agree the list is fairly short.... we can go back to donovan being rated the top u-17 in that tourney, with beasley 2nd best.... i'd dare say adu is a more accomplished player at 17 than donovan, although they both do very different things... donovan seems more a reluctant player, that inner drive isn't evident all too often... freddy wants to be on the big stage, and i think that want will end up revealing his potential... agree about arena and altidore... with angel, have some speed up top is a better complement, although richards does give it wide on the right... mathis and angel are a bittoo static.... clearly, angel is the sort of target arena lusts for... mastroeni was marking him on dead balls and had a very tough time...
Not sure Freddy is better than LD was, but they sure are different. Not sure LD is the more reluctant; Adu does not drive toward goal and seldom seems to go into full speed mode. If he's going to contribute significantly internationally, he's got to pick up his speed in the right spots. Re Juan Pablo, I thought he failed to cover the width of the field the way Altidore has been. It will be much better for both players if both Angel and Altidore are working together. Not sure who goes out under that cricumstance.
If Freddy really wants to be the best, then he's got to complete his game. His obvious weakness is his commitment after he looses a ball. When you watch the RSL/Rapids match, considered by many to be his best match so far, then you'll see him give up when he looses the ball when attacking one on one. This was part of the defensive attitude that Nowak tried to instill in Adu (i.e., Defense begins with the strikers). I don't usually like to focus on the negative, but for Freddy to actually live up to his overwhelming hype, then he really has to complete his game, so he can go anywhere in the world and succeed. Freddy could still do well, if on a team with enough defensive capabilities and discipline to cover for him. There are several teams out there like this that are strong enough defensive to allow for one or two players to focus soley on offense. RSL is not, one of them and I'd doubt that any MLS team consistently really is... (although with the way Matt Reis is playing, the Revs could be right now). Hopefully Kreis will be able to help Adu to focus on improving this part (i.e., not giving up) of his game. It would definitely help Adu (and the rest of the U-20s) this summer in Toronto. He's definitely strong going forward... I wonder when he'll be able to breakout and be a leader.
Everyone can stand to improve and should try to, but I would love to see a list of these "complete players" in MLS.
You can tune in tonight and watch Adu against Argentina. He's much better surrounded by Rongens side.
Sorry to go OT, but I don't understand why Clavijo does this. Mastroeni is great at roaming, breaking plays up in midfield, destructive soccer. Man marking is not anything that he does remotely well, in my opinion. I actually think he looks worse while playing in MLS sometimes because of the way they use him.
Sometimes it's good to read an entire thread, then watch the match. Watched the first half last night. 80% of why people are saying that Freddy stepped forward and improved was because he was unmarked. Big field, high altitude, Colorado pinched inwards and conceded 15, 20 yards to Freddy if he stayed wide. So he got the ball a ton, thus people view him as being more active, and they got to see him do more, thus Jason Kreis is a better coach and Freddy is turning it on. Looked like the same Freddy to me. Sweet first touch, silky on the ball, jukes well, distributes nicely, struggles in traffic, hesitant in 1v1 situations (tends to create space and pass, not blow by the defender in classic winger style), causes enough trouble for defenses to justify his starting spot, not enough trouble for defenses to be one of the league's top attacking players. Not saying that he's not gradually getting better, and that he won't get better yet over time (surely he will), but I don't see any great leap forward yet. Maybe at the U20 level, but not in MLS. Not yet.
Adu was unable to trip up the U-20 Argentinians last night. So he does no better at this time for the youth nationals than he does for RSL or did for DCU. His teammates were no help either. Inconsistent, poor passing, off-target shots. Eh.
Did you watch the U20 match? Argentina scored on a free kick, was outshot by the U.S. for the game, and -- I am told -- was content to bunker for large parts of the match. Apparently, Adu and several of his teammates played quite well.
I couldn't watch either but instead of ass - uming I at least asked on the youth threads if it was old US ball or not. We have a poster taking his preconcieved notion to the bank without watching. BS at it's best.
Originally Posted by KALM This game proved once and for all that a golf ball was a better coach than John Ellinger. Seconded.. thirded.. absolutely one of the best!
For perspective Christiano Ronaldo scored 3 goals in 28 senior club appearances between the ages of 14 and 18 for Sporting CP. I doubt he was one of the Portugal League's dominant attackers based on those numbers, yet Man U couldn't wait to get their hands on him... I mean it's great if you're Ronaldo from Brasil and throw down goals at an Altidore like rate as a phenom...
To further this comparison, it wasn't until this year, at the age of 22, that C. Ronaldo really exploded with 17 league goals. Last year wasn't so bad with 9 league goals but he was still pretty wasteful. His first two years with Man U, he scored 4 goals and 5 goals, respectively. While Freddy may not turn into a C. Ronaldo/Player of the Year kind of player, at 17/18 he still has plenty of time to reap his potential.
i see freddy being more the assist guy as an adult rather than the finisher... he'll get his share of goals, but i think the ratio of assists to goals (1 assist per goal rule) will be 2 to 1.... and as alan hopkins has pointed out, in mls, NO teenager has more assists than freddy.... between freddy and feilhaber, i think a new style of play will emerge for usa, one where usa will be able to break down defenses more competently
I've been perusing the bios of some of the best known attacking players today like--CRonaldo, Ronaldo, RVN, Eto'o, Henry, Ronaldinho, Drogba, Messi, Kaka, Adriano, Rooney. Only Ronaldo stood out as a dominant U-18 attacker at senior club level whether it was Brasil 1st div, Euro 1st, or Euro 2nd div ball. Most of these guys--the ones who got to play--had pretty modest numbers. If Altidore keeps up his strike rate, I mean, we're really talking about something that's pretty damn rare for a U-18 player.
It's pretty rare to be physically mature enough at age 17/18 to score goals in bunches. Owen did, Shearer did, of course Ronaldo. Rooney would have been able to, I think, but Everton didn't play him much, protecting him. Yes, Altidore is in uncommon territory, even allowing for the lower overall quality of the league.
Thing is Altidore isn't really that mature physically as he's grown a couple inches over the past year and half. I don't if the others were still growing like that or not.
And that was a little bit of a misleading comparison at least as it related to Donovan: Donovan had 1 year of MLS play as a teenager compared to Freddy in now his 4th year as a teen. So yeah, Freddy better have more assists than LD did as a teen.