player gets to decide where he lives and plays, not signing on blindly to live at one of 10 areas of the 3rd (is it 3rd? Russia, Canada...) largest (geographically) nation on earth. Olsen and Albright - highly sought after, knew where they wanted to play, wouldn't sign otherwise. The difference in MLS is that the league can force some re-distribution of player wealth, so that parity can be maintained. Where Freddy plays, given his pedigree, will be largely up to Freddy - assuming he cares. Be it LA, DC, Milan, or Amsterdam. But trying to divine the 2-years-hence preferences of a 13 year old boy who has uttered almost no public comments? That's a foolish proposition.
Re: in my opinion Obviously a college education is great, but if Freddy Adu's goal is to become the best soccer player he can be, it seems like he's on a much better path.
Re: Re: Re: Re: in my oppinion Campos I will give up on since I forgot he was an orginal player allocation. Lothar and Donadoni were making big bucks but the Metros did not have to gut their roster in order to sign them. Comas and Curcic were placed in NY to try and bring them out of the league's basement and failed. Myers is a bit of a stretch on my part but I was on a roll and thought I would throw his name in. As for the paranoia how do the Metros seem to win all the weighted lotteries (see DJ Countess and Nelson Akwari). That is why I expect that Joey Digimarino will end up with them. Who besides the Metros have won the weighted lottery? It would seem that "weighted lottery" means weighted towards the Metrostars.
Spin Doctoring is an art form here. MLS did away with where players have preferences to play, unless you have not watched MLS for the last few years. Where Freddy wants to play will have ZERO bearing. Donovan wanted to play for LA- where did he go? Eski wanted to play in NJ- where did he go? Drafts and weighted lotteries are how these players go in. Want Freddy next year? Lose every game or trade for the first overall pick- otherwise you are not getting him.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: in my oppinion Okay- this is the last time I will do this- especialy for you- so remove the tin foil hats. Donadoni was an original allocation on the Metros with Ramos and Caricola. Comas was an allocation from Colombia. MLS paid a minmal transfer fee and got some back when he was sold. Curic came on a free. Myers was traded for twice! Dallas Burn have won as many weighted lotteries as the Metro. The Mutiny also won and so did a few other teams. Becuase you can't remember is not a reason why the league "favors" NY and LA. Do I think the league is skewed that way? In the past probably, and it has been skewed in your favor just as much. If you were a Rapids fan then you would have a gripe, although your "facts" are misunderstadning at best and lies at worst.
I will have to come down closer to eric than to shawn on this one. The weighted lotteries have in no way helped the Metros. Who did they get, Griffiths and Countess, two guys they did not even want and ended up trading. Also, when they got Mathis for LA to get Luisa, Mathis was in no way a star in MLS. He was another guy with potential and that is it. Look, isn't it enough that the Metros have not won anything in 7 years and we can make fun of them for that and just leave this MLS gives them all the breaks bit alone?? We are one of the few teams to keep our two biggest foreing allocations for a long time and for those two players to be pretty decent players and help the team out.
Saying a player has no say in where he wants to play is totally wrong. Joe-Max would only come back to NE and where is he now. Stewart had the final choice on where he wanted to play as well. Of course Adu isn't an established international like them (yet), but where he wants to play will hold A LOT of importance. MLS would love to have this kid in the league, he would be a marketing dream. Adu can go straight to Europe if he wanted to, the money would certaintly be better. So if he does decide to play a season or two in the MLS, I'm sure they would accomodate him in any way possible. Now why would he come to DC? The same reason why Convey is here or Memo is in LA, like stated earlier MLS makes sure that young players are situated properly and that the team they go to can help them with their needs. The difference with Adu and Eski was their age, I think Eski is 20 (?), so we would think/expect that he is capable of taking care of himself. I don't think the same could be said for a 13 year old.
I think if you can get past all of the childish rhetoric and attempt to read in between the lines of Mr. d way up above, he has a point. But the basic points mnarce makes are very true. So, basically, the amount of crap that the league got in response to the Albright appointment caused it to change policies. Convey and Eski are out of the picture here. DC United drafted these players. End of story. Where you can see a difference in how the league treats young player distributions is with Beasley. Basically, it was well published that DaMarcus Beasley would only play in Chicago. He was drafted by LA and they made a pre-arranged trade with Chicago to let Beasley go there. Simple. Since that time (and after Garber started to attempt to right the rotten, sinking ship) most every p-40 type player has gone into the draft or the weighted drafts. The weighted drafts have naturally favored teams such as the metros because they suck. We might have won a few had there been more in the past few years. Tim
Wrong. Joe Max went to NE because every team that had an allocation before them passed- including DC. If Dallas' allocation (which they did not have) went before DC- he would be in Dallas right now. Look at DC's record with youngins lately to refute your theory on placement by MLS. The Drafting system does not allow for exceptions like Adu anymore. MLS is more akin to American sports than International Futbol. So if He gets frafted by SJ and he doesn't want to play there- either SJ deals his rights or he signs a deal in Europe. He cannot hold up the league to go where he wants.