Is Freddy Adu ready for the 2004 Olympic squad?

Considering 13 years old win gold medals in Gymnastics, a 15 year old is certainly old enough, IMO.

But we'll see how he does at the U-17 WC first and how he matches up on the U-20 squad after that. But its certainly out there as a goal

 

My instinct is to say no as he will have had a only a couple of months of professional experience in July, 04.

I agree with the previous poster that said we should wait and see how he does at the U17WC and perhaps with the 20s.

But, as much as I think he is the real deal, it should be pointed out that just last week he was shutodwn but he Mexican U17 team and the caliber of player he'll be facing in the Olympics is far more experienced than El Tri's 17s.

 

Kind of like Owen right before the 98 WC?

 

Hmmm.

He'll certainly be readier than many of the young fringe pros (or college kids) who we've sent out in the past.

Who would you rather have, the 2000 version of Conor Casey or 2004 Freddy Adu? OK, I had the advantage of hindsight on this one, but it's fair to say that Freddy is the better bet at having an offensive impact.

But yes, he'll be very green.

A 50/50 call, I'd say. Depends upon who the Olympic coach is and what his feelings are regarding young players. Clive Charles, as we know, was pretty conservative on this topic.

 

I'll have to say no. They shouldn't throw him in there just yet. This isn't like playing with people 3 years older then he is now. These guys will be a lot older than him.

I'm not saying he can't do it, but my instinct says no.

 

Why not?

YES!

Adu needs this experience to be ready for the big stage in 2006. He could play the super-sub offensive role similar to that of Landon Donovan in 2000.

 

I don't see why not. What better opportunity is there to prove himself?

Throw him into Olympic qualifiers, see what comes out of the mix.

 

Well, Fredy has to accept that he won't be the man on the Oly roster, at least for Oly Quals. Ya figure, it's gonna be Donovan, Beas, and Convey's team. Fredy will have to accept having a small role on the team as a super sub. He also has to realize that he can't do everything himself.

 

If the U-17 coach knows what he's talking about then yes:

"Freddy plays like a 20-year-old," says John Ellinger, coach of the Under-17 Men's National Team. "He has unbelievable moves and explosive speed. In exhibition games with Major League Soccer teams, he made experienced professionals trip over their own feet trying to stop him from scoring."

-From ESPN Parade All-American Article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/parade/story?page=paradeboyssoccer

 

From everything I read and hear about Adu, it doesn't seem that he'll grow too big of a head the way Donovan did in the offseason. So I wouldn't worry.

I don't worry anyways, there's more than enough spoils for everybody in the Olympic tournament.

 

The players on the MLS team that the U-17s beat all agree he's ready for the Olympic team.

 

Cool.

 

I say if he plays well at the U20 World Cup (assuming he goes), he will be named to the Olympic squad. He will probably be named just to drum up publicity for the soccer team, but I hope he makes it on merit.

 

I was at the Mexico game and left thinking that it couldn't have been his best performance given what I had heard and read. But, it's an overstatement to say that he was "shutdown". He lost the ball a few times, and could have had a better result on a couple of crosses, and almost scored on a blistering volley. He also earned -- and i'm just estimating -- 15 to 20 free kicks around the box, possibly including the one that led to the goal although i'm not positive. We didn't capitalize on any of those opportunities, and Freddy didn't have much to show for it at the end of the day other than bruises, but it wasn't like a single defender (or even the multiple defenders who converged on him) repeatedly won the ball from him.

Also, as discussed in other threads, one of the criticisms of Freddy's performance against Mexico was that he may not have passed the ball enough. His distribution was markedly different the next day (presumably after a comment or two from his coaches), and one would expect that his willingness to distribute the ball would only increase when he is surrounded by the likes of Landon et al. in whom he will undoubdtedly have even more confidence. Mexico shut him down by fouling him and by double or more teaming him. We can only hope those strategies continue when he's playing with even better teammates (no disrespect intended to the rest of the u17 team), because it's only going to lead to more and more offensive opportunities.

In response to the overall question of this thread, my best guess is that Freddy is going to be there. It's just a guess. And, it is correct that we need to wait and see if he earns it with solid performances in upcoming competitions. But I suspect that the age thing is going to become more and more irrelevant and all that is going to matter is how he performs in the games. And, by that criteria, you'd be foolish to bet against Freddy.

 

I don't think the question can be answered at the current time. There are a whole lot of things that are going to happen between now and then. Also, it is important to remember that the Freddy at the time of the next Olympics will not be the Freddy that we see now. He will have had a whole lot of experiences that will have had a dramatic impact on him both personally and professionally.

In my opinion, if he does well enough at the under 17 championship, Freddy will be given a shot to try out for the under 20 team. How that goes will determine what happens next. If he does well with the under 20s, he will demand to turn pro during the MLS draft despite his age (I know he only wants to play for DC United. MLS always finds a way to make these kinds of things happen when they know they have to.) The pressure of him signing with a big European club would force MLS's hand. If he turns pro from the start of the MLS season and gets some playing time, he could have a legitimate shot at making the Olympic team.

There are a lot of ifs in my scenario and, lets face it, I didn't even consider the possibility of injury, but if there is one thing that I have learned from Freddy, it is not to count him out of anything. He is just one of those guys that gives you the impression that anything is possible.

It very well may not happen, I just would keep all possibilities open when it comes to this kid. With all of the pressure that he is under, you get the impression that he is having the time of his life.

 

Ellinger said Freddy plays like a 20 year old.....probably because he is one.

The way I see it, if he's as good as everyone says, why not put him in camp with the full team to see how he does?

What I think the kid has to worry about....is that he's gotten so much pub, and now money, he's gonna be a marked man and defenders all over the world are just going to go out of their way to kick him.

 

Just b/c he gets publicity does not mean that defenders will automatically want a piece of him. Do you not think that over seas, skilled youth are also publicized and endorsed? Next year he will be 15, right? Kids at 16 in Europe are in residency just like him, and get looked at by top clubs, so its not like other countries will target him, b/c most of them have gone through the same thing as him (although they may not be as good ).

The only countries I could see targeting him are the CONCACAF teams......

 

I just don't see all this great demand to see the kid play at such exagerrated levels yet. We're gonna burn him out by the time he's 18 and he'll have nothing left to give. The media hype is worrying me a bit and I just hope that he gets to live a normal kid's life until he's at least 16 or so (although that will be difficult with a million dollars from Nike). Yeah, like everyone else, I want to see him play too, but I just think that we maybe should take just a little more time with him. I know this won't be a popular opinion around here, but he's got all the time in the world to develop - but it's a lot more time than most here are willing to give him.

 

It's not like he can't play in the '08 and '12 Olympics.

 

I say take him. The wait and see answer is the right one, but this is bigsoccer. Therefore, no need to sit on the fence.

lets see........

------------Buddle----Donovan

Beasley------Convey--Martino------Quaranta

not sure where Adu fits in. He isn't goint to take PT from Donovan.

 

Well, that's easy. Make Adu the third striker up front, take away Quaranta in a 4-3-3 or leave a defender behind and maintain a 3-4-3 formation with two defensive mids. The strength of the US team is that they have a strong defense, but that won't matter too much if they had a more potent strike force in the front third.

 

Adu should be taken for "the ride"....be the last 20-30 minutes joker...the guy who comes on with fresh legs, shake-n-bake vs. tired defenders...this way, Freddy is fresh(er) to avoid challenges, and his 1 v 1 is accentuated...

Starting and playing 90 seems like a lot..

Anyone got the feeling that Adu is MLS/US Soccer's Tiger or Annika? Bet the ratings go up for Freddy...

 

My apologies for not contributing to the recent forums about the tournament of U-17's in Lancaster, CA. I fortuitively was at both matches of the US U-17's this past weekend.

And in reading all of the various forums about Freddy Adu, I would like to contribute my first live impressions. First of all he is not God as some have inferred, but he is definetly a football prodigy who can play at any level.
I saw an understanding and ability well beyond his years. For those of you who make inferences that he is much older than 14. I watched the matches during this past weekend where on occassion he was less than 5-10 meters away and I can confidently say that I have no doubt that he is at most 14-15 yrs.
In fact I was amazed by the physical attributes of the other members of our U-17's. They were significantly more physically impressive than Mexico U-17's. And Freddy was definetly the youngest or second youngest looking player on the field.

Back on topic, I was left with the impression after both matches that there is not another member on the Senior Men's National Team that can do the things I saw him do on the field. Even watching the UEFA Champion's League Final I can admit that he could hold his own in this match. But then again this was not the best played match this year, but he definetly would not have been out of his element.

The goal he scored against Costa Rica's U-17 left me with my mouth agape. He started from about 15 meters below the midfield line and made a diagonal run from the left side of the field. During this diagonal run, where the ball seemed glued to his feet. He faked and juked about 5 or 6 Costa Rican defenders left them either standing flatfooted in his wake or literally on the ground after they tripped over their own feet. By the time I had yelled out Ole 4 or 5 times the ball was in the back of the net. Simply amazing!!!

I will provide more observations of Freddy and the U-17's Nats later. There were other U-17's Nats that were very impressive and left me with a great sense of hope that the future of the US Senior team is bright.

 

Freddy's talents are undeniable and like many of you, I've seen the videos and caught him in person once.

But, Friday night, for the second time in three games, Freddy was shutout by another U17 team.

To me, if you want to play up with and against players 5-8 years older than you, all of whom have far more experience than you do, than before you do that you have to dominate the age-group that you normally play with.

Two goal-less, assist-less outing in in three games is not dominating.

Right now - and I realize a lot can change in a year - I'd rather have Brad Davis or Justin Mapp as an offensive reserve on the U23 team for qualifying. Both are older, physically and mentally, and more experienced and next year will be in their third year of fighing against full-grown men, the kind the US will see in Athens.

I'd love to be wrong. Maybe in Finland - hell, maybe in the next two games of this tournament - he'll go on a jaw-dropping tear that will justify his inclusion on the U23 team.

But right now, I'm in the Bruce Arena camp in that we have a very talented, young player who has a chance to be very good but shouldn't be rushed.