I had not seen Adu play in almost a year til I watched RSL vs. Rapids FRi night. Freddy looked aggressive and crisp with the ball. He almost scored a few times and he "scored" but was considered an own goal against Rapids. His right footed shot was fabulously saved and was a real howitzer blast. For a guy 17+ he is a fabulous player-arguably the best on the field. Most of us lose sight of that. He def looked like he was up there with the other USMNT players who were a decade older: Pablo, Beckerman. He will be a very good player for us-maybe not Pele, but very good.
He joined in May 1999, so that means Freddy would've been 10 when he joined. Interesting conspiracy theory here ...
oh no... has someone poisoned you!!! you CANNOT say good things about Adu on this board... *sends a request to get Bruce S banned*
right, because no one's ever questioned the authenticity of the guy's age..... Freddy....back to your shooting drills please.....
Bruce is a Revs fan, which makes him of low moral character, but not Freddy Adu. So that was a genuine compliment.
Have not seen him play in a year, I think he looks stronger than he used to - holding the ball better. The age helps. Even though he did not beat the right back convincingly, his dribble skill is very good - clearly above MLS average. However, his passing still is still MLS average. He needs to improve it to move up.
But does he have the kind of speed/quickness he will need with such a small frame? I don't know as I only see the highlights on the net, and he seems a bit slow in those -- especially for a little guy.
not slow at all. He is quick and good on the ball. Also, he is 17! He is short but no longer that "little". He is pretty muscular now. If you have not seen him for a while, he looks a lot thicker, stronger.
And, to be blunt, he's playing on a terrible team. He'd look even better with better players around and (especially) behind him.
I thought Adu looked amazing. His dribbling was hampered by the fact that there was never anyone around to make a dribble and then pass to. Also, from the looks of it, there always seemed to be a defender, just behind and to the right, of who was marking him, leaving him the only option to go left. He really, really, needs better players around him. If he keeps this up, it will be an interesting U-20's for him.
I agree. He's solid and strong. He is also both quick and fast. My biggest complaint about Freddy is that he seldom uses his acceleration and speed to a really positive effect. I don't think I've seen him approach 100% speed on the dribble. There's a time for soft, tricky touches, but there is also a time for out and out speed/acceleration. Freddy seems to lack variety, IMHO. That will have to change for him to be a major factor in games, particular at the Nats level. I also agree that the team around him is poor and not helpful.
He looked good in that game. Crealy the most dangerous player on the field. Kreis may be a good manager for this kid since he was a forward himself. Kreis said in a interview with the announcing crew that he looked at what Freddy's strengths are and tried to put him in a place where they are optimized. Voila, he puts him wide on the left with tons of space to "run at" people and create. His passing, dribbling, and crossing were all very good in that game and and his shooting wasn't bad either. He switched sides some in the second half and hit a rocket that was well saved on a reflex save by the keeper. that was a pretyy open game and fun to watch. Freddy is an excellent passer and when he drifts more centrally, he can slice open a defense with his passing. On the flank, with space, he can really cause probs. if Kreis can keep this up, Freddy will develop faster than he ever would have under Nowak who didn't know what to do with him.
that golf ball off his noggin earlier in the week must have cleared his head a bit... say freddy his 1st match of the year too and he had a better than good game there too... i agree, the more talented the players he plays with, the better his game will become, and they can pull off more one and two touch stuff.... the breakaway he had, he was NOT slow...and while he lacks donovan speed, i don't see footspeed being adu's game... it's his passing, vision, and ability to make a defender not know what he wants to do, that'll give him better functional speed... still want to know what his t-shirt said though... really interested in what freddy does in canada, as he's the clear go to guy, he doesn't have to let older wiser men run things... adu to altidore should be entertaining, this summer and for 15 more years...
I thought Adu played great. If he keeps playing like that, he will make/score a bunch of goals in MLS this season which will earn him a look w/ the nats. Freddy can shoot, he can pass, he can cross, and he can dribble as well as almost anyone in the league. What he doesn't do consistently, is move into good positions off the ball, either in close support, or in open space. Basically, he doesn't make sure he sees enough of the ball in order to take advantage of his skills.
Pretty much what I was thinking. This is the first time that Freddy is being coached by an true attacking player. It is also the first time he is being coached by someone who wants Freddy to attack first. Could get interesting!
That was Freddy's best game in a long time, so let's hold the projections based on it. BTW, I think he has a decent speed but I don't think he has a decent burst and will have problems playing the left wing in most leagues unless he can shield the ball better and show a greater body strength when he is bumped or held. But his best moments came against Dan Gargan in the first half. Then Clavijo adjusted the Rapids defense a little, gave Freddy less space and his production fell off precipitously in the 2nd half.
I think it is just a matter of confidence and comfort. I think Nowak was good for Freddy his first year or so because he made him work on being a complete, two-way player. But the downside of that is that he made Freddy very, very tight. If Kries can make the game exciting for him he will blossom.
I disagree. I think Freddy's very quick (by quick, I mean acceleration within a few yards). I also think he's made vast improvements in holding the ball...it's not as easy to bump him off the ball. As far as his production in the 2nd half, if he's getting less space and less touches then it's obvious that his production will drop off. But this is the point in the game where Ballouchy, Cunningham, and Klein should have prospered. If they're making a conscious effort to shut down Adu, then there should be more space for you to work with and create. That is an intangible effect/advantage that Adu helped create and Salt Lake has to take advantage of that. Trust me, I'd be very surprised if any other team allows Adu that must space...especially after looking at that game. Kreis is going to have to make sure that when opponents take Adu out of the game that Medhi, Cuny, and Klein step up to take advantage of it.
An important point. Physically, Adu looked as if he truly belonged with the other players on the field which is encouraging. And as you state he is just 17 which means, in all liklihood, he's only going to get more muscular and stronger on the ball. And that means he'll deal with strong defenders a lot better in the future. I think we always tend to forget how much upside this guy has at 17. For example I remember a friendly in early 2001 in which the US played Brazil (a 2-1 loss). As a teenager Landon Donovan in had a tough time dealing with the bigger, stronger Brazilian players (Sylvio, Lucio, Emerson) and Arena himself admitted Donovan had a problems with their physicality and got nudged off the ball. Needless to say Donovan doesn't have that problem anymore (or at least not that much of a problem) because he got stronger. Now Landon was just about a year older than Adu is now in that game and we can see how Landon was able to develop physically since then. That just goes to show that Adu may have a long way to go before his body completely fills out. And being able to better deal with tough defenders will only help his game.
My only complaint with the ESPN game was Balouchy, and Adu's early unwillingness to tell him to get the f away from dead ball situations. Adu should be taking FKs and corners. Adu does look much thicker, and it shows on the ball. He was the best player on the field and created the most chances. People get caught up in the fact that he's supposed to be the second coming, and judge him on that.