1. Actually, I think the use and development of Adu worked out very well last year. I think Nowak got good performance out of him. I think Freddy improved tremendously. I think the challenges are: he has enough "clout" that unlike a Boswell or Kovalenko who might be unhappy with PT or how he's used (and can basically do nothing), Adu gets press coverage and has others say it. So it creates challenges for the team. But to argue that if Nowak had done well this wouldn't have happened is to change the standards from: what will make Freddy a better player to "what will make Freddy happy?" I happen to believe that there is some value in "tough love." 2. As I've said in earlier threads, I think Adu's primary focus is on (a) making the USMNT for Germany and therefore (b) playing as much as possible (b/c if he thinks that the primary reason he won't get selected for Germany is if he doesn't play alot--b/c he believes he deserves to go to Germany and only a lack of PT will keep him from being selected). And I think Payne, et. al. told him "look, we don't have outside mids. We'll give you a serious trial at outside mid this year. You'll still be in the mix at forward and A-mid and still get minutes there. And maybe Gomez or Moreno will get hurt. But you'll get a chance to compete for PT at outside mid. Freddy, do you think you can beat out Josh Gros and Nick Van Sicklen?" And with that, Freddy is happy--b/c he is sure he'll play more than 60 minutes per game. And he's sure that if he plays a lot, than Bruce Arena will be impressed by what he sees and he'll be going to Germany. Now, none of that is about making Freddy a better player. That's about keeping Freddy happy. The two are not necessarily the same. But it's critical to note that sometimes in dealing with prodigies you do stuff that will make them better--but doesn't necessarily make them happy. 3. I agree that you can't have people talking about PT and the coach and seeking a trade right before the playoffs. Nowak had NO IDEA that was coming. He was stunned when asked about that. That tells you that Adu never raised it with Nowak. But practice observers will tell you that Nowak does lots of talking with players (including Adu) and pulls them aside. This guy is a communicator. Adu did what he did b/c he wasn't happy. So unfortuantely we're stuck with balancing what is necessary to make him a better player as well as what is necessary to make him happy (b/c if he's unhappy he'll press for a trade or maybe has an out in his contract and at a minimum would be disruptive).
But at what cost? I'd rather Freddy work on improving as an attacking player -- despite his talents, there's lots of work to be done there, and everything that is special about him is as an attacker. Fiorentina didn't force Roberto Baggio to be a wingback so that he could play when he was 16, nor do Messi or Andres Iniesta restort to playing fullback just to get on the pitch with Barcelona. If Adu can't play in his best spots, and the only alternative is wingback, then yeah, he shouldn't play, unless it's an occasional thing and his role is tweaked somewhat.
At the cost of learning something about the sport and his abilities. Baggio, Messi and Inestia weren't touted as the best player ever in their respective country,or the highest paid player on their team let alone their league. Also none of those three complained about their playing time because they were on youth teams to begin with and were slowly brought into the first team. Something that we don't really have the luxury with in MLS. He won't improve on being an attacking player by playing limited minutes and he needs to learn something about defending. If he is going to play in the midfield, even as an attacking midfielder, he needs to improve his defense, especially if he wants to succeed at the international level and abroad were every player on the field has to play some defense. If he learns defense by playing on the wings then he will be better for it and better to try and learn now while he's still young versus later when he will have been ingrained in his habits and believe that he doesn't have to play defense. Do you really want him to be a one-dimensional player?
you may be the first person I've ever heard contend that not playing is the best way for a player to improve but again, I think y'all are assuming a shortage of available playing time that will not exist
I just can't picture how the development of a Roberto Baggio would have been better served by playing him as a wingback at the age of 16. In fact, I would guess that had it become a regular appointment, it would have been deleterious. But if a few minutes there once in a while keep Adu a little happier, as Digital says, and help him work a little on D, then fine. And no, I don't want Adu to be a one-dimensional player. But some people seem to think he just needs to work on his D. I think he needs some of that, but above all he needs to really hone his attacking skills and tactics. Sorry if I think that's what needs to be emphasized with this kid. Actually, I'm not assuming this. I think he'll get more time next season at his favored positions -- that's just my feeling, at least.
I don't think you can compare the development of a player in a european system versus what MLS has to offer. There is in some way less pressure on a player in a euro youth system since they aren't expected to be starting with the first team at age 16. Baggio would have never played out of position just to get him time on the field because there wasn't that pressure on the team to play him with the first team. If the player can contribute it's a bonus but european teams are not building their team around a 16 year old. Even a player like Wayne Rooney wasn't the focal point of Everton when he was playing in the first team. He was just as often if not more so coming in as a sub as he was starting. The team or the EPL was dependent on him and didn't place the weight of their team, the league or the National Team's success on the back of Wayne Rooney, like many seem to be doing with Adu. In a truly ideal world, Adu would be playing in DCU's youth team and every now and then getting on the bench with the first team, especially in cup competitions and would get his time slowly but surely. MLS doesn't have that luxury, especially when they make him the highest paid player in the league at age 14.
