All the hype about Adu, anyone actually seen him played? And can any one actually compare him to professional players. And not just, "he's a fantastic player" I've heard someone said he is the next Zidane + speed, pace and quickness.
I think we all have to rely on the word of others until U-17 gets on FSW in Finland in August. I feel bad for this poor kid, I mean real bad. 20/20, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, The New York Times, and he's not yet 14. He has to be the next Zidane and then some to live up to expectations.
I rode in a cab recently in DC driven by a Ghanaian who said he saw Adu play and that he was a "wizard". So he has to be at least as good as Zidane with professional, unbiased reviews like that
Bradley had a "scouting report" in one of his recent editions of First XI on MLSnet: http://mlsnet.com/content/03/firstXI0204.html alansl
in an article I wrote last summer, the comparisons I was given, including by some coaches, were so hard to believe I didn't name the names they were using, just alluded to incredible comparisons. I see now a Brazilian paper has gone ahead an invoked the name of Pele, so I might as well shard. The names I got from two high-level coaches were in fact Pele and Maradona, I am not making this up. I'm not endorsing it either, having only seen him twice, and neither time against top opposition. He is magic with the ball at his feet, so the player he really reminds me of in terms of style is an in-form, younger, Paul Gascoigne (pray God that that is where the similarity will end). Maybe Ronaldhino (not Ronaldo) is the best comparison of a current player. btw, i agree with those who say Gonzalez is a better player than Freddy at this moment.
Adu in Person Superdave saw him play and wrote about him, a couple of months back. His general take was, yes, Adu is breathtaking, for many reasons. In particular his first touch -- his ability to explode past a defender with speed & close ball control, even as the defender assumed that Adu was still in the process of receiving the pass. That's my main recollection of his tale, but he could tell you more.
Re: Adu in Person Yep, that's about it. He's very fast, too. The other thing to remember is, he was just about the smallest player on the field, and at the time, he was 13 and a couple of months. So who knows...maybe he'll grow to be Zidane or Ballack sized, but with Henry speed and Maradona control. I'm not a scout or anything, just a fan. But he was playing with the best players who are ~3 years older than him, and he was one of the best players. If his game grows like would be normal for a 13 year old just being exposed to top-notch coaching, think how good he'll be 3 years from then...3 years being over 20% more than he'd lived to that point. (That's why I take the age questions so seriously...I was very happy when I saw him and he looked so young, because a 15 year old that good is potentially the next Donovan, a 13 year old is potentially the first Adu.) The sky is the limit. I will say that he's not an Owen type, a frontrunner. He looks to be a true #10, or maybe a withdrawn forward. One thing to keep in mind...when you read game reports, he scores on free kicks. So even at this age, he has the powerful and accurate shot one needs to take free kicks...and he plays with the best kids the US has to offer who are 3 years older than him. And for all of the blather about how we develop players, it's obvious that we do a pretty good job up until a player hits age 17 or 18. It's when our players start going to college that we lose ground. Minnman, AndyMead and dheck were there too.
There's so much hype on this kid, I wouldn't be suprised if I heard, "He's the next Freddy Adu!" I say let the kid be and keep him out of the press before he goes nuts from the pressure and ends up like Todd Bridges or any other child actor.
NY Times article on him. His mother gets her citizenship on Thursday, he'll get a passport and be ready to go for u17 qualifying.
"Adu is a special player; he is the real thing," Bruce Arena, coach of the senior national team, said.
I don't understand this "let him be a kid" mentality. I think it's just too American. Nations all over the world did this and they got great players. I think the only think that will be hurt with hype is ego, but who says you can't be a good player with a big ego, look at Rooney. I think if his head is all about soccer, it won't matter what ever other people think.