I think its hard for a new generation of fans to realize how different last night was to that day 20 years ago when Adu made his debut. Freddy was tagged as the "Mesiah" and Saviour of US soccer. I wish I could find the image from a magazine that showed Freddy in a manger as baby Jesus surrounded by the leading figures of US soccer of the day. It was amazing. The attention and pressure on that kid was astonishing. There was no such thing as the academy system. There was no such thing as a reserve or MLSNP team. They just threw him right onto the field for an MLS game. Last night, for the most part, was just a young player naturally coming into the midseason, mid-week game. A couple of tweets isn't "hype." He came on and played. Nothing more, nothing less.
While I agree with you and others that the look of all this excessive hoopla piled on the kid through MLS is far from ideal, I do caution against what I see as the pendulum swinging too far the other way against MLS. Let's be honest here -- the biggest ego produced in the US in recent times is Gio Reyna. This was obvious from back in his U-17 cycle. And he was in Europe at 16, without playing a minute in MLS. It is not as simple as believing that moving out of MLS as fast as possible makes all things right with the world. There is a balance to be struck no matter where one plays.
How do you know this? This only thing I've seen from Cavan is him saying it was cool Freddy Adu congratulated him. If he's going to be as good as he and everyone else wants him to be, he's going to have to handle all this. He will or he won't, and regardless of a few tweets from the Union (or far more likely influence from USMNT fanbase), the people around him are going to have to help remind me that he has a long way to go. Christian was hyped as hell; he clearly turned out without much of an ego for a pro athlete. Much of this has to do with people close to the person and of course the person themselves. And the kid isn't stupid, I assume. He's in first team training. If El Brujo is knocking him on his ass, I'm not sure he's thinking he's super hot stuff. And if he's roasting everyone in training to the point he can ... then he actually is that good.
Is the "hoopla" really all that excessive, though?? Cavan Sullivan is a really good prospect. There's no evidence whatsoever that the limited attention about his debut is "going to his head." What I walked away from that game thinking was "Why doesn't Quinn Sullivan start more!!!!!!!??" Cuz his brother is awfully good, too.
I don't think it's ideal but I think the Adu comps are pretty ridiculous (that some have made). He hasn't had 1/20th the hype machine around him that Adu had 20 years ago. The only people clued in to this guy until this spring were prospect watchers, he was not a name regular soccer fans knew, nor just sports fans. Adu was everywhere in the media and promotion set up in '04. That's just not remotely so in '24 for Cavan. People (me, someone whose known about him for what, 2.5 years or whatever don't know how to pronounce his name. It just isn't the same as that at all. Is it being a bit overdone? Maybe. Not really sure. He had a strong debut for their backup team/whatever it is. Goals in back to back starts. Also worth noting that he turns 15 in two months, so he's gonna turn '16 just two months into the '25-'26 club season, not far away. I believe he will be moving to Europe somewhere between winter '25-'26, and summer '26.
People keep forgetting that he isn't a newly minted 14 year old. He turns 15 in summer. He'll be 16 at the start of the Euro club season after this one that's about to start, very soon. I remain convinced he'll be leaving that winter, or the summer of the WC.
Seriously, I was pronouncing his name wrong this whole time apparently. It seems like its pronounced like Gavin with a C. This is a player that's been on the radar in the youth forums for a long time as he was crushing it in the academy and USYNT set up. And really, the fact that he comes from such a soccer family also helped in terms of visibility. But he's not in the general sports media. In 2004 if you asked general sports fans (not soccer diehards) to name an American soccer player, Freddy Adu would have gotten a lot of hits. He was a general pop culture figure. Until Beckham arrived in 2007...................... The "is he the next Lamine Yamal?" or "will he make the WC26 squad?" questions are overdone and premature. But that's us fans, and not Cavin, his family or the Union. They're not saying that at all. I mean, the kid has already been sold to Man City. Why did that happen already? Because he's effing good!!!!!
A few months ago, he wore adidas-Gucci cleats or something, and yesterday he wore custom “mls debut” cleats. He also does a lot of elaborate celebrations, the hair die (which he is doing every few days with how short his hair is). There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of that stuff, and in many ways it’s helpful for high level athletes to be successful, but it’s also something that coaches/parents need to be careful in managing. Everyone is quick to say “Philly is doing everything well and has a good plan”. And while I don’t think they’re lacking in plans or doing anything horribly wrong, I see little things I disagree with and no real evidence to support the claim that they’re doing everything so well. For example, it seems pretty obvious that this was planned to beat the Adu record. It aligned with philly’s needs in some ways, but they clearly planned to play him regardless of the game’s circumstances, and I don’t think that fits into the whole “they have a plan, this isn’t a pr stunt” narrative.
