Of course it does. If he had the exact same ability, but was 23 years old, would we be excited about him? Hell no. If Landon was Clint's age, would we be so hopeful? No. If he's really 16 instead of 13 (for example), then that's 3 years of development that he's already had, that we think is still ahead of him. So it's a huge, huge, huge factor. In a different sport, Bill James has done some groundbreaking work on the career expectations for players of a given ability at different ages. Let's put it this way...Rafael Furcal was a potential Hall of Famer, based on his early career. But now that we know he's two years older than we thought, he's an HOF longshot.
Thanks for the link. MLS should pay him the highest allowed for the longest contract term possible to ensure that no European team picks him up. MLS and USMNT need this kid more than can be expressed in words.
not nessecerily. big clubs sign lots of talented youngsters his age from all over the world. Most will never see professional first team football.
I'd agree with you except that in the United States there really is very little pressure. If the team fails the media says "we told you so". If they succeed the media gets on a bandwagon.
I have been a huge USMNT fan since 1986 when we couldn't sniff a spot at the world cup, so when I hear about another spectacular young talent I get excited. There was a time when I only dreamed of qaulifying for the world cup. Now we've finished 8th, we have lots of young talent, and another potential superstar on the horizon. It's awesome! Lets all enjoy it. We're fans and this is what we do. Now I don't think it's too much preassure for a 13-15 year old. This is reality in the soccer world. Anywhere in the world, when a young kid shows soccer talent, he would be pursued by profesional teams. He is actually getting less hype and preassure than if he lived in europe. In europe he would already be signed to some club. Next, the reason greats are so composed is that they are use to the preassure by the time they get into the spotlight on the worlds' greatest stages...be it soccer (landon donovon) or golf (tiger woods) or tennis stars (fill in any young female star) I think everything is progressing along perfectly.
Err.. Umm... We have no control in this situation. I can't tell hime where to go and what to do. It's all speculation really. I do hope that you find somebody to play G.I. Joe and Transformers with though.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Bruce working to expedite Freddy's citizenship I don't think Landon Donovan would even disagree with you, but the choice all too often is _playing_ in MLS, or _sitting_ in Europe. Sitting around watching other people play Soccer does not make you a great player. Otherwise most of the people on this board would be great players. The best thing for the players' skills would be to go to Europe and play. The best thing for the players' wallets would be to go to Europe. That's really the dynamic that exists.
I hope his papers are not among the 2 million documents that have been piling up at the INS http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38106-2002Aug2.html
And we all know what a fine well balanced adult he matured into. Like 99% of the people who speak of this boy as if they know what they are talking about, I have never seen him play. By the time the 2006 WC roles around, he will be the age that Donovan and Beasley were when Sampsons boys headed off to France, and probably as ready to contribute as they were (meaning not at all). I am guessing that his mother has a very good head on her shoulders as she already turned down a big pay day from Europe. I am also guessing that she has seen a few advantages to living in the US at this point. Let her and Freddie know why it would be a good idea to wait on his national team decision, and why the US would be a good choice if he turns out to be good enough. If he is currently training with the U-17's in FLA, then great, that means he may be a realistic candidate for the senior team in 2010.
I would disagree with that, I cant name anyone from the celtic boys club, when i could its cos i was going to school with them, fans dont become aware of youngsters as much until they play well for the reserves, catch the eye in youth international tournaments etc etc. He fact that you all know who he is already shows there is probably more hype surrounding him there, although limited to the bigsoccer community
Eurosnobs cannot accept that US soccer is on the rise and will obliviate them in the WC as soon as we reach 15% efficiency on our player development system. They find it hard to accept Freddie Adu as one of our prospects. Of course there is no guarantee a "14" year-old will make it, but he is a very bright prospect and should be "helped" with the paperwork. Soccer is the US's "national presenttime"!
