What are the chances that Freddy turns out to be the Rainman/horse whisperer of American soccer coaches?
Been chasing this one for years and @bruceschoenfeld delivered.Freddy Adu isn't giving up even if everyone else is. The one-time phenom and face of soccer in America reflects on a career that feels bracingly incomplete. https://t.co/A3V5W0K67A pic.twitter.com/fWr8QaanIJ— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) June 17, 2019 New Feature Article
Great article with some good quotes. Sounds like his career is finished, even though he's not ready to retire just yet. Might have some promise as a coach in the future. Highlight: "He saw himself as the luxury player, the skill player," Wynalda said. "'Give me the ball and I'll make something happen.' 'OK, I screwed up, give it to me again.' 'OK, again. Just keep giving it to me.' And eventually it's like, 'You know what? I'm going to give it to some other guy.'"
Interesting quote from his coach at Las Vegas Lights last season: Kinda sums it up. I really hope he settles down into coaching - because he sounds finished as a player.
It’s hard to read those quotes and think,”that guy should coach youth players” but maybe that’s just me
It seems like it could go either way. He’s learned some hard lessons that he can pass on. It’s sad that he’s still holding on to the dream. That article did not mince words, yet he seemed to endorse it by tweeting it out. I guess that’s somewhat admirable.
He needs to fire his agent. If he’s really trying to have one more go at it, this video and that article say exactly the opposite. Weird.
Eddie could teach him about fitness I imagine. It's crazy that a guy this young won't get in shape. I wonder if he suffers from depression or something. He's literally taking money out of his own pocket by not getting into shape.
No better feeling than giving back to the game that has given me so much!!! I love this game with every fiber of my existence! ⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/jwoRDAGfaT— @FreddyAdu (@FreddyAdu) June 18, 2019 Here’s the tweet for those that don’t want to open IG
There’s an attitude that’s associated with a subset (but not all) of American attackers that their skill and savvy are enough for teams and they don’t have to put in the fitness, professionalism and tactical knowledge that others do. I’m thinking cleetus, Adu and maybe Carlton
He ended up in Las Vegas for the 2018 season as a last resort. It was a chance to resurrect his career at 28. That didn't work out, either. "The fans would chant his name, 'Freddy! Freddy!'" said someone affiliated with that team's management. "Then they'd see him play, and they wouldn't chant anymore." Brutal.
That was a good, and insightful, article. Freddy Adu came of age in an era when the game of football was changing. The era of the old school #10 who can just sit in the zone 14, collect the ball and distribute without putting in the work defensively started to fade in the mid to late 2000s as teams moved from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 and now 4-3-3 setups (to overload the midfield and dominate possession) + adopted pressing systems that require fitness and work rate from all 11 players on the field (with a pressing system, your attackers need to contribute defensively and off the ball). I still go back and watch highlights of the 2007 U-20 team from time to time - Freddy was so good in that tournament as a withdrawn forward in a 4-4-1-1. He was also impactful at the 2011 Gold Cup.
Wish I could rep this 100 times. It's so important and almost never mentioned when people talk about Freddy's career arc. IMO, a huge, huge part of why Freddy never succeeded was this. Even given his shoddy work ethic, and his extremely poor soccer IQ, he could have been a successful MLS level pro as a pure #10 if he had been born 15 years earlier. I mean, Carlos Valderrama tore up MLS for a number of years. Freddy would have been a poor man's Valderrama in that era.
The Iraqi government is banning 72 of their players (including current Vancouver Whitecap Ali Adnan) on suspicion of age fraud... Names of 72 players who the Integrity Commission has asked the Iraq FA for official documents. Includes Mohanad Ali, Alaa Abbas, Ayman Hussein, Saad Natiq, Bashar Resan, Humam Tariq, Mohammed Dawud, Jalal Hassan, Mazin Fayadh, Mohammed Hamed and Ali Adnan. pic.twitter.com/RSOxyHYPJ9— Hassanin Mubarak (@hassaninmubarak) June 22, 2019 https://old.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/c3v3i7/the_iraqi_government_has_banned_seventy_two_72/ Some comments from the reddit thread: They purposefully altered their ages to cheat the youth system and steal places from players that actually have the correct age. The 72 are all criminals according to Iraqi and FIFA law and now our government is starting to clamp down on sporting corruption. ... No, there's very little doubt that these players have falsified documents to lower their ages. It's actually a surprise whenever a player hasn't done it. All youth coaches push their players to do it so they can cheat at youth tournaments. It's been done since Saddam ran the country. ... Ali Adnan dominated the game against England from left back in 2013 against the likes of Eric Dier, Ross Barkley and Harry Kane. How come he was the best player on that pitch and one of the best in the tournament yet he’s no one near those guys in terms of talent? Its because he was three years older than all of them ... Ali Adnan is a talented player so he was able to make a good career for himself like many other Iraqi players in the past, but he is in the prime of his career right now and he's not going to improve by much going forward because he's not 25. Myself and other Iraqi fans see this all the time with our players. They hit their prime early then by the time they are "28" or something they are finished as players. The obvious answer is that they have changed their ages. "Then they would have done great at the youth level but poorly at the senior level."What you described actually has happened with our national teams. We almost always do very well at youth tournaments, but the senior team has been a complete failure for many years aside from some flashes. Oops I may have posted this in the wrong thread. Or did I.
Me, @Minnman and @AndyMead all saw Freddy when he was (barely) 14 and with the U17s. He was the youngest looking player for either team. My son looked older at the same age. It’s fun to play with this, but for those who are serious, no. Just...no.