That's some really good perspective. So Calvo moves from Barcelona B to Aris at age 20, mostly sits on the bench for a season, gets up to starting almost half the games his second season, and is a key player in his third. He turns 23 this month. Freddy moves from Belenenses to Aris at age 20, plays in five games early on, gets 3 DNPs and people are saying he should move or he has a fatal flaw, including a terrible attitude. He must have one, right? (<sarcasm)I wonder if they said the same about Calvo?
you know what the joke is? that you sound like cuckold wives... Adu will be in the team for the next year too... The coach wants him in the team and believes in his ability... We are trying to point out that patience is a virtue... Especially when we talk about Cuper who is an old fox... HE KNOWS how to make him a better player... Patience is a virtue...
That's cool. I didn't mean to call to you out. I'm just not feeling this sudden shift in opinion from you guys (and seemingly your coach.)
You're completely missing my point. Anyways, I do have patience with Adu and I'm still a big fan of Aris.
I'd like to add that Wednesday's game is a critical one, since the whole team is tired and from your point of view it's logical to use Adu, but if he doesn't play in that game too, then it just means that he is not ready (not only in terms of fitness). But there is no need to make long term assumptions, this is a 18 month loan deal, we'll know if he has to play some part on this time by the end of summer.
Welcome to a normal freddy adu thread. The second he stops getting minutes people start getting flashbacks and freak out thinking 'what a mistake it was to go to Aris', or 'what could he have done to not play again?'. Its just a big freak out, with no justification. People are impatient with Adu because they think he has so much talent, that he should be playing more, and if he is not, its because he has done something, or the coach hates him or something else. You guys have to be patient, Adu is having an issue right now with playing time because the guys ahead of him have age and much more years as seasoned veterans overh im. Meriem has been called up to the french NT, has played at many good clubs, and is 30. He played pretty well today, setting up Campora and same goes with Javito who has been at Aris and has the respect of the fans and coach. Adu is going to have to be patient, and make the best out of the minutes he'll surely get. HE was starting and was seen as the best option outwide left until meriem came in. He just needs to keep it up, and everyone needs to be patient, and not ready to jump off a bridge at the first sign of adu not getting playing time.
A freak out with no justification???? He'll be 37 with 18 professional starts in europe under his belt and people like you will be saying "people are impatient". If you think it's ok that he's almost 21, supposedly America's best, and has failed to catch on at Benfica, Monaco, Belenenses and now a decent team in a league that is most definitely not top 10 in the world, then we have to agree to disagree. Every year his career spirals down another wrung, and he fails to catch on at a still lower level team, is another step down he is on the ladder. As always, I say that sure, he's not quite 21 and he has a chance to recoup his career. But it is undeniable that his career is going in the wrong direction, badly.
I wonder if Adu has bought into this? I thought that he moved to Aris with the understanding that there was a spot at LW waiting for him. Now, all of a sudden, he's dropped to 3rd in the pecking order (at one spot) and off the roster in every other spot. Rationally, I'm sure the Freddy understands that each team wants to get the best players they can find....but in his case, there have been several teams (and coaches) who have seemed to want him, said all sorts of nice things to get him, and then once he was there, shunted him off into a corner like an unwanted shoe. One of the posts previous to this said that another player came at age 20, sat on the bench for a year, played a little bit the year after that, and now was doing well at age 23. I didn't get the impression that that was the schedule that Adu wants to be on, or (more importantly) the schedule that he thought he was going to be on when he signed up at Aris.
That's not really the point. We aren't debating Adu's entire career here. I'd say the point is it's way too early to say Adu has "failed to catch on" at Aris.
Calvo moves from Barcelona B to Aris at age 20, mostly sits on the bench for a season, gets up to starting almost half the games his second season, and is a key player in his third. He turns 23 this month. Wouldn't be surprised that if he wants it, he has La Liga in his future. Freddy moves from horrible Belenenses to Aris (a step up) at age 20, plays in five games early on, gets 3 DNPs and people are saying he should move or he has a fatal flaw, or "his career is going in the wrong direction, badly."
Read what i wrote, there is a reason why some players are higher up on the totem(spo) pole compared to him. He just has to keep at it, to beat Meriem and Javito as far as off the bench goes. Be patient. Cuper knows whats good, he brought him to the club, and will use him when needed.
Thanks. Yes, it's clear to see that Calvo's better. And it's also clear that coaches around the world often favor safe, steady veterans over talented youngsters - even if it's sitting a talent like Calvo. Hopefully Freddy can earn Cuper's trust like Calvo eventually did. But I sure hope it doesn't take 2 years! I also hope Freddy's not locked in a position where it may be difficult to give Cuper what he wants (if what Cuper wants is a guy who can run very fast with the ball and run all day on defense too, as opposed to a guy who can create off the dribble, score, and offer through balls for strikers). It may never happen, but I'd still like to see him played as a right mid who pinches in. That goal Calvo scored last week is very similar to what I see Freddy doing; Calvo on the left and Freddy on the right might be dynamite.
