I don't think he is 15. He should have grown a lot in the last 2 years. He has not grown much, it at all.
I think all this "growing" talk is dumb. Everyone grows at different rates. for example: my brother was 5'8" 150 when he left for college 4 years later he as an all-american in football, was only 5'9" but 190 lbs of pure muscle which he got in his first year there. he is still 5'9" at age 26 me on the other hand, in 9th grade i was about 5'4" 115lbs now im still only about 5'6 1/2" 150lbs and im in my fresman year of college, it just helped me that im SUPER FAST!! (i had to gloat a sec) so all this growing talk doesnt mean jack, Hall of Famer to be David Robinson grew i think 8 inches in college and i go to school with a guy that was 5'6" in 1st grade and now he is only 5'9" so maybe hes an early bloomer
Would it be in poor taste to make a Balco reference here? You can't legitimately put on 40 pounds of muscle in one year. The body doesn't work like that. OK, maybe you can if you start from a low base, a non-athlete. But that's not your brother.
i looked at what i typed and i guess i worded that incorrectly, he got redshirted his freshman year, i meant his first year of playing, so that would be 2 years and NO theres no balco or garbage like that, thats dumb that u even said that, some people build muscle fast, in his case really fast, i mean thats waht they teach you at a prestigous football college
OK, *that* can certainly happen. That's good muscle growth, but frankly, nothing you wouldn't almost expect for a kid getting high level training and nutritional advice, if the kid is highly dedicated.
First things first....Adu need to change his attitude toward USA soccer..... come on guys the kid have a bad attitude! and he is not really that good either, We really hope to have MLS open more slots for superkids in the future and get rid of that FOREIGN SMELL that many americans do not really like.....
Correct. That is my argument. Correct again. I don't understand all these fervent, fire-breathing Freddy fans who insist that Freddy Adu will grow some more. I sure as hell don't recall Everton fans sitting around talking about Wayne Rooney growing when he was 16 years old, telling all these stories of 19 year olds they knew who grew. C'mon. Get with the program. That's not relevant. If you can't see the difference between some skinny kid you knew who grew late & a strong early developing shortish type like Rooney & Adu, it's not for me to help you. Besides, as a fervent Freddy Adu booster, you're now implicitly saying that Freddy won't be a great player if he doesn't grow further? Nonsense. He's plenty big enough now, he's plenty fast enough now, he's plenty good enough now. He's just needs to work plenty hard & become plenty smart on the field, that's all.
I agree. If he makes it, it will be for morale. He is an American idle, so why not use that fuel for morale. Freddy isn't good enough yet to make the team purely on ability and Arena only has a few more qualifiers to look at new young talent. After that he will have to look at his current pool and decide who the best players are now and who will take him to the world cup. That is the bottom line!
At any rate, to return to the subject matter at hand, Freddy is already the best U.S. player at - 1) Dribbling in open space 2) Striking a ball Plus, he shows flashes of being a Donovan-style passer. Meaning that he has some very valuable and rare skills, along with his noted weaknesses. He's a "luxury" player, as the English say, and the international game doesn't have much room for luxury players. However, if you're going to take one such guy on the squad, you'll take him -- the guy who the other team might be forced to foul near their own goal, and the guy who nails PKs and free kicks.
And why not break him in now. He is eventually going to be on the national team. Why not break him in against a lower quality team. Give him a positive experience, get him exposed to the national level, and give him something to work towards.
I'd say, make him be hungrier. Make him prove himself more on the MLS level. Make him feel like he must earn his shot, rather than get it because he's Freddy and Freddy gets everything, because everybody loves Freddy. Don't spoil the young man any further. Arena may say differently, of course.
Arena will probably do what he did to Gaven. Introduce him to the national team and get him exposed just enough to make him(Gaven) lick his chops, then send him home and make him think about what he needs to do to earn a permanent spot.
assume the dispute isn't resolved, it would be foolish not to get him in the next game if he'll play.... he's not committed to the US until he's capped on the national team, right? drag this labor dispute out for a while, and then have freddy decide that the US isn't committed to soccer, and then he bails and goes back to play for his "other" country. now, that would really suck. (of course, i'd be shocked if freddy played in these games and didn't side with the players, but i haven't seen or heard anything about that. if he won't play, maybe the players could use threats of freddy leaving to break through the current impasse! here everyone has been thinking bruce could have the power to solve everything, but the real answer well could be freddy.)
Check out his pk's on ussoccer.com from the U-20's. They are high quality. So would Beckham be a "luxury" player? What about Eddie Lewis as a dedicated crosser? Cobi Jones for time wasting? I suppose I could see Freddie in a role to serve up corners, fks, pks, time killing.
Adu may be a "Luxury player" right now, but I think he will emerge as much more than that. He is one of the highest quality youngsters out there. Beckham may be a luxury player is some respects, but I would have to say he is to versatile and he certainly has the speed and skills coaches dream about. Lewis on the other hand is a cross specialist. I would argue that is his only quality so luxury yes and yes on Cobi too. You said it. Luxury time killer and other teams (especially in South America) still idolize and fear him for some reason.