Found these quotes from Bruce Arena, culled from the Washpost (article is here, though the quotes are a few paragraphs down.) Eminently sensible view, not sure how many people will actually agree.
Where exactly does he say he's being used too much, at least directly? He's not saying anything a lot of other people have said or concerns they've expressed.
I think starting Adu is a little silly at this point. And Adu is over his head. An incredible player at 14, but still not good enough to start at this level. The biggest problem is his decision making, which will improve dramatically over the next few years. This kid has a lot of potential, but still, he is not the best option for DCU at this point. I think Nowak is getting a lot of pressure from the MLS front office to play the kid. He's in a no-win situation.
I think we need to start surrounding him with better players... I mean he is 14 and we tied one of the best teams in the league on the road with him starting. If we just had faster players (sorry sometimes I can't help it... )
That would be a copyright violation, and I'd delete it. Just use: U: bigsoccer1@bigsoccer.com (omit the 1 for most other sites) P: bigsoccer
I agree he's seen more field time than he should...but it's early in the year. Come the home stretch of the season, they won't see much of him unless there's no good alternative in the lineup.
I think the problem here really resides in the media hype of Adu. Let's face it, PN is under tremendous pressure to start Adu, as his early career is being followed by mainstream media here and abroad. Within the last two weeks in fact, Tony Kornheiser and the UK newspaper, the Guardian, have both had stories on Adu's lack of playing time and its impact on league ratings. Normally both of these presences would have little care about MLS. Several weeks ago I went to see DC play the galaxy, largely to see Adu and was happy he got 45 minutes. We need to understand that the decision process behind choosing Adu's playing schedule is not directly related to the soccer played on the field, which is what I am sure BA is talking about, but rather on the marketing associated with his arrival. Hopefully as the season wears on and DC is no longer visiting teams for the first time since Freddy's arrival and games are not ESPN every week where announcers clamour for Adu, his playing time can be chosen better. And lets face it, if any 14 year old kid can show up and not be over his head in our domestic league, we as a soccer-playing nation should be tremendously embarrassed.
Why? Freddy is a freak player (I doubt you'll see another starting 14 year old for decades), and MLS is what it is- soccer is not popular on TV, so there is little money for the kindof salaries a higher league would support. Yeah, the "average" MLS player in not Premiership-quality, by a long-shot, but we are lucky even to have a soccer-league in the US, given it doesn't financially support itself, has lost ten of millions since inception, etc. We produce enough high quality players to have a competitive Men's National Team at the highest levels. I don't know what there is to be embarrassed about....
OK- let's go over this (again) and everyone listen up! There are various stakeholders here- let's see how they stack up: 1) Peter Nowak- Peter has several 'bosses', but the most important one is Peter himself. He needs to manage a new career now, and that means being a 'successful' coach at DC United. What does that mean? It means, at some point- and hopefully for a long time- Nowak needs to bring results. But wait, its more complicated than that. Most coaches- especially those with no on-field experience coaching- are not graded linear...they are expected to make some mistakes, and there is allowance for a slow start (first half of season) or even a full season. Nowak has to show improvement in the first year, but can not become a total buffoon- in order to keep his job for the 2nd year. We should all agree (don't we?) that- barring injury- Freddy is a sure starter for 2005, and for Peter's purposes (career)., 2005 will actually be a more important year than 2004. Now, let's remember this fact (that it will be difficult to get fired unless DC is horrendous and he is a complete jerk). A second fact: Nowak is as much or MORE LIKELY to get fired if he doesn't get along w/Freddy Adu. Yup, sad but true, but as long as Nowak has the respect of Freddy (doesn't mean he has to cave in to Freddy at every instance- just as long as Freddy doesn't hate his guts and think he's a horrible coach). So, as long as Nowak keeps this in mind this year, he will be fine. I'd say that BOTH THESE POINTS argue for more Freddy not less, and Freddy starting (not sitting bench). Freddy starting means he will get better, sooner (in all likelihood- then not playing at all, or little). There are countless examples of