The guy has amazing dribbling skills. I have a feeling that he's going to get fouled time and again in the 20-35 yard range by defenders who are terrified of letting him get in the box. If I were Adu, I would spend hour after hour working on my free kick skills. If Freddy can punish defenders that use the "hack-a-Shaq" defense (O'Neil of the Lakers was fouled before he could shoot so he'd have to make free throws, which he wasn't good at.), then maybe he wouldn't be fouled so much. Teams now feel it's better to line up a wall then try and stop Adu inside the box. It might be better for his health in the long run. Can he have Beckham give him some tips? Why should Freddy do all the hard work and then watch Memo or someone else try and bend the ball around the wall? Freddy should do it himself..... He's already very good at PKs. Take him down inside the box and it's a goal....
When he played in the Dallas Cup, he was taking the free kicks when Memo was out. He also got (IIRC) two PKs because of the fouling. You're absolutely right about teams fouling him in the 20-25 yard area. In the first two games, he didn't get fouled as much. In the last three games though, the main point was to foul him early and hard. He still kicked butt. One thing I did notice was that, early on in a game, he seemed less willing to fall down at hard contact. As the game wore on and he was getting fouled more often, he would fall easier. That's the sign of a smart player - Ruud VN does that often. If the ref is letting the opposition get away with too much, what other recourse does a forward have? Very smart player...
What must be understood is Freddy is not a one man team but part of a team.If there is anything he needs to work on then, it`s not him trying to be doing everything but trying to be the inspirational player like Maradona was for Argentina.Know that in a team all players contribute their quota to make the team win and giving Freddy all the credit and all that is not fair enough.The only thing which can see the U.S. fall apart in Finland is complacency and over exhuberance on the part of some players who would like to play to impress.Ellinger having been around all this time must check this so that the U.S dont falter.
I agree. I just hope all this hype doesn't go to his head and he thinks of me, me, me. As has been posted before by those who have seen him play, he really needs to learn how to pass and when to pass and work with his teammates. I think one of the most disheartening things I read was that after the Dallas Cup he was asked about what he needs to work on or something like that, and his answer was, "I need to train harder so my teammates can get me the ball." What about training harder so you can work better with your team and the whole team rises to the top, Freddy?
While I agree that all players need to work on their team skills, I believe Freddy was alluding to the criticism of his off the ball movement. In almost every article I have read where a coach gives an opinion of Adu they mention a need for him to make more and better runs off the ball. I am guessing he was simply addressing that, and not trying to imply the other areas of his game do not need improvement. Scumby
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/5907088.htm in this article it talks about him hitting a free kick upper 90 so he must be alright at taking them
Yeah, but if you were fouled constantly, wouldn't you rather try and burn the team yourself, or count on a teammate? In other words, Adu won't always have a Memo on his team. He can't count on Beckham there to bail him out. If he's just the "dribble wizard", then just like Shaq, he can count on getting thumped every time he takes on a defender close to goal. If he has a feared free kick, he can go anywhere and teams will have to play him straight up, instead of just hauling him down all the time...
This is an interesting thread. It is true players that constantly take on players are going to take a beating under certain conditions. Pass and move is faster play,and if you pass and move your not there long enough to be tackled as much. Getting tackled hard taking on defenders depends on a lot of things. Where you are on the field, what kind of first step speed you have, and what you do after you beat the first defender. One of the best players I have seen beating players off the dribble was Tab Ramos. He loved playing the right flank because he thought he had more room to beat people. He was hurt most often playing the flank. Reason for that he had only two ways to go from the flank which are along the flank or inside the field from the flank. Most of the time he picked up the flank which raises the risk of getting hurt dramaticly. He can beat any first defender 1 v 1 off his first step speed which was faster then anybody in the MLS. That wasn't the problem the second defender was the problem. He would be on him in a flash and that second defender was only half going for the ball he was trying to stop him. That second defender would take him down with the slide tackle,he had room to slide tackle. Ramos had a hard to avoiding it because he could not move to his right to avoid them touchline would put him off the field. He would have been much better off after beating the first defender to move inside the field. He does that he loses the second defender. Then late in his career too late in his career. He changed positions to inside mid. He should have always played there because both sides of the field were available for him to dribble in and to pass into so he was more of a factor in games. He still could beat the first defender, and he had both sides of the field to dribble away from the pressure from the second defender. While dribbling away from the pressure he could shoot if within distance or pass. He could not shoot from the flank the opponents goal is not on the flank it is in the middle of the field. I think that is how a take on artist should play. -------------- On free kicks Adu doesn't have to be great on freekicks if others on the team are great on fks. Richie
Is FIFA planning on a rule change so that the person fouled also have to take the free kick (ala basketball)? I wonder how many goals did Rivellino scored off free kicks earned by Pele? We just need to groom someone to be the next Rivellino!
Fifa makes rules to try an increase scoring, and not to decrease scoring. Having the player fouled having to take the fk will decrease scoring (ala basketball in this case) Rivellino was a fantastic player. I remember him as being a fantastic scorer. He scored a lot of goals in the 70 WC maybe more then Pele. I don't remember Brazil scoring a lot off fks if any in that WC.
Adu's biggest issue for the next few years is going to be distribution. HE is going to be double/triple teamed upon touching the ball and will have to dish off to his teamates to create opportunities. This is more of a team issue than a freddie issue., The attention that freddie gathers should open up plenty of opportunities for the rest of the team.....
After watching Convey and Donovan last night and Beasley vs. the Rapids, and seing that Freddy has set the Olympics as a goal, imagine: Adu - Buddle/Johnson Beasley - Convey - Donovan - Clark/Martino As your six up top for the U-23 side. Think about teams believing the hype and tripling Freddy with that lineup lurking about...
As long as Ellinger's only coaching youth development and not the Olympic team, I think we have a chance!