So we've been told a thousand times. And that is the order from down on high. Doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of the readers of the forum read it to follow the Yanks who have some relevance for the National Team. You only need to see the number of people who follow Friedel vs. Howard threads to recognize that. Or watch how the interest in a "Yank" almost disappears when he's no longer eligible for the U.S. National Team: Exhibit A: Rossi, Exhibit B: Subotic. Or take the reverse: Jermaine Jones. It takes a pretty huge level of denial not to recognize that's what the readers are interested in. You know... the readers? The people adding page views for those ad revenues?
Yep. That Toni Calvo. I mean it should give you a peek into what freddy is in store if he is patient. I mean as far as we know, he could become a huge hit in a little bit. Fact is he still has tons of time to prove himself. The player that was mentioned before, Calvo, went from a freddy like experience, to being one of not the best player on Aris right now, midfield wise. Without him they are nothing. He could have easily left i am sure after not getting much playing time in the beginning, and gone back to spain, but now look at him. A lesson needs to be learned from that. I wish Adu would have games like Calvo. He really is a great player! What is DNP? And yea, Calvo will surely be sold sometime sooner or later to a decnt club back in spain.
I think you missed my point. I wasn't in awe of Calvo's career, though maybe it will turn out to be wonderful. I'm pointing out that when Freddy signed for Aris, all we heard was about how there was an immediate spot waiting for him so that he could get that playing time that he wanted/needed. So now he's at Aris....lo and behold, they went out and got another left winger at the same time they were signing Freddy, and maybe that slot wasn't quite as open as originally advertised. If Freddy wanted to wait for playing time at Aris, maybe he should start working for that CAM spot -- the spot he's really suited for. Wasn't it you who explained how Freddy was never going to get the trust of the coach to be put in that position until he got experience, and how playing LW was a great stepping stone to that ultimate goal? Anyway, I'm just wondering how Freddy feels about this.
The Calvo career trajectory is a reasonable one for Adu to emulate. I don't think it is reasonable to expect a 20 yr old Adu to be ready to feature in matches of the importance and intensity like today's.
How old do you have to be, do you think? Anyway, apparently Aris has a whole bunch of important games coming up. Not good for seeing much more of him this year, I suspect.
You're right, from not playing at Benfica, to not playing at Monaco, to not playing at Belenenses to playing a few games at Aris and then failing to apparently impress sufficiently to hold on to a spot. If that's not the wrong direction, please tell me what in your opinion is the wrong direction? And as lynne pointed out, hasn't everything he's done since Benfica been to get first team playing time? I mean, wasn't that the point of the loans? Otherwise, why loan? He's probably better off in Benfica reserves than sitting on the bench at these other teams. And no doubt Toni Calvo is a good player (from what I read). But we're talking about Freddy Adu, the great, the wondrous Freddy Adu who set youth tournaments on fire, played pro at 14 and was widely reported as the greatest soccer talent ever produced in this country (and that view was supported by many on here)... and now we're hoping against hope that he will be the next Toni Calvo? OK.
Patience is a commodity we don't have right now, the world cup is about 90 days away and some of us want Freddy on the US squad. He can't get there if he doesn't shine for Aris. No play, no shine.
For us (Aris fans) is obvious that mr. Cooper believes in Freddy's and EJ ability, But, today was a local DERBY compared with many derbies worldwide. Camel Meriem "has eaten the derbies with spoon" (as we say in Greek) which means that had played many many derbies. Mr. Cooper chose to use him than Freddy. It was mr. Cooper who chose Freddy to be a starter against AEK in OAKA three matches ago. I try to understand why you are so unhappy because Freddy didn't play today. I don't think that Aris' occasion is same as former occasions. We believe in him Bolivianfuego understands why a crucial part of his national team (Nacho Garcia) isn't a starter. Prittas (not Frittas) and Nafti are better than him.
Depends on the player. A 20 yr old like Altidore is one thing, a 20 yr old finesse player like Adu is another.
I hope Grant Wahl enjoyed Freddy's play today! Should be a great article in Sports Illustrated. Wonder if he'll "roll the dice" and stay in Greece through Wednesday. Seriously, Aris has a bunch of games coming up. If Freddy can't get in any of them, you are allowed to panic. If he plays on Wednesday, you all need to chill. It is slightly weird that he gets benched after one bad half as a starter (the EXACT same thing happened in October/Nov. at Belenonsense) but Adu fans shouldn't panic until Aris is losing every game like Bele, scoring one goal every two games like Bele, AND he's not getting playing time. The local Aris fans on here won a great victory today, so we should be happy for them and not spoil their good mood.