Quite frankly I'm stunned people don't think European teams will be splashing the transfer money at him for the simple reason that they'll quickly make whatever that money back in marketing revenue to say nothing of what he's worth in terms of talent. To separate the two seems short sided to me. Let's be honest here, ESPN didn't move the Brazil match to ESPN to showcase US and Brazil U-20s, they moved it to showcase Adu. Big time soccer is all about money and there aren't that many 18 year old players in the world that could end up making a club team multi-millions in revenue, and he probably doesn't even need to be that good to do so. He's about as low risk-high reward as it gets for an 18 year old in today's soccer landscape. If he ever became truly world class, whatever this initial transfer fee ends up being would end up being a rounding error.
Oh really? Seriously, explain to me how he will make the transfer fee back in "marketing revenue". You really believe that there will be world wide demand for "adu" Valencia shirts? If he makes it, it will be on talent alone.
Whoever "us" is, it is people like you who caused the backlash. It is people like you who predicted that he would be dominant in MLS by 15. It is people like you who made early comparisons to Pele and Maradona. Very few Americans on these boards had any sense of proportion that he was young and unproven. I'm really not sure whether he will be picked up this summer, and whether it will be by a top euro club. I simply can't predict the vagaries of the transfer market. But I will predict that he will not be starting for a G-14 type club before he's 21. And personally, I think that's fine. But people like you will again be disappointed and hurt his career, just like you did when you predicted such big things so quickly at such a young age.
Who said anything about world wide demand? Adu will make any club millions just from his appeal here in the States. Nike will play up the move big time and every 12 yr old soccer player in the country will be sporting the new Adu jersey. We're talking millions of dollars just for having the kid on the roster. This is why every Euro club has some mediocre asian player on the roster... not because they think the locals will go crazy for them, but because they will sell thousands of jerseys for the club back in their home countries. Nike has been investing millions in this kid for years... you better believe they'll be hyping his transfer to no end!
Just like what Landon Donovan did for Leverkusen kit sales in this country. Give me a breeak. Teams sell kits in asia because the game is much more popular in korea than it is here. Clearly, if a euro side picks up adu, they'll sell some shirts. But millions of shirts? No way.
Guys - the personal attacks and running feuds stop here or you will all lose access to the forum. Just stop.
You can't compare LD's marketing appeal to Adu's! That's insane! Have you ever been in a Nike Outlet? Adu's name is plastered on everything in the soccer section. I don't think I've ever seen a Donovan jersey unless it's a soccer specific shop. Do you want to know what the difference between the two players is... one has a gigantic corporation that has invested millions of dollars into selling their name, and the other one doesn't (I'm not saying LD doesn't have endorsements, but they don't compare to Freddy's). Also, if you don't think Freddy will sell millions of shirts, you are seriously under-estimating the marketing power of NIKE. You don't think he's already sold millions of shirts for Nike? I'm sure of it! And if he transfers to a big Euro club you can bet that the hype will get out of control.
Here's hoping that he goes to Holland. The wide open style should fit his game. He's not physicaly ready to be effective in the EPL. They'd simply hack him off the ball. Besides, I'm not sure his pace is as good as it would need to be. He is very quick but I don't see any Ronaldo type runs in him. If he went to one of the name teams in Italy or Spain, he'd play on the reserves. I don't see him as a super sub. Again, that's not his game. His style is best suited to start and make the passes to open up a defense that is why I feel he'll have a future with the nats.
This is the 2001 U-20 World Cup winning Argentina squad No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Club 1 GK Germán Lux 7 June 1982 River Plate 2 DF Nicolás Burdisso 12 April 1981 Boca Juniors 3 DF Julio Arca 31 January 1981 Sunderland 4 DF Mauro Cetto 14 April 1982 Rosario Central 5 MF Nicolás Medina 17 February 1982 Argentinos Juniors 6 DF Fabricio Coloccini 22 January 1982 San Lorenzo 7 FW Javier Saviola 11 December 1981 River Plate 8 MF Oscar Ahumada 31 August 1982 River Plate 9 FW Esteban Herrera 9 March 1981 Boca Juniors 10 MF Leandro Romagnoli 17 March 1981 San Lorenzo 11 MF Maximiliano Rodríguez 2 January 1981 Newell's Old Boys 12 DF Ariel Seltzer 3 January 1981 Argentinos Juniors 13 DF Diego Colotto 10 March 1981 Estudiantes 14 MF Leonardo Daniel Ponzio 29 January 1982 Newell's Old Boys 15 MF Andrés D'Alessandro 15 April 1981 River Plate 16 FW Mauro Rosales 24 February 1981 Newell's Old Boys 17 FW Alejandro Dominguez 10 June 1981 Quilmes 18 GK Wilfredo Caballero 28 September 1981 Boca Juniors 19 GK Sebastián Bueno 24 October 1981 Sarmiento de Junín ------------------------------ The top guys are the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe winner Javier Saviola (who hasn't been able to get much PT with Barcelona lately after going there for €35M), Atletico Madrid's Maxi Rodriguez, Inter's Nicolas Burdisso and Real Zaragosa (ex-Wolfsburg) Andres D'Allesandro. Arca, Romagnoli and Coloccini are solid pros. So, even the best U-20 team ever (27-4 goal difference) produced no long-term superstars and, after this season, perhaps only a single G-14 player (Burdisso) and even he is a rotation/squad guy.
Does anyone rememebr that tackle that Darren Bent put on Oguchi Onyewu? Does Freddy Adu remind anyone of Oguchi Onyewu?
