Is there anyone who watched this "5 game tournament" and thought that: 1. Freddy Adu would do a better job than Jose Torres in the role Torres is being deployed for the USMNT 2. Freddy Adu would be a benefit to this team? I couldn't help thinking that Freddy could have performed much better in the same role that was given to Jose Torres. IMO Adu has just as good (if not better) ball control, dribbling, and has better passing. I also think he would not stray into the middle as much as Jose Torres did. One of Adu's biggest weaknesses (he gets pushed off the ball too much) applies to Jose Torres as well. My thoughts are: 1. Freddy deserves a shot with the starting XI. He's an exceptional passer and can unlock opposing defenses in the final third unlike many other players we have. 2. If he's not starting, he's a great attacking sub off the bench. 3. Does he ever perform badly in a USMNT shirt? Whether its U-20, U-23, or full USMNT he has always performed at his best in a USMNT shirt. I think part of that has to do with the fact that Freddy performs better with better players around him. These are just some wild thoughts on a Sat. nite. Lemme know what you think.
I been thought Adu should be on the USMNT and we should built around him like Mexico does Dos Santos.
JK said that he needs to perform for the Union but I'm sure he will get called up soon, I hope the injury he got yesterday isn't anything serious.
But Mexico is better than the USA. Dos Santos is a beast, he just don't do that well on his club. He is like Podolski
Dos Santos doesn't play for Tottenham because Harry Redknapp was too stupid to rotate his squad around, not because Dos Santos isn't really good. Adu is nowhere near the level of player Gio Dos Santos is. As great as he was in the first 20 minutes of that final, as soon as Mexico began marking him tightly (coinciding with Salcido being subbed off) he faded from influence. Now, that's not to say that he shouldn't have a role on our senior team-he absolutely should be there as a bench option to shake things up tactically, or as a starter against teams that are just going to park the bus on us. He deserves to be there on talent, and he's performing fairly well for the Union, especially now that Nowak is gone. But building around him would be silly-he's never shown the kind of consistency to warrant that, and he has some real flaws in his game that need to be resolved.
I can't put my finger on it, but there is something about Freddie that makes him appealing to fans but not coaches. When i watch him he has sick ball skills and creates a lot of opportunities, but his coaches must be looking for than that. My guess is that there are a lot of smaller things that add uo..like his fitness, defense or tactical play. At this stage in his career he should be able to dominate MLS and he is no where close to doing that.
He didn't look that great at Ipswich or Gala either. He did look good for that low level La Liga team as did Vela. I think Adu and Dos Santos are on the same level. I always have and always will till proven wrong. Dos Santos looked lost most of the time I've seen him in Europe outside of the La Liga team. I am not overly impressed with him when he isn't wearing the El Tri jersey. Adu wasn't worst, we just didn't have much of an offense when Mexico started pressing. Adu, LD, Demps still looked good on the ball no matter what part of the game you are referring too. Dos Santos is great with the El Tri but so is Adu with the Nats. The difference is the Nats are stupid, the El Tri aren't. They believe in real futbol, the US believe in that English BS that don't even work for England. I completely disagree. That's all.
I wouldn't say Dos Santos is better than Adu. If it wasn't for 2 international games, like no one would think that. They both flamed out at CL clubs (Benfica, Barca) and haven't really got their club careers on track since. Gio is still playing left bench, while Freddy is starting to find success in the MLS. Both have amazing ball skills, and always seem to step it up for the US. Where in there did Dos Santos become a better player? If the US had given Adu more shots with the USMNT, he would have produced more as well. For all the criticisms of Adu, he has always produced with a US jersey on
Sample size. Gio has been a regular in their XI for a cycle and a half. Adu has what, like 8 caps in that same time period for the senior side? It's not remotely comparable.
He also has had great success with the youth teams like Dos Santos. If you are saying GDS has more success with the El Tri, you must say Adu has had more success in Europe. Played more games, been in more meaningful match-ups and in less time than GDS.