less-talented players than Freddy (Convey, Beasley, Magee) who started in their teens- and all were the same size or slighter then Freddy. Freddy is a progidy in that- although he has a lot to learn- is also not '14' in soccer years, and is better compared to Beasley et al. (BTW- I clearly remember Beasley's first game, was on TV, and he looked more over his head then Adu- yet he went on to play a lot of minutes that year. I also saw Convey in Miami in his first year (practically first game- if not the first). Similarly- he was no better prepared (and I'd say worse) then Freddy at this point. (2)- The fans. Well, most of them want to see Freddy on the field. A minority of hard-core BS DC United fans do not. However, not so much so that they will not watch DC United games (due to Freddy starting). So, financially, DC United and MLS are more than likely better off having Freddy play- financially, that is. It will make the fans happier, unless Freddy shows he is WAY IN OVER HIS HEAD- which I believe is very hard to argue (non-sensicle). (3)- Freddy. I believe he wants to play as much as possible. (4)- The Team/Team Performance. This is the most difficult one, but I believe it also argues for Freddy playing major minutes, and if he shows continual improvement starting. The reasons: 1- No one in the league has Freddy's upside potential. By playing him now, by playoff time, DC may well create a mini-Jeff Cunningham, which would be sorely needed by a team that has not shown an ability to score/create many goals (you can't blame this on Freddy- this was pre-Freddy). Secondly, DC United simply doesn't experience that much of a drop-off (at all) w/Freddy on the field. As some have argued, Freddy was arguably MORE effective than Moreno on Saturday. It is hard to argue that Eskandarian is that much better then Freddy- his numbers in MLS play just don't support it. The most important thing to remember: You use the MLS season to get prepared for the playoffs- there is no sense peaking during the regular season (witness Miami Fusion 2001). Landon came in, and at first struggled a bit, but then came on like gangbusters. That's what young players do- they get better almost exponentially. Beasley was much better by end of his first season. Gaven looks much better this year. Given all that we know, one would expect the same from Freddy. Is any other player on DC going to get THAT much better w/significant playing time? Maybe Gros? 80% of the teams in MLS make the playoffs. The East looks weak, and DC will not create too big a hole (if any hole) by playing Freddy early. If he plays, you then get the benefit of a better Freddy in the 2nd half. This doesn't even take in account the development argument for young MLS players, which argues for playing the best, most talented- even if they are a slight bit below other regulars. You do this simply because there is no other credible development alternative, and, for better or worse, the younger talent has proven that in a very short time (sometimes months, sometime a year, but sometimes just weeks) that they can close the talent/experience gap in a very short time. For better or worse, Freddy is not competing against Shearer, Owen, and Anelka...but rather Eskandarian, Cerritos, Moreno, etc. Let me end by stating that you'd have to be soccer-blind not to see the progress in Freddy's game in just 5 games. I saw his steal a ball from Agoos (which I am sure next year will be goal- Freddy just wasn't quite mentally prepared "what to do with it" afterwards. On 2 other occasions, I saw him force bad passes with his hustle. So, even though he is a work in progress- at this rate, he will be doing a good job on defensive/hustling end by August. He is moving better into gap for passes, but must improve of course. But he has taken the important first step of SOME improvement, which proves he is willing to learn, and it hasn't taken long. His talent is incomparable. Outside Jeff Cunningham, there is not a better 1v1 player in the league by middle of this season. He needs to play deeper, his teammates need to play balls to his feet and quicker, and Freddy needs to be allowed to run at people to be effective (more effective). Give him a few more games to get adjusted, and I think by mid-season he will be producing good offensive production (goals, assists, dangerous situations) starting in middle of season. He'll even chip in a few while we get there too. It is worth some near-term pain to achieve these longer-term goals, and bottom-line is its the interests of almost all the stakeholders that Freddy play. To cater to a hard-core minority on BS, who are going to watch DC United either way, makes no sense. Now, we start seeing pickets outside RFK saying "I'm not going (to buy a ticket) unless they drop Freddy (from the team)"...then, I'll reconsider my argument.... And that's the bottom line.
