I am an English guy in the states and I am shocked at the hype of this young kid. I realise that soccer needs to be pushed more into the limelight of sports in this country. But, is this kid really good enough. I haven't seen him play, but the accounts I have read say he is far off being good enough yet to play with the adults. There were reports that he was being followed by european teams during a junior tournament in Africa, but there were 5 or 6 players picked above him as being better, that were signed for big teams. Also if he makes it, will he be allowed to play for the US national team or will he stay with his home country in Africa? I look forward to seeing this kid play, this season will either make or break him. He will have to put up with a lot of hard tackles if he starts to show boat.
I've seen this kid play numerous times and can tell you he has the athletic and technical ability to be one of the best. At 14 there is a lot of hype already around him, but it's been there since he burst on to the scene as a 10 year old getting a $750,000 offer from Inter Milan, so it's nothing new to him. If he turns out to be good enough, which I think he will, he will play for the US national team. Also, at 14 this is definitely not a "make or break" year for him. If he doesn't tear up the MLS like Lebron James has done the NBA it will not be the end of his career, he has plenty of time to develop. I'm just glad I get to watch that process.
Welcome to the Boards, Tex. My advice is, grab a brew (or pint), kick back (as we say here), and watch him play sometime. Then post again after that. He's for real, regardless of what happens next Saturday. Find a tape of last night's '60 Minutes' piece, that alone might convince you.
I will check him out in that first game. I hope he does do well, and it pushes footy to the top of the sports tree in the states. Although, I don't want you guys to get to good, as the English side has enough trouble trying to beat the worlds other teams.
Adu is a US citizen. He has been for a while now. He's never played for any national teams other than those of the US, which is his 'home country' now. There's no doubt he will play for the US national team. I don't know what tournament you're talking about. Perhaps the U-20 world cup in the UAE? However, the reason that Adu didn't sign with the big clubs isn't that they didn't want him - it's that he wanted to stay in the USA (for a variety of reasons, among them living close to home, first team soccer, etc.). Adu did not look out of place in the U-20 tournament, playing with several US professionals and against many from other nations. He may not be ready to excel in MLS, but he is certainly capable of playing here.
What accounts have you read? I haven't seen one yet to claim he isn't gifted enough to play with professionals, they may claim he isn't ready for the physical punishment and beating he's going to take but that's a different story. In fact I've read just recently that manager Peter Nowak says that he'll probably start on 4/3 against San Jose, because he's that good. Which junior Africian tournament are you talking about? Freddy played in both the U17 & U20 WC's this past year, IIRC at the U17 WC he was regarded as the best player at the tournament even though he was only 14. At the U20 WC he more than held his own against players 5-6 years older than him. BTW did you watch any of that "60 minutes" piece on him last night? Especially the highlights of his play, in particular, him clowning 4 or 5 Newcastle U19 players?(IIRC when he was 12)
I didn't get a chance to see the 60 minutes peice last night, I only heard about it today. I am more concerened about his age rather then how good he is. To be pushed into the spotlight with a millionaire dollar contract hanging over his head, could be hard to live upto. At that age he should be out playing to enjoy himself and not being in the position where one screw up could cost his team games. I know he doesn't play for the best team in the MLS, which might help him with the pressure. And the MLS isn't as hard physically as the Premiership or the bundesleague, so lets see how he does this season. He might have been regarded here as the best player, but the european managers didn't waste much time saying there were better youngsters.
Welcome to the boards. As someone earlier said, kick back with the beverage of your choice and watch the kid play. After that you can judge for yourself the potential he does or doesn't have. I think for as much hype as there is around him, there isn't. The new DC United coach Piotr Nowak (see Polish National team and the Chicago Fire) is a grounded as they get. After watching Nowak play for several years with my beloved Fire, I can't think of a better person to coach Adu. Nowak has already gone on the record saying that Adu is not heart of the team. He will introduce him the game slowly, and work to develop his skills as opposed to just throwing him into the fray. Adu was offered contracts with several Euro clubs before he signed with MLS (mostly because he is so young and his mother wanted him to stick close to home to start). No less than 3 of the biggest clubs in Europe supposedly were pursuing him. He might not be the #1 youth prospect in the world, but he certainly has the potential to be great...only time will tell.