The thing that you can't put your finger on is productivity. Since playing for youth teams, Adu has never been particularly productive. Here are the stats: USMNT (Youth): App Gls G/Ap 59 37 0.63 USMNT (senior): App Gls Ast G/Ap 17 2 3 0.12 MLS: App Gls Ast G/Ap 122 16 20 0.13 Euro: App Gls G/Ap 43 7 0.16 Adu's game is aesthetically pleasing, but too often his great shows of skill do not lead to beneficial outcomes (and when I say "often", I mean at a rate that is below what is expected of someone playing his position). Couple that with his known liabilities (lack of off-the ball runs, poor tactical defending, and lack of fitness) and it makes him expendible. I've been watching Freddy play with the Union recently, and he looks like he has improved those liabilities. I'm hoping to see him with the USMNT soon, but his productivity really needs to improve as well. He needs to learn how to apply his skills so that they result in more scoring opportunities, more goals, and more assists. For those of you who blame the players around him... even if that is often a limiting factor, he needs to learn how to overcome that, because until he does, he won't get the opportunity to play with better players.
Goals and assists don't describe the picture. Look at El Pibe and Riqueme stats. It never looks that great but if you watch the game, you can clearly tell those two are their team's best player. You can say Wondo is great by stats but when you watch him you can tell he isn't good for Europe or the international game.
Adu has had about the least amount of development on any player from 13 years old- 23 years old I've ever seen. It is shocking. Amazing looking prospect at 13. Now....meh. Antoine H looks better, and that is really hard to believe.
Riquelme: Club: Ap Gls G/Ap 400 96 0.24 Country: Ap Gls G/Ap Valderrama: Club: Ap Gls G/Ap 351 26 0.07 Country: Ap Gls G/Ap 111 11 0.10 So your Riquelme argument is simply incorrect. You're Valderrama argument looks valid until you look at his assist stats (which I could only find in MLS): Ap Ast Ast/Ap 175 114 0.65 Adu's assist/ appearance stat in MLS? 0.16 If Adu was dishing out assists at the rate of El Pibe (four times that of his current productivity), there would be no question that he would be a starter on the USMNT.
And by "Europe" you mean Barça, Real Madrid, Bayern Muenchen, Man Utd, Chelski and so on? Yeah, you're probably right.
I agree. But in this case, Adu's job is to create goals, so he's one of the guys that can actually be judged on the rate at which he does so. In addition, (in this case) the stats simply support what I believe that I'm seeing on the field. If there was a discrepancy, I would have to re-assess. How many times do you see young guys who get themselves in a bad situation, and then try to use tricks to get out of it? Gabe Farfan did it in the match yesterday, dribbling into the corner, trapping himself amid three defenders, and then eventually playing the ball out of bounds (the funny thing is that the announcers were very complimentary of Gabes "tricks"). I think Adu does this type of thing way too often, and his failure to make smart, simple plays is the reason his assists stats are not higher.
LOL. Yeah like that time Adu got loaned out and almost single handily saved a team from relegation in La Liga. Wait....
Whoops... Riquelme's numbers for Argentina should have been: 51 matches and 17 goals for a 0.33 g/m average
This is Adu, and this is why there's still a lot of hope for him, but on the other hand if he doesn't start 'delivering' he won't be moving up the ladder: full video - and 0:55 mark -
Not really. He has had less success in all of his stops than Gio had in his one season with Racing Santander. In 16 appearances he had 5 goals and 2 assists and saved them from relegation. Also, I'm not sure how you can say Freddy has been in more meaningful matchups than a guy who played for Barca and Racing in La Liga, and did get some runouts at Spurs, as opposed to the guy who got some tick at Benfica, and then spent the better part of 3 years putzing around backwater leagues (mostly on the bench) and subsequently showing flashes at Aris in the Greek league before coming back to MLS and not exactly being a standout there. If you want to compare Carlos Vela and Adu, that's probably more appropriate.