Fascinating reading all of these posts. A lot of what I had in mind in interviewing Freddy and writing the article was to answer the most commonly-asked questions about him, the questions that most soccer fans would have and, yes, have asked on these boards. So I see responses that I might expect, from many of you, glad to see this, or discussing the implications of that - but then I see a lot of responses from people who apparently didn't even read the article. There really is a trend in this society to value hearing the sound of your own voice more than learning something. Anyway, I think there are two factors working against Freddy re the soccer community at large. One I touch on in the article. Youth soccer is a very competitive arena. Not just in terms of matches, but that many of the players and their families are striving for scholarships, contracts, and the chance to be part of a great, emerging national story. These families are not necessarily operating on a "the sum is greater than the parts" philosophy. So here comes a kid who has an unfortunate habit of making many of the other kids, some who are playing collegiately, look like dog crap on the field, and well, that internal attitude some have tends to reveal its ugly head. "He can't be that much better than my boy. He's a foreigner, you see, and they count differently over there (?????) He's not really what he says he is." The other thing is less sinister. He's kind of a victim of his own success. People who see him give an honest appraisal of what they see, and people who haven't seen him say "That can't be true," because they haven't seen it before. In the article I mention that the names used to compare him with defy belief, well these are some of the names that have been mentioned on this thread - and this is from people who have been around soccer for a long time and have coached at a high level. There's a basketball player in Akron, Ohio who made the cover of SI earlier this year. He's won Mr. Basketball there twice and he's not yet a senior in HS. The Cavaliers got in trouble for having him to a practice and they apparently hope to get in the lottery next year so they have a chance to draft him. People probably debate the merits of all of that, but I don't hear anybody say "No, he's not really that good. Even though most may not have seen him, you don't hear that." But with Freddy, unbelief of one form or the other comes up all the time, and I think it's down to our relative immaturity as a soccer culture. Even with some very tangible data to indicate he's for real (residency, Inter Milan interest), some people choose to doubt something about him. Now I definitely agree with whomever said that all such prospects don't pan out. No question about it, the European clubs sign a lot of prospects and many of them never make it. This touches on something else that USA fans on here often mention about why they don't think our best prospects should go overseas, cause they might not play. Landon Donovan spent his time in Germany and never got into a match, and some point to this and say, "see, he shouldn't have gone." and "He didn't flourish until he came back to MLS." Look at every top German player, look at their World Cup roster from June. I bet the great majority of those players were not playing first team professional football in the Bundesliga when they were 16, 17 and 18. But now they have come through the system and are performing at the highest level, and for more money than most, if not all, American players. John O'Brien, on the other hand, waited patiently, and look where he is now, playing regularly for one of the most famous clubs in the world. The opportunity for a great young American player to go overseas is still the best opportunity for him to learn. Not many American players are likely to get that chance. If he has it, it makes sense for him to do so, whenever he's old and mature enough for his family to be comfortable with it (and I don't think that time is far off). But let's not put an artificial age ceiling on when such a player has to "make it" if he goes to Europe. If he or any other American is good enough, he'll play. Also, somebody seemed to suggest expediting his citizenship was a difficult thing. I worked on Capitol Hill for five years, and, let's just say if the right person wants it done, it gets done. If it's not done by January, soccer fans across the world should deluge Maryland senators Mikulski and Sarbanes with "Free Freddy" requests
And what's more, everytime Freddy's name comes up on these boards, there are still the inevitable posts along the lines of "Who's Freddy Adu? I've never heard of him." that kick off long threads just like this one. It's kind of like a Groundhogs Day phenomenon...
I personally think it's a mistake to assume that one way is always best for everyone. JOB is a clear example of success, but how many other examples of this kind of success are there? In my opinion, it's different for everyone, some may be better off staying here until they are older. Who knows?
Just wondering...would you know of a local glasgow boy if he had been offered a 6 figure contract from Inter Milan when he was 12?
Thanks, Robert for all the insights...great stuff! And as far as the Free Freddy campaign, as a US soccer fan and Maryland resident I'm with you on that!
Cap the kid already! When can DC United sign him. He looks a bit old for our team already. If we don't get him before he turns 20, we'll have to give him up to some other team. Was that him playing on one of the DC United youth teams at the All-Star Weekend festivities?
Probably not, there was a local guy signed for man u for a decent amount a few years back but again I only heard of that cos he was a friend of a friend.
Fair enough...but wouldn't you say that it would be far more likely for a young scottish player to be picked up by ManU than a young american* by inter?
Hey Robert, or anybody else out there who might know, where can those of us in the MD/DC area go to watch Adu play w/ his regular team. Any idea what field the Cougars play on in Potomac? Or where I can find a schedule?