I know this guy who is a knowledgeable soccer fan of the type that many BigSoccer types love to hate. He watches the EPL and Bundesliga, and although he lives in New York has never seen the Metros and considers MLS a second-rate test-tube league with no real roots in the country. He did steel himself to tune in Freddy Adu's debut last Saturday, though, and when we were talking on Monday he brought up a point that I think is worth considering. I'll paraphrase him: How could MLS, after allowing Adu to be hyped as the next Pele, then let him sit on the bench for 60 minutes? How many fans who tuned in to their first soccer game just to see Freddy Adu tuned right back out when he didn't appear? I think he's right. Of course, United is Piotr Nowak's team, and he can do whatever he wants with his lineup. Or can he? It's hard to believe that a league that controls all of the contracts and media access doesn't have some influence over who gets on the field. And while I hate to suggest that MLS HQ should intervene in local operations any more than they already do, I think someone should have made it clear to Nowak that Adu's debut was much more important to the league than it was to United's fortunes in that particular game. This is hard for me to say, because MLS has enough troubles with centralization and Calvinball rules. But what's one more diktat from the league, weighed against the negative impact of not having Adu on the field until well into the second half, which cost the league a ton of potential fans? It doesn't matter, from this perspective, whether he would have played well or not. As it happens, he played okay. Nice touch but not too involved, and trying to get the penalty against Agoos was like a baseball rookie in April not swinging at a two-strike fastball from Pedro Martinez. Welcome to playing against men, Freddy. But if he had been in the game from the beginning, everyone watching, soccer fan or not, would have been able to feel as if they were present at the creation. That kind of identification with individual players is what makes professional sports tick, and MLS egregiously blew a chance to have that happen. Long-term, Freddy Adu won't be affected by playing 30 minutes or 90 minutes in his debut; but long-term, the league will be affected by whether people were able to feel like they were part of a Possibly Great Beginning, and Adu's absence denied them that. From this perspective, Adu's first game ranks right up there with MLS' previous PR and marketing boondoggles.
This has been discussed in a thread about the PTI show here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104537 While it's not completely one way, I do notice that most of the folks who think MLS ********ed up by not pulling some shennanigans and forcing Adu to start are not DC United supporters. If you're going to have the league in any way, shape, or form dictate tactical decissions we might as well not have 10 teams, let's just have two; League Team A and League Team B. If marketing is going to trump the integrity of the game let's go with the bigger goals, play the game in quarters, and award wins based on the pretty moves.
Ok, maybe Nowak should have started him. But what happens if Freddy is way in over his head? The 29 minutes he played were by no means spectacular, and at times he looked a little lost. What would all the new "fans" make of that, if the kid cast as MLS' savior turned out to look, well, like a kid? I fault MLS for marketing Freddy until he turned into the second coming of Pele. Market him, yes, but the past few weeks have been overkill, IMHO.
There were 24,600 people at RFK on the 3rd. Not 24 million--24 thousand. The game got a 1.8--good for MLS, but that's a 1.8. I think a lot of people are projecting with this issue. A few thousand people extra came to the game--most of them probably know a little about soccer and DC United already. They might not have been impressed with Freddy, but they probably did have a good time for not a ridiculous amount of money, and saw the hometown team win. Most of the people who have heard the hype about Freddy and don't know much about soccer DIDN'T watch the game. More than likely, most didn't even hear the score, let alone a detailed match report of Freddy's performance. Relax. MLS is on the radar screen for a lot more people. Most people haven't given it too much thought one way or another, but at least they know there's something going on.
MLS has a myriad of issues that are wrong. Freddy Adu was just one of those. I have a bigger issue with the dearth of Hispanic players, and Coaches. Imvho that is the real problem with MLS. Having said that I know plenty of ESPN types who don't care for Futbol one way or another but who felt aggrieved at the lack of playing time for Freddy.
SO?!?! What, they feel they didn't get their "money's worth" after they paid so much for league broadcasting rights?