So, if Freddy's better shooting with his left foot, he shouldn't bother working on his shot with his right? Maybe he should just switch to kicking field goals for American Football teams and then he can completely forget defense! There have been a few other good posts addressing this nonsense, but if Freddy wants to play midfield and that's his best spot, he needs to work on being a complete player, which includes defense. A-mids don't defend like sweepers, and attacking may be their most important function, but D has to be a part of their game too. This is especially true for a team with three in the back. It only works when the midfield defends well. If Freddy can help create turnovers in the midfield, that also creates scoring chances. The object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent. Freddy has good quickness and vision. He's improved a lot off the ball and defensively, but needs to continue to develop his understanding and focus when the other team controls the ball. How improving his defensive abilities hurts his game is beyond me. Freddy needs as much playing time at the highest levels as he can get. Working on his defensive play will get him on the field more, which in turn will make him better, as well as making him more dangerous. If a player has to have the ball to be effective, it's not that hard to neutralize them. I think that Freddy knows that and is working to improve his play with out the ball, including defense. I think that Freddy improved a lot last year and should continue to get better in '06. I don't get to see as many games as many who post here, what do you think of the defensive play of Gomez? or Jaime? Remember Jaime's goal that he stole from Johnnie Walker? But he's a forward and doesn't need to worry about defending...
Gomez is decent defensively, although with carroll and Olsen behind him he does slack a little bit in that department. However he does track back more than occassionally and has been know to take the ball off a defenders foot. As with a lot of players, he really puts in a lot of energy right after he lost a ball that he shouldn't have lost and like a lot of players that do this fouls the player. He doesn't disrupt a lot of plays but I think he re-routes a lot of stuff just by getting in the way. He's probably 70-75% offensive 25-30% defense. Jaime isn't much of a defender over all but has his moments. I've seen him track back at a full sprint into his own box from the opponents box (remember the PK he was called for 2 seasons ago I think, that was after a long run back on d) but I've also seen a bunch of ole tackles from him. He puts some pressure on defenders when they have the ball. It's not the best part of his game, but it doesn't need to be. He's probably 85% attack 15% defense
This is one of the most common mistakes made in both education and player development. Instead of building on what a student or player does well, and then rounding them out by getting them decent at their weaknesses (or good enough at them so that their weaknesses don't stop their strengths from shining through) people obsess about what people don't do well, to the point of not providing opportunities to become great at what they do best. I'm not saying that is what is happening with Freddy at DC, but I do think that there are a lot of fans who make this mistake with Freddy. He is not going to be a genious at every single aspect of the game. He just needs to be good enough defensively, so that he can be on the field and his ability to create offensively can come through. The best example that I can come up with for DC fans is Marco Etcheverry. What made Marco great was not that he became a great defender - he didn't. What made him great was that he took responsibility offensively for making the plays that won games for us. That is the role that Freddy has to grow into. On a side note, Marco never complained about playing time because he was always on the field while he was with DC. Had he been benched, I think the display that we would have been treated to would have dwarfed anything we have seen by Freddy. This isn't to say that Freddy is as good as Marco, just that difference makers want to be on the field, making plays. That's what makes them difference makers. It is what they live for, it's what makes them great. It is important to understand this before writing off Freddy as a spoiled child that just doesn't want to do his work and become a better defender.
That's exactly what I said he should be doing. I said the kid should primarily work on his attacking skills, since he is an attacking player, and still an incomplete one. Since his right foot is poor, working on that is one of things that logically follows from my suggestion for him to improve his attacking skills. The great attacking players in this game have all been groomed to be -- um, attacking players. Again, Messi and Dos Santos and Baggio and Maradona as a kid were not asked to play wingback. They were put in the best possible conditions to perfect their attacking art. People around here seem to think that since Freddy's got such nice skill, he just needs to go and play wingback and learn defense. Well, my take is that his skill is fantastic, but it's not nearly good enough yet, and it has some glaring weaknesses (like the right foot), and these are precisely the things that the kid really needs to work on if he his to truly become a world class attacking player. My issue is not that Freddy doesn't need to work on his defense. He does, but as part of his larger attacking game. And from a purely developmental point of view, not DC's, the latter needs to be the focus. If it is not, then it is by definition being neglected, and by the time he is 19 or 20 he won't be the attacking talent that perhaps he could have been. Where's the great attacking American player? Yeah, our forwards and a-mids are fairly well-rounded, but as attackers they are still underdeveloped. They don't run at people nearly enough. Their attacking skills are limited when compared to the best in the world. I want a genius attacking for the USA, and Adu at this point still has the best shot of anyone of becoming that player. But not if he spends the next three years honing his "skills" as a wingback huffer at RFK. If that happens, then he'll have lost his prime developmental years and will simply become a good, possibly very good, well-rounded player. But not an attacking genius: to be that, you must work hard at it daily -- as any artist must. I don't care if you don't like my opinion, but to brush it off as "nonsense" does your argument no favor at all, nor does twisting the meaning of my post (first part, above).