A bit over his head? Yeah sure. there are very few rookies that come into this league and aren't a bit over their heads. Esky looked over his head last season. Sometimes Carroll and Gros look over thier heads. I don't think Nowak would start Freddy unless Freddy earned it. Forget marketing, you'd loose the respect of the whole team if everyone else on this team knew that Freddy shouldn't have started or shouldn't have been on the field. I think Freddy did okay on Saturday. He played as well as any of our forwards over the last 2 or 3 games and showed some flashes of brilliance. I would still like to see him out there with Esky for once. Regardless of what you think his age is (14 or 16) either way, he's going to have to grow into the pro game. Look at Convey. He came into the league at 16 and he's just now really showing the player he can be. Then again there's Santino, who's shown alot of promise but has had a rough time lately. -Oh and one more thing- MLS is not be held hostage by Freddy. If anything MLS has put Freddy up front and that marketing raised people's expectations (even though it wasn't meant to convince people that Freddy is going to start every week). But it's a difficult situation to start. I don't think MLS or US soccer has seen a player who has gotten so much marketing exposure.
Bottom line folks: Is Freddy over his head right now? probably. Will Freddy get better the more playing time he gets? yes. I think you just have to look at it as a maturing process that will pay huge dividends down the road. Just look at the increased attendance all over the league when he plays and the answer is simple. San Jose would have drawn like 7k for that game if Freddy was kept home on road trips as one poster wrote. While there are growing pains now, long term it will be great for DC and MLS. Donovan struggled his first 8 or 10 games in MLS also. The more playing time he gets the better he will get.
Arena doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. That man is lucky to still have his job considering he hasn't called Adu up yet.
I think you are missing my point. Really, the quality of play in MLS is fairly high right now, and regardless of what he has done against youth competition, Adu shouldnt be able to show up and dominate our top domestic league. That is just an unreasonable expectation. Players on DC alone like Convey and going as far back as Olson, have learned how to be professionals by playing in MLS for years. No player without any prior experience at a professional level (or even college) should be able to immediately show up and play to the expectations placed on Adu. That being said he certainly has a bright future and will probably do magical things within the next few years before being sold to a european club.
Thamlin19 said: "Arena doesn't know what the hell he is talking about" I consider Bruce Arena the most knowledgable American in soccer today; and what he has done, with DCU in the past, and with the Men's Team currently, to rate certainly as brilliant.... if Mr. Arena, as you erroneously say, "...doesn't know what the hell he is talking about..." I am genuinely curious, who does, as clearly nobody has his experience or demonstrated accomplishments in this country in soccer. IntheNet
Adu is playing like every other teenage rookie that's come into the league. Certainly he's impressed people with his skills, and surprised many of the vets that he's gone against. But, like all the other rookies he will plateau in the next couple of months, and then start sliding downwards. By midseason two things will start to work against Adu. First, the vets will know what to expect, and they should begin to make life more difficult for him. One thing in Adu's advantage is that he does "special" things with the ball, and that fact will continue to make him above average when compared to other young rookies - most just freak out and lose the ball. The second thing going against Adu is the long season. He's never faced a 9 month long season and it will start to wear him out. He will start fading in practices and in games.
Wow. I'm pretty surprised no one on this thread is willing to tell Bruce to go mind his own business. (Well, jri might've, but I don't have time to read War and Peace. Dude, try to keep the word count below 3000 next time.) I don't think SAF would take to kindly to Sven commenting on his player management practices. Nor should he. Bruce probably should've shoved a sock in his mouth on this... He's making an already difficult job, that much tougher for Peter. And I'm not being sarcastic.
Very true (On War and Peace and on BA keeping his nose in his own plate)... although at least he defends, to a degree, PN's decision not to start the boy until this past weekend.