Can you say that Adu's substitution helped DC united win the game? Can you honestly say that if there wasn't the hype surronding the game that Adu probably would never have been subbed in at all? I mean a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute for a striker that was having a great game? As a DC fan I was upset to see Adu's substitution, it was bad timing and seemed totally driven by the fact that we had to play him. He might turn out to be a great player, but that wasn't the time or the place for him to be subbed in, and as a fan of DC united all I care about is the 3 points, I could care less about the freddy hype bandwagon.
I have only been watching soccer for about 2 years and have not seen a whole lot, but Adu has made me more interested. I watched the DC United game and didn't not understand why he wasn't starting, but I really enjoyed the game and hope to be able to watch a lot more!!!
30 minutes for Freddy this past Saturday was just perfect. DC and MLS successfully gave the United States and all potential fans a glimpse of the brilliance to come. It was an introduction, a taste if you will. Better for MLS in Freddy playing 30 solid goosebump filled minutes without scoring, than Freddy playing a grueling, physical MLS 90 minutes with the possibility of not scoring. The prior is a better showing for both Freddy and the league.
Exactly. And as Adu himself has said, he hasn't earned a starting position yet. He soon will, but it would have been inappropiate to start him last weekend. ABC's decision to put the game on the flagship as opposed to ESPN2 is ABC's decision; Nowak's decision not to start Adu is unrelated.
I was there.. . I flew out from Los Angeles, just to take my 6 year old neph to his first soccer game, in no small part because I thought it would be historical.... It absolutely sends a strong message that , he's supposed to be the next Pele, but isn't good enough to start on his own team... That said, if he's not read, then he's not ready... Plus... fans are Definitely going to make him a starter for the All Star game....so we'll see him then ... not getting fouled.. able to make moves... on ABC... for a national Audience and we will all be entertained... and he'll have 16 games under his belt, so he'll just be that much better... Heck , he'll probably score..
I think Nowak's decision not to start him has sparked even more interest in the story. Maybe not exactly the type that MLS heads would ideally like to see, but I would be willing to wager that the should he/shouldn't he start controversy has netted more ink and airtime than if Adu had gone out for 90 minutes and "stunk up the joint".
Where's the post from the guy who says that SJ should have tanked the game to let Freddy score a couple? Nowak did exactly the right thing -- he started two forwards who combined for two goals and an assist, won the game, and got some PT for the prodigy. His job is first to win games and second to help the league gain popularity. He did both. Somebody who grew up on the game should recognize that and be satisfied with it. Here's the parallel I would use with this Eurofan: I have a friend & neighbor from London who is about 60 years old and a life-long Chelsea fan. After the home draw against Stuttgart in the CL round of 16, I told him "congratulations" for making it through, but he was furious at how they played the 2nd leg, saying that they deserved nothing because they were dull and uninspiring at home. When I responded that none of that would matter if they made it through to the semis, he said that no, he'd never forgive Ranieri for such a pitiful effort. Yesterday I talked to him again, after defeating Arsenal at Highbury, and do you think he cared one tiny little bit about the Stuttgart match? No, of course not. He was jubilant that they finally got the monkey off their back agaisnt Arsenal, made it to the CL semis for the first time, and it wouldn't have mattered if Hitler scored that late goal to win it. The coach's job is to win first, entertain second. Anyone who follows MLS and doesn't believe that just needs to think back to the 2001 Miami Fusion.
If you're interested in a European perspective on this, it's the following. Adu is a 14 year old kid. he should be in school or at best a football academy. I thought stories such as Jennifer Capriati's had taught you people something about kids being thrown into the limelight too early. In the Uk and the rest of Europe, he wouldn't be making the bench yet, never mind sititng on it NO MATTER HOW GOOD HE IS! He's being used as a marketing ploy and it's pretty tasteless. The best thing he could've done is stay in school in the US, or join an academy in Europe. Either way, he would've been left alone to grow up aand hopefully into the world class player his talent suggests. If he doesn't the US authorities will only have themselves to blame, and if you need further proof. look into the life of African player Nil Lamptey.
marketing ploy? so you mean he is not good enough? so MLS is 'tasteless' in using him just because he's 14? I guess you haven't seen him play against LA this past weekend. He got skills and talents that men twice his age don't posess.