1000% some don't remember, some weren't paying attention, and some weren't there or watching because they focus on the senior team exclusively. Adu started getting hyped a year earlier in '03, maybe earlier than that, but my memory is the stories started circulating in the winter of '02-'03 after the glow of the '02 WC continued to hover over the team. That summer he had his tournament debut with the U17's against South Korea and had a freaking hat trick (nice goals too), and followed it by scoring in the next match too....after that the pace cooled down considerably as he was shut out by Spain in the group finale and against Brazil in the R16's but a few months later he was promoted to the U20's as a 14 year old, and he had what should have been the game winning assist in the QF's against Argentina (we gave up the equalizer on literally the last kick of the game and lost in extra time because of course we did) and he did all the work there, it was a beautiful play, and imagine the hype if the team hadn't suffered a colossal choke in the closing seconds of injury time then....Adu, at 14, beats Argentina in U20 WC Quarterfinals? Good lord....alas, we choked. Anyway, there's a reason the hype machine went the way it did back then, he just couldn't sustain it in club form, he had one more superlative tournament, the 2007 U20's where he was again quite spectacular, and then that was a wrap.... But anyway, circa '03-'04, I'd argue the Adu hype was probably 15-25x as HUGE as the Cavan hype is now. It isn't remotely comparable. Not close. The good news is he's moving to Europe at some point in the next 18-24 months, and whatever stupidity Philly wants to indulge (and considering their handling of the Aaronson's and plenty of other prospects, I don't think they're stupid with this) will end at that point. I'm curious what happens with the U17's, I imagine he will be going that route this cycle...digging in I found something rather shocking if off topic. Did anybody else notice that Qatar won hosting rights for the U17 WC for the next decade? 5 straight tournaments in Qatar?!?! Utterly bizarre. Sounds like they decided to do that to utilize the bags of money Qatar might continue to hand over after wasting a ton of money building that infrastructure that will otherwise be wasted, who knows. But anyway, the next 5 U17 WC's gifted to Qatar, for, erm, reasons..... Anyway, I want to see Cavan in this, because it's important to note, for all the failed development with Adu, and all the talent that's come through in the intervening 21 years, only Sargent has reached the levels Adu reached that year (Sargent had 4 goals playing up a cycle with the U20's 7 summers ago, and then added 3 more at the U17 WC in the fall of the next year....That's why his signature was being pursued by the best clubs in the world circa 2017).
Kids are obsessed with shoes. I'm not at all surprised that he wanted some sweet, unique cleats, it goes with the territory. I see kids rolling out with sweet, bright as hell, flamboyant cleats in my kids U8 games this past fall and spring. It's not what you think it is. He could still be an egomaniac, who knows, but fancy cleats and doing weird ---- with your hair is A: what all kids do, and B: what a ton of young players do (consider Donovan's hideous bleach job in 2000 a year after his U17 debut).
By age of 14 Freddy was out of 3 years long relationship. https://www.whosdatedwho.com/dating/freddy-adu-and-keisha-buchanan Hopefully Cavan not such a miraculous stud.
Yep, I've spent the last few years calling him "Cave-In" (as in unfrozen cave man lawyer "cave"). As for where things go from here, as mentioned earlier in this thread. What he does will determine if he's WC relevant in '26, it will be quite obvious, because he will have to be beyond ridiculous to earn a ticket and he's basically got 1 full MLS season and/or 1 to 1/2 of a season in Europe to earn it. I've bounced back and forth between thinking theres a 5-10% chance, to a 1-3% chance to 3-5% chance. I think I'm at 3% because I think the WC is just coming too soon for it to happen. If we and the womens wc were switched and it was in '27, then I think it could easily be possible, but he's got basically 2 Euro Seasons (1 of which he's guaranteed not to play in) before the WC....to earn that ticket he will have to annihilate MLS as a 15/16 year old and/or do that earn a trip to Europe and then start playing like Reyna was playing with Dortmund in '19-'20, but is he gonna do that in the next 23 months? I can't see it. Just not enough time, but it is possible, if he can step on the field 8 weeks or so before his 15th birthday and look just fine? You gotta consider it possible...but man oh man does a lot have to happen in just two complete European season equivalents and that's not a lot of time. I suspect he starts playing with the nats at some point in the fall of '26 to Gold Cup '27, but he could prove me wrong and I hope he does. Right now, honestly, people should be keeping an eye on guys like Berchimas, and Keyrol Figueroa who begin their U20 WC qualifying campaign tomorrow. Those guys were absolute monsters for the U17's, the best attacking players on that team since the days of Reyna/Pepi/Sargent 5 and 7 years ago, and Keyrol's early hype is higher than them, and Berchimas laid down a marker at the U17 WC with 3 goals in 4 matches and lets bare in mind, both of them are playing up cycles, Keyrol could have been in an U17 WC in 2024, and Berchimas could be on one in '25, or at least I think so. If people want to wonder who could knock down WC '26 doors, its more Keyrol and to a lesser extent, Berchimas, those guys will be 19 (Keyrol), and 18 (Berchimas) during that WC. Keyrol is in a huge club year for Liverpool if he can stay healthy for '24-'25, while Berchimas is breaking through now at the senior level for Charlotte in MLS at age 16. Keep more of an eye on them as they are definitively closer to break through's than Cavan for now, and both are quite interesting prospects.
