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The Ten Minute Man

October 19th, 2008 | By: Carter Daly | 15 Comments »

Another garbage time sub. It’s just about all Freddy Adu gets these days. Sure he has his own 100% Freddy blog on the AS Monaco site, sure he supposedly works hard in practice, and sure he has an American owner backing him as an ambassador of French soccer, but all he gets is ten minutes of garbage time.

Pathetic.

But for who?

Speculation has been running rampant this week (and probably more following their most recent loss) over what is now being referred to as a crisis club, Monaco, and when the sack will finally fall on their sad manager Ricardo. Does he have a last name? I don’t really care. He doesn’t really deserve one at this point if you are a Monaco supporter. Right now it’s sounding as more a matter of when than if. And that can only be a good thing for Adu, right?

I think so. But who knows what to think at this point.

I mean, sure everyone blames the manager for throwing on a possession based player in the dying minutes of games where the club is trailing and simply pounding long balls up field, but what about Benfica? What about Real Salt Lake? What about D.C. United?

To put it bluntly, in many people’s minds, Freddy has never been “successful” at the club level. Ever. He was played out of position in D.C. and quarreled with the manager in his formative years. After his much touted move to RSL he was still played out of position. On to Benfica, he started off hot, than after a flurry of coaching changes and unsolved mysteries, never managed to see the pitch again. Now, with a new club that seemed pretty pumped on his arrival, he once again can’t seem to get a shot. The cries are subtle but they are there… Maybe he’s just not that good.

I say no. The examples are endless…U.S. vs Spain this summer…U-20 World Cup in Canada…His start at Benfica before the turmoil… Luck really hasn’t been on this boy’s side and you can tell. They say timing is everything, and Freddy and whatever club he is playing for just can’t seem to get it right. All I can say is hold on. Wait for Ricardo to get the sack and then lets regroup. This kid’s got it. Somebody needs to let him show it.

Have your say…

Tags: American Pele, Club News, Freddy Adu, Group E, Respect The Adu

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Comments

By kyle | October 20th, 2008 at 8:01 am

I agree. He’s not the type of player who can come on and show his true quality in 10 minutes. He needs more time to get a feel for the game so he can adjust his play accordingly. A lot of people are down on him because he hasn’t lived up to the hype people placed on him. But who has lived up to being the next Pele? Not many if any. He will get there, I just personally think he needs to get stronger in the gym and it will translate to better control on the ball.

Posted from United States

By B | October 20th, 2008 at 8:26 am

Respect the ADU!!! I think you get this kid minutes on the wing he will make a smart manager out of anybody!!!

Posted from United States

By BMatthews | October 20th, 2008 at 8:33 am

Clearly he’s good…he’s the American Pele! But I do feel bad when injuries/bad coaching really stain a career.

Posted from United States

By GS | October 20th, 2008 at 8:51 am

I have thought about this exact same situation ever since I started following Freddy. It seems everybody thinks they know what’s best for Freddy and what that is isn’t what Freddy wants. When he started out at DC novak thought he had this great plan for making freddy a super star. Well freddy hated that plan and it caused great problems in their relationship and for the development of freddy. After he moved to RSL I think freddy was just so happy to be somewhere else he thought he’d have great success…when it didn’t come he forced it and it made things worse. Then he decides to test europe…he starts off on absolute fire with benifica…we think everything has finally worked out. Then for absolutely no reason he never sees the field again and once again his confidence is shot. He gets loaned out to monaco and everybody thinks he’ll start every game and finally get the minutes he needs/deserves. Nope, monaco brings in another player that they feel is a better fit as a starter than freddy would be and we’re right back to square one.

So, what to think? What’s the real story? Is freddy a bad teammate, hard to get along with, too young or just not that talented? These are all questions people have and really the answer is simple. Freddy Adu is 19 fricken years old. It does not matter one iota how long he’s been play professionally or how much talent he possesses. The fact still remains that he is 19 years old and only a handful of players his age are starting anywhere in the world.

Long story short…we need to wait at least 5 more years before we really make any conclusions about Freddy Adu. If he’s 24 and still getting garbage minutes then we’ll be able to better evaluate his career and where it’s headed. But for now, leave the kid be.

Posted from United States

By BMatthews | October 20th, 2008 at 8:53 am

GS is exactly right. We’ve been hearing about him for most of the time we’ve been following the beautiful game that its hard to remember that he’s just a kid.
On a side note: I constantly criticize my 19 year old sister for not having a 6-figure salary, despite not having graduated college

Posted from United States

By JDunn | October 20th, 2008 at 10:16 am

Sad to say, but people need to expect less out of him. When, for example, players like Sergio Aguerro, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi are starting at age 17 for much better clubs (Atletico, Arsenal and Barca, respectively) it’s a bit easier assessing Adu. He’s 19, yet can’t even get minutes for an underwhelming club in a continuously falling league. Plus, because he started his pro career (too?) young, his small body and the mileage on it could spell an early end to his playing days. The next Pele??? At this point I wouldn’t even say the next Ernie Stewart.

Posted from United States

By Brooks Peck | October 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am

Just for the record, I found the picture above and it disturbs me to no end.

That is all.

By BMatthews | October 20th, 2008 at 10:53 am

You’re right Brooks, I would have liked to see a bit more tongue.

Posted from United States

By Marlon | October 20th, 2008 at 11:41 am

Pele respects the Adu.

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By kyle | October 20th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Yeah because he isn’t as good as 3 of the best players in the world means that he is rubbish. I don’t know anyone who thinks Adu should be tearing it up like Kun, Cesc, or Messidona. Being raised in the US soccer program is a lot different than being rraised in Barca or Argentina. I would have to say those countries are just a little better at developing young talent than the US of A. Also players from countries other than the US have to prove less to see minutes than an American does.

Posted from United States

By JDunn | October 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

kyle, by trying to refute my point, you just reinforce it. I never said, or would say, that Adu isn’t capable of being a very serviceable, good player. I was just commenting on the belief of some that Adu was supposed to be America’s Pele, someone that was going to be among the best in the world. And using the point that the three players that I mentioned all started playing first team football with top class European clubs in top class leagues just illustrates that Adu can never be expected to reach such heights.

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By Brian | October 20th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

i really like the point made that Adu is only 19 and has years ahead of him, because it is true… on another point sort of similar with age, i sort of laughed the other day hearing the commentators on ESPN during the US qualifier against TnT, how they were saying that Beasley seems to be at the end of the road and running out of tread on the tires. i know he isn’t young but he is only 26 years old. there are still many players getting the job done in their early to mid 30’s. i find it laughable at best to suggest DaMarcus is almost done

By B | October 20th, 2008 at 7:36 pm

Brian… I heard them say that about DMB as well, I almost wrote my congressmen about how ludicrous that sounded.

I also deep down believe ADU can be a great player in Europe and for USMNT!!!

Posted from United States

By GS | October 20th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

The thing that we have to acknowledge about DMB is that he is fairly injury prone. The players that play into their 30’s are usually players that have stayed away from injuries…especially serious ones. For DMB to continue playing for years he’s going to have to have a little luck staying away from the injury bug. Otherwise he may in fact be coming towards the end of his career.

Posted from United States

By kyle | October 21st, 2008 at 8:10 am

Give Adu time to mature and he will be a starter on an upper table team in one of the bigger leagues.

Posted from United States

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