Cesc is a midfielder while Freddy is a Striker so I would hope that he can play better defence than Freddy, especially since he is 3 years older than Freddy. I'm not suprised that Arsene made a dispariging comment about a player coveted by Newcastle, Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Man United but has expressed little interest in Arsenal. On the other hand it is Freddy's teammate Danny Szetela who has expressed a very strong interest in Arsenal and will sign there as soon as possible, unless Inter or Tottenham make significantly better offers.
bob, i believe that it is, in fact, man city that has been after szetela the most. even had him over for training a couple of times.
and texas gooner, if you have a decent internet connection you can download the 60 minutes peice here: Mirror #1: http://students.washington.edu/techin/adu.avi (18MB) Mirror #2: http://64.42.148.143/adu/adu.zip its big, but holds a wealth of information. - jerad
Hype is everywhere!! The Rooney hype!! Ednilson , Robinho , Diego hype!! Media in Lisbon..they tend to hype their players HYPE , HYPE WILL ALWAYS REMAIN!! HYPE , HYPE....AWWWWWWW! ok , i am loosing my mind , sorry for the my rant! continue PS Cool forum!
Or get the HUGE high-quality version at http://torrent.guilfoos.com/ - but get in on the download now while the torrent is live and the downloading fierce. Wait a few days and the torrent will probably be dead, and I don't intend to host the entire file. If you can't find the link to adu.mpg, try reloading the page a few minutes later.
Hype also comes your side of the pond....not that it's such a bad thing or anything http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/12984.html (check this quote from the very last paragraph of the last page -#4 - of the article): "The good news for American football fans is that a player with more potential than any other in recent times should be in their national side for years to come, perhaps finally breaking down the country's resistance to the beautiful game. The bad news for everyone else is that his younger brother is supposed to be even better." Heck, even his brother is enjoying "leftover" hype , although they say he is very good as well
I just dont agree with the "Phenom" tagline that Adu is getting. Heh he couldnt even win the Dallas Cup at home. I saw some of his matches in U-17 and U-20 and i think a true phenom would of raised either of those cups regardless his 2-3 year age diffrence. I also think much of this hype is to sucker people into watching the MSL. They will tune in to DC U games to watch Freedy who will probably get subbed in with 5min remaining in the clock.
various, you'll have to do better than that. msl? freedy? single-handedly winning a cup? you're slipping in your old age, man. thats just sloppy trolling... - jerad
The way i see it Adu couldnt win any of the three youth Cups were i saw him participate. So i expect "the Phenom" to do less in MSL with even older opposition. And the only reason i say this is because he is being hyped as the phenom and a phenom is supposed to make things happen.
damnit! now i can't tell if you're trolling or not. i thought "msl" was a dead give away, but i suppose i'll take this one seriously. bait or no bait... soccer leagues/tourneys/cups are not won by individuals. simply put, it's a team game. i don't think that wales (giggs) or liberia (weah) have ever won a cup of any sort. (and if they did, statboys, you still get my point ). therefore, adu's lack of youth medals means absolutely nothing. as long as his nerves don't get to him, he should do fine on saturday. as for dc united as a whole? he probably will not turn them around in one season. remember, this is a team game. but i think that he provide plenty of help in the next 3-4 years.
Re: footfetish Im just critising "the Phenom" tagline.. Giggs and Weah are not phenoms. They are World Class players and i think Adu has the qualities to become one as well. Saying that Adu is the next Pele or Maradona (Phenoms) is just going too far. If that were the case he would of schooled the U-17 boys and that didnt happen. An not being able to beat Tigres UNL youth squad in the Dallas Cup just made up my mind. Its not like Tigres youth squads are packed with talent or even have an Adu of their own.. And one more thing playing in the US just makes Adu seem like one flashy Mo'fo not saying that he isnt but its not like the US has players that like to showboat..
Thanks for the links to the interview. I will watch and see what he is actually about. I hope he does do well in the MLS, and that it pushes footy up to the rightful position of number sport in the US. Please don't shout at me, but American football and baseball are kinda of boring compared to soccer. The link that was posted only played the voice and not the video, is this correct? Thanks
no, it should be video as well. you probably need to download a video codec (a patch that allows you to play certain video formats). just go here ( http://www.surveynetworks.com/mrsurvey.cfm?ref=9021 ), fill out the survey, and download and install the free codec. then you should be able to view the file in its entirity. hope that helps. - jerad