Freddy Adu and 'The next big thing' in General Football from Football.co.uk

Liverpool_Seattle · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:11 pm

There was way to much hype on him. First of all he was in america. Half the kids growing up in europe would get the same attention if they played here. He IS a special player but not as much as the rest think. He just really stands out here do to the level of talent.

papa5murf · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:50 pm

specnur wrote:

Did you get to see the last u -20 tournament?
I thought exactly the same as you up until that tournament ,he was quite simply the best player in the tournament .They beat Brazil and other top teams with ease and he was the catalyst of anything good in those games. I was actually very shocked to see such progress in him ,because i was certain he would be a major flop. I don't know how he will develop from this moment on but he is definitely going in the right direction.,if he can control those games like he did.
When your as young as he was getting so much attention and playing above his actual level of play,he will
soon find that not everyone is willing to be a stepping stone,especially when you play grown men.

There was a legitimate reason as to why a lot of big clubs were interested in him ,they saw raw talent that they wanted to mould into a god player.
Now altidore i am not impressed with .I think he is incredibly overrated. I think a lot of times in the US it's been a trend to overreact when they see a player of his size and speed .They tend to think those assets alone make him a good player.From the little i have seen of him ,he has a poor ball control,his finsihing is average and his positioning need work. I was very shocked he got signed by a european team.

He has improved a lot since his move to Benfica. However, there is no way he is World Class, and he never will be. Yeah he impressed in the U-20 World Cup, but he should impress in a tournament like that. How many World Class stars in his age group were there? Not too many. They didn't beat Brazil with ease, it was 2-1 in the group stages and defeated Poland 6-1, 1-1 draw with South Korea in the other group stage matches. Then beat Uruguay, 2-1 (in extra time) only to lose to Austria 2-1 in the Quarter-finals. Adu was definitely the best player on the US squad, but not the tournament.

As Adu is now 19 years of age.

Lets name some others in his age group that were NOT at the U-20 World Cup.
Messi, Fabregas, Nani, Anderson and more were all missing.

Vela, dos Santos and Pato were there, but all three of them are the same age or younger than Adu and have more potential than Adu.

Quote:

There was a legitimate reason as to why a lot of big clubs were interested in him ,they saw raw talent that they wanted to mould into a god player.

But none of the big clubs jumped at it, Manchester United and Chelsea gave him multiple opportunities to come train with them and show his worth. And he continued to not impress when on those tryouts, hence the reason they continued to pass on him.

Adu will never be a World Class player. He was over hyped by the US media looking for a football darling to follow. And in that aspect, he's been a failure. He will become a good player with Benfica and maybe even the best the US have had, but he will never be a World Class or a great player. He will just be another hyped up player that doesn't live up to the hype that was given to him.

Sticky T · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:14 pm

Altidore was signed by Villareal - a Champions League team. Blimey, i'm shocked a team as good as them would sign an American. He must be pretty good then.

papa5murf · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:20 pm

Sticky T wrote:

Altidore was signed by Villareal - a Champions League team. Blimey, i'm shocked a team as good as them would sign an American. He must be pretty good then.

Decent, but has potential. He'll get very little time in the starting XI with Villareal. He'll be a reserve player and/or bench player at the best.

CLICK HERE

bayaker92 · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:00 pm

he had a pretty inconsistent season in the mls from what i heard

specnur · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:27 am

papa5murf wrote:

specnur wrote:

Did you get to see the last u -20 tournament?
I thought exactly the same as you up until that tournament ,he was quite simply the best player in the tournament .They beat Brazil and other top teams with ease and he was the catalyst of anything good in those games. I was actually very shocked to see such progress in him ,because i was certain he would be a major flop. I don't know how he will develop from this moment on but he is definitely going in the right direction.,if he can control those games like he did.
When your as young as he was getting so much attention and playing above his actual level of play,he will
soon find that not everyone is willing to be a stepping stone,especially when you play grown men.

There was a legitimate reason as to why a lot of big clubs were interested in him ,they saw raw talent that they wanted to mould into a god player.
Now altidore i am not impressed with .I think he is incredibly overrated. I think a lot of times in the US it's been a trend to overreact when they see a player of his size and speed .They tend to think those assets alone make him a good player.From the little i have seen of him ,he has a poor ball control,his finsihing is average and his positioning need work. I was very shocked he got signed by a european team.

He has improved a lot since his move to Benfica. However, there is no way he is World Class, and he never will be. Yeah he impressed in the U-20 World Cup, but he should impress in a tournament like that. How many World Class stars in his age group were there? Not too many. They didn't beat Brazil with ease, it was 2-1 in the group stages and defeated Poland 6-1, 1-1 draw with South Korea in the other group stage matches. Then beat Uruguay, 2-1 (in extra time) only to lose to Austria 2-1 in the Quarter-finals. Adu was definitely the best player on the US squad, but not the tournament.

I'm not saying he will be world class. But i would lie to know who in your opinion showed more domination against Brazil than him. If he's not playing in that game or on that team the us would be garbage. I am not jumping on his bandwagon ,but i'm just giving him credit for actually becoming close to a player that i thought he never would be.

As Adu is now 19 years of age.

Lets name some others in his age group that were NOT at the U-20 World Cup.
Messi, Fabregas, Nani, Anderson and more were all missing.

Vela, dos Santos and Pato were there, but all three of them are the same age or younger than Adu and have more potential than Adu.

I disagree on dos santos having more potential and pato was decent at best imo.

Quote:

There was a legitimate reason as to why a lot of big clubs were interested in him ,they saw raw talent that they wanted to mould into a god player.

But none of the big clubs jumped at it, Manchester United and Chelsea gave him multiple opportunities to come train with them and show his worth. And he continued to not impress when on those tryouts, hence the reason they continued to pass on him.

Adu will never be a World Class player. He was over hyped by the US media looking for a football darling to follow. And in that aspect, he's been a failure. He will become a good player with Benfica and maybe even the best the US have had, but he will never be a World Class or a great player. He will just be another hyped up player that doesn't live up to the hype that was given to him.

my point was that those teams saw something that they didn't see in a lot of other players for him to even be considered.And i think he tirned down either ac or inter if i'm correct. Those are quite reputable teams. Don't forget that i said i thought he was a flop and vastly overrated , and i think you mis-understood me if you think i thought he would become world class.

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