I both see what you are saying and also really don't think it is all that indicative of all that much. The hair and the cleats are crap that a lot of kids his age care about -- my nephew is far worse at baseball and just got a custom glove and he spent weeks thinking about what to get printed on it. So yes, there's some flash, but I think a certain level of ego is okay and perhaps even helpful in terms of staying assertive on the field. Far more important is whether his work ethic, his relationships with his teammates or his willingness to be coached are affected. Every story I've heard there is positive. I've seen a lot less of the prima donna stuff than we saw from Reyna at the same age. And frankly, playing with grown adults will naturally mitigate some of that. It will be good to get a little smacked down as long as he's confident enough not to alter his game too much. Oh, it was a bit of a PR stunt. But I also don't think Curtain was lying about him deserving it in the context of the full depth chart. He is better than a lot of guys, just smaller. And this was the perfect type of game to debut him. The reality is that none of us know the full situation. But what I do know is that a few tweets or an early debut is not the deciding factor here. Christian was hyped and has relatively no ego. Reyna was hyped less but it's clear Mom and Dad have an enabling angle and there's concerns there. His family situation, his coaches, his personal character. I think what frustrates a lot of people is the comparison to Adu. He's not nearly as hyped as Adu. The League isn't in the same place as Adu, either -- he's more likely to get those rough lessons that tell him he needs to keep working. I think the support structure he has is probably better, if only because it's so intertwined with the professional side of the sport AND we're all more aware of the gap to top flight soccer. And also, people aren't programs. Adu contributed to his own downfall. It was not inevitable because of hype -- LeBron James was fellatio'd from age 12 and he's incredibly hard working. As much as you rightly question the idea that Philly's plan is perfect, I think you're putting WAY too much focus on the effects of a small amount of hype and a cameo debut that is fairly common and not enough on the actual drivers like his personality and his support network. Which are all true unknowns to use but the general scuttlebutt is positive. We are all contributing as well -- frankly, we are probably spending too much time on Cavan relative to outcomes and not enough on other folks. But Berchimas is a year older and debuted at the beginning of the season -- was that too fast?
As far as where things go from here, it just comes down to performance. Performance has dictated his elevation to this point, and it'll determine the next step. Frankly, he hasn't even been with the US U17s yet. The first real sense we get that a player might be special for the national team is with that program. Donovan, Pulisic, etc. You can tell. There are a lot of older teenage prospects that might really break out first. The one I mentioned in the youth forum is Cole Campbell of Dortmund. But seriously, we have enough wingers/attacking midfielders to fill out more than two U23 Olympic rosters. Diego Luna can't even get into our U23 team. So Cavan would have to leap over a lot of players to make a senior USMNT roster. If his performance level warrants it, should we be open to it? Of course.
This is a downright pathetic thing to say on the internet about a teenager that you don't know. If professional sports fandom makes you analyze the personal styling choices of a 14-year old, maybe get into backgammon instead or something.
Kids do these things for their social media. It's going to be OK. This reminds of accusations of Beasley flashing 'gang signs' during his days at PSV. LOL. Sheeesh.
Also..... folks might want to actually LISTEN to the first 4-5 minutes of Jim Curtin's post game presser last night as well.
Humility is good. Realistic elf-awareness and an understanding of one's weaknesses is good. But anything that destroys a player's confidence--especially a young player's confidence--is a career killer. Confidence is largely what drives a player. A big part of what we call "talent" is really a player's ability to play with confidence (at any level of competition). Cavan has to continue to build his confidence, even as he now jumps through higher hoops in the adult, first-division game.