I'm still very curious to see how Landon and Freddy will work together after a few senior nats matches together.. Not sure how it will go but perhaps they will find some "chemistry" that could be great, maybe not.. Maybe it will be like Lampard and Gerrard and they just won't go together well though I doubt it..
Let's not get too carried away. A European football team would be stupid to buy Adu for marketing purposes. The US isn't Asia, South America, or even Europe. We're just not soccer mad over here, not even for Adu. If a European club buys him, it would (and more importantly, should) only be due to his talent and skill, if he ever decides to be consistent enough. It's a fact of life that MLS players are looked down upon by other leagues, and had Adu been a European "prodigy," he might have been snapped up by now. But he's not, so he's always going to have to go an extra mile (or several miles) to be considered with the same respect as Renato Augusto or Samir Nasri, at least until he proves himself on the European stage. At the end of the day, if he doesn't learn to be consistent, no team will want him. When a scout comes to check a player out, they don't just care about what he's capable of, they also care about what his actual output is. Adu might have all the talent in the world, but if it only appears when there's a full moon, what's the point? Players like him are frustrating because they aren't reliable, and people can't evaluate the true extent of his talent because it shuts on and off, so no one knows if he's a fluke or the real thing. The argument that playing for Real Salt Lake is holding him back is just an excuse. Many of the world's most talented players started out in crap clubs, and super talents should be able to shine no matter who they play for. They might not be game winners, but they are always fighters no matter what kits they wear and who their opposition is.
Dont even make that comparison. If they dont play that well together they can still play with each other, but Lampard and Gerrad go horiibly together.
boy, do i remember. i kept playing it back in my mind everytime gooch touched a concacaf player and the referee blew the whistle. bent wasn't even playing the ball (i know his eyes were on it) at the same moment of the tackle. the tackle and the ball winning were two separate actions it seemed. he just charged gooch into the next county and then took off with the ball that was left unprotected on the ground. adu would have multiple fractures.
Yesterday's Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's main sports daily, had a nice write up on Adu and the USA U-20s. The story documented Freddy's triumphs and travails and praised him for becoming the U-20s 'trascinatore'-- a 'leader' or 'go-to guy.' They painted a rosy picture of his future in Europe, saying his 'Brazilian' skills mixed with his 'American' attitude would make him a unique player for any team. Sorry I don't have a link, I borrowed the paper from somebody on the beach.
I think that European teams will pay as much as they have to to get Freddie (since they're businesses). Man Utd, for example, just paid ~$35M for a 19 yo and ~$35M for a 20 yo this year, it's hard to see why an 18 yo would go particularly cheaply -- but if there's no demand (like there was for Anderson and Nani), he'll cost rather less. I do agree with whoever says that MLS should sell him now.
I think it's really me that caused the backlash. Yes, I confess. Over the past few years, I have come to a soccer internet website many times. Maybe hundreds of times! Possibly thousands! And why did I come, you ask? This is where it gets really sad. On many occasions, I've said nice things about Freddie Adu. On many occasions, I've thought nice things about Freddie Adu. I know that this habit of mine is slowly destroying US soccer as we know it, but I just can't help myself! And this isn't even touching on the times that I've said and thought nice things about Gooch and Bobby Convey and many, many other players. Will soccer in the US survive this horror? What can I do? How do I turn myself into someone who only posts when they have something bad to say? How can I become what US soccer really needs -- another person who endlessly carps, ridicules, nags and and complains? Sob!
Sure. That wouldn't help Adu, but it gives a viable scenario for the 16-year-old signing The Guardian blogger mentioned. On other topics: 1. I don't buy the marketing impact. This isn't David Beckham we're talking about. This is someone who would move shirts only in the U.S. and perhaps in whichever locality he plays. Given the fragmentation of the U.S. market, he wouldn't even sell that many here. If he goes to a G-14 club and plays little, there's little reason for anyone to buy his shirt. He'll likely play more at a smaller club, but I'm not sure I'd see people rushing to buy a Feyenoord jersey just because it has "Adu" on the back. 2. I get the point about U20 stars often not panning out. It could be that their World Cup performance was a fluke, it could be that their game is thrown off as their body matures, or it could be that their game was built on an athletic advantage that fades. But every once in a while, a U20 star goes on to have a decent career. The good news for Adu is that he has been exceptional at the U17 and U20 level. Four years after his U17 breakout, he is still capable of a superior performance with his age group. And again, the question with Adu was whether he had taken a precipitous dive and was no longer capable of such things. 3. The "physicality" argument is legit, but it only goes so far. Many of the world's best players get ticked off when they're dumped to the turf six or seven times a game. Some of them are even thrown off their games every once in a while. Perhaps the good thing about MLS has been that it's far better prep for physical European games than, say, sitting in an academy somewhere. Adu has been roughed up by 30-year-old veterans who know how to push the boundaries of acceptable MLS play. That may not be an exact match for getting the business from Materazzi for 90 minutes, but it's about as close as you can get at age 16.
I stopped reading right there. Five years after he appeared on the scene and you can't get the spelling of a very common name right. It really cuts into the credibility of the rest of your post.
The point is that quality team play does not necessarily translate into big individual player contracts. A team can win championships if everyone is excellent and plays that that level of excellence. A different team can also win championships if it has some really stars, that offset a lower level of play by its weakest players. As a coach, I would take the homogeneously excellent team over a team with a few superstars and a few weak players because such a team can be shut down by one defender doing a great job on one of the stars, while the homogeneous team will be able to draw on multiple resources in order to win. Of course, the ManU's and Chelsea's of the world want both: homogeneous teams filled with nothing but superstars.