No twisting intended. While I quite agree with most of your comments, my nonsense comment stands, with respect to the last paragraph of your previous post: "If Adu can't play in his best spots, and the only alternative is wingback, then yeah, he shouldn't play, unless it's an occasional thing and his role is tweaked somewhat."I think all parties will be better served with Freddy playing Left MF rather than Left Out. I don't get to follow the Euro game that much, but aren't there a few good attacking players over there that play outside mid at least some of the time? Giggs, Robben, Figo, Beckham, SWP, Joe Cole, etc. Other than your opinion that Freddy is better on the bench, than at wide mid, I'm right there with you. I don't believe that Freddy should be groomed to be the next Edgar Davids, but he does need to learn to be as effective a player as he can be, regardless of where the ball is. If he's on the field, he has a job and needs to be focused on doing that job to the best of his ability. To sum up, I thank we all agree that Freddy has great ball skills, quickness, and vision. These qualities make him pretty effective with the ball. His play without the ball is where he has the most room for improvement. If you watch his play over the last two years, you can see very significant improvement in his play without the ball. That has earned him more PT and a call up to the Sr Nats. Yes, it is attacking skills that are the engine to his success, but neglecting his play without the ball is like driving with the brakes on. Minutes at outside MF will better serve Freddy than minutes outside the touch line. Yes, Freddy needs to continue to hone his attacking skills, but the bench is not where that will happen. PS - Looking back at your comment, I must give you credit for qualifying the statement with, "unless it's an occasional thing and his role is tweaked somewhat." I expect Gomez and Moreno will play better with some time on the bench and that should keep Freddy's wing play occasional. I also trust that PN recognizes that Freddy on the outside is not the same as Gros, or our friend Frankie, and DCU will adjust its play to that reality. PPS - DCU is undefeated this year! Happy New Year!
1. But building on his strengths and what he does well is very much what Nowak has done. He's sought out what Adu does best and tried to feature him in those roles. He's sought to avoid using him in roles where he's weak. But Adu doesn't really care for that--he wants to play. 2. I don't think I (or some of the other DCU fans) want Adu to be a D-mid. But he has improved immensely--but still needs to do more. For instance, he used to be very easy to ride off the ball. He's better--but this is still a weakness. He used to have no credibility when he went over--he was perceived as diving continuously and then whining. Those aren't "defensive" skills but things critical to whether or not he's going to be a success as an attacker.
IMO people are pretending to know who Adu is. Adu doesn't know who Adu is. He could be a forward, an a-mid, or a wing. He could be Wright-Phillips, he could be Pele, who the h*ll knows. To jump to conclusions at this point and pigeonhole him into one spot is doing a disservice IMO. He hasn't a clue as to most of the complexities we talk about-with his mentality and age he just wants to get on the field and play (you know it from the frequent "I just love being out there" comments he makes). There are left a few precious years in which to work on Freddy's all-around game. He won't be asked to play a primarily defensive position; wing, forward, a-mid are all attacking positions. He HAS to learn to play some defense within the team framework. The only position where you don't play defense is at target forward, and nobody (to my knowledge) is suggesting he be a target forward (i.e. you expect him to get his head on a ball play physical and play for garbage shots???) And of course those that propose he works at a-mid is great, cept there's a guy named Gomez who's the stater there. And Moreno plays attacking forward. So how do you get him in the game? If you asked Freddy if he wanted to be on the bench or play wing, we all know what he'd say. That's not to say wing's completely open either if Dema comes back. We can all agree DC United has its work cut out this season to make this kid much better and focusing on the field. JMO
Joe, you need to get out of argument mode. I said in my post that I didn't think that Nowak was trying to turn him into a defensive player, but that some fans view his development too simplistically. In the the second part of your post, you appear to be supporting what I said. What is your point in relation to my post? Did you actually read my post, or are you just arguing? Is it possible that you quoted the wrong post? It is true that I don't agree with your view of how Nowak handled Freddy this past season, but that had nothing to do with my post. Are you going to be going back to that every time that I post from now on? If so, wouldn't PMing me be more considerate of others? There is nothing worse than a thread getting hyjacked because someone can't let something go. I am not saying that you are doing that right now, but there doesn't appear to be a constructive point in relation to my post.
I'm not trying to hijack the thread. And I wasn't arguing with you. And yes I read your post. You had pointed out (that among other things), younger players grew better if you focused on their strengths and built on their successes. I agree with that point and my post indicated that I thought that was what Nowak tended to do--put him in roles where he could succeed or focus on what he does best (and minimize his need to do things he does poorly). And then I cited some areas (outside of defense, ball-winning and areas that a few others have argued Adu shouldn't have to focus on because he's such an offensive talent) that he still needs a lot of work on. Hey--sometimes people quote another post not b/c they're arguing or disagreeing with it.
So which one of those players plays, or played, wingback? None. All are wide mids in a 442, 433 or 4231 type of set up. I'm sorry. That's just not the same as the outside guy in DCU's 352, which perfectly suits a Josh Gross or Hejduk type player but not a Giggs, Cole or Adu. Happy New Year!
Man, we need some photoshop experts to use that with the Brokeback Mountain poster. Maybe the same guy who did the "Grown Ass Man On Fire" one.