No haven't seen him play to be honest over here he is very unknown as he isn't even named in the current Manchester United squad so people in the US probably know more about him that us in the UK due to the fact that very little is heard about players until the hit the first-team squad but having said if he continues to impress the right people at United it'll only be a matter of time until he will appear in the first-team squad.
Freddy Adu is an unbelievable talent and I think its great that he's started out in MLS. 1. Because it'll give major Football experience playing against seasoned veterans week in week out. 2. It can only add to his value the more First-Team football he plays. 3. It'll prove that he's good enough to play in the major leagues. 4. And he owes it to MLS fans to show you what he can do up close and personnal before he starts his european career.
That might be the point. It's his first season playing abroad. Considering that SAF benched Timmy Howard to keep him from burning out, it stands to reason that they would be cautious with a kid still discovering his talent. It wouldn't bode well for him if he went to D3 and tanked, then what good would he be to Man U?? I suspect he will start next season in the reserves, and if he keeps improving, get loaned out in the Winter transfer period.
Onandi Lowe is god to R&D fans lol....but unfortunantly he left for Coventry a couple of days ago due to financial trouble at Diamonds he was quite posibley the best R&D player ever! Wycombe play in Div 2 slightly better class of football. But yeah I would expect him to go on loan somewhere next season as most of the young United players do!
While the average person in England may not know about Cooper, most Manchester United fans do. When you see lists of players they think will "make it" Cooper is almost always up there wiht guys like Timm and Eagles.
Hmmm I dont know how i've missed Cooper then as I have a fondness for Man Utd...i'm gonna have to do some research into him for you.
this is not quite true.I go on the major ManU pages and I would say they are rather restrained about him. They are NOT as enthusiastic as, for example, Mike Renfrew here.
thank you. How about this: there are many international superstars out there who have never taken part of any youth national team. and thank you. My personal opinion is, there is no rush for a loan at this point. The kid has only been there for less than a year. There will be plenty of time to loan him out next year or even the year after. I am sure there is plenty to be learned at a club like ManU at the end of the year when places in the league are at stake. It may not help him on the field, but it may teach him a lot about being a proffesional. That is very valuable as well IMHO. <cue the Kirovski comparisons>
That line will always make me laugh, wherever and whenever it's used. I'm actualy a bit surprised that Cooper wasn't loaned to Wycombe. It certainly can't do the kid any harm, he's not going to play for ManU anytime soon and playing in D2 is a hell of alot better than playing in the reserves.
Here is more discussion of him on USA Men: News and Analysis https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96916
Tell me again exactly how he was missed? He's playing for Manchester United at age 18-19, right? The original note mentioned Bruce Arena discovering him and then selling him. Well he can only be sold if a professional club has him under contract. For the most part our very small professional league doesn't sign high school players. There are I believe 6 in the past two years who have signed with MLS right after finishing school (Memo Gonzalez, Eddie Gaven, Mike Magee, Arturo Alvarez, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley). It may be that someone is referring to him not playing the U17 World Championship last summer, but he wouldn't have been eligible for that agewise. He had signed with one of the best college programs in the country, so he certainly wasn't missed in the area where most of our top players are discovered. He's in the U20 National Team mix, although again the point of that team is also to help begin sorting players for full national team consideration, and by virtue of his being with Manchester United, it stands to reason that he's on the radar already, through that. So how did he get "missed" again. What is the problem? Development is increasingly the responsibility of the elite youth club system in this country, not the national teams. They reap the benefits of that development. These clubs are getting better all the time at adopting a professional setup, similar to countries with developed professional leagues around the world. There are still many obstacles to overcome but it's getting better all the time, and a handful of these clubs are really starting to lead the way.
I think that Cooper's was missed by MLS, and more specifically by Dallas. They took a look at the guy and didn't rate him highly enough to sign. I think that if they rated him highly, but just couldn't fit him into their roster, the story would have unfolded differently. Mike Magee is the counter example. He was identified by Bob Bradley as a guy who could jump to MLS as a 17 yr old while he was coaching in Chicago. He drafted him for NY. He's now a young, high potential player getting time in the league.
He was missed because he was never given a chance with our under-20's. He was'nt in the under-20 mix until he signed with Manchester United as im sure you know. They grabbed him right up and gave him a three year contract and we could not even get him into one under-20 camp. Why was'nt he noticed at the Dallas cup last year or with his ODP team?? All im saying is the system we have now has holes. If the goal is to begin sorting out players for the full national team we should be gathering the most talented youth in the country for our YNT's. Manchester United should not be discovering our talented youth before the guys at US Soccer do.
How do you know Cooper was interested in MLS, anyway? If Manchester United had not come around he was quite content to go to SMU, which gave him a scholarship that is worth more than what most 1st round draftees make in MLS. And since MLS doesn't allow clubs just to sign any American they want, I don't see much of an incentive for Dallas either.
Romen Nunez?? What team does he play for? What team was the only one he would play for? What MLS team did he used to train with? Though I agree Cooper probably did not want to play in MLS (cause of his ability to obtain a work permitt in England/Europe), he was'nt on the radar at all when the Mike Magees were.
Cooper was quoted saying he wanted to play in MLS. He sent a tape to Dallas and left someone a message, but he never got any replies.
Ramon Nunez was drafted by Dallas. It's not evident that anybody but Dallas was interested in him so it isn't the same as being able to sign talent you've discovered. As for training opportunities, there is a dispute in accounts between the Cooper faction and the Burn. The Burn say he had an open invitation to train with the club. Those close to Cooper say he was snubbed. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween.
I thought I read that Cooper had the chance to train with Dallas back around the time when he originally signing w/ ManU. If not, then scratch my comment about Dallas missing him. It was all based upon me thinking that Dallas had looked at him in training sessions.
I really don't know what the big fuss is about with US Soccer not picking up on Cooper. Big deal. Sometimes players like Cooper fall through the cracks. Look at someone like Ireland's Mark Kinsella who was not "discovered" until later in the career and play his first game for Ireland until he was 26. As for United not loaning him out, Fergie for whatever reasons doesnt automatically loan out every youth or reserve player he has. Fergie has promoted more youths to the first team than any other top EPL manager in the last 12-14 years. From yesterday's game, 6 of the team came through the ranks at United (Neville, Brown, O'Shea, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes). Not many other teams in the EPL have a record like this. Time will tell if Cooper succeeds at Old Trafford but it's early days yet.
I think it's a big deal because there could be a hell lot more players like Cooper in US who fell through the cracks every year. Cooper is lucky because his father has connection with ManU. Other people wouldn't be so lucky.
What are the Youth leagues like i the US? This is where all English players come from, I have been reading that you can only make it if you go to college and play, why? Why aren't the US scouts out in the parks at weekends scouting these players? The MLS teams surely must know about these leagues if there are such a thing, is this where a certain Mr. Adu came from if so surely this is a sign that the talent lies in the